The 5-0 win over Calgary was quickly forgotten last night as the Bruins once again changed directions. Were I a professional sports gambler, I'd NEVER bet on a Bruins game, because they come out amazing, or come out dazed.
The simple-minded Bruins fans out there can blame Tim Thomas for the Sabres' 3 unanswered. They can question Julien for starting Thomas at all while Rask has excelled against Buffalo.
It does seem as though the Bruins play more inspired when Rask is in net. Which is extremely sad and pathetic. But even if true, the B's didn't display anything like that in their 5-0 victory on Saturday. And with back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday, you'd need to use both goalies anyway. Rask has good numbers against Buffalo, Thomas had yet to play against them this season. But against New Jersey, Thomas is 0-2, with a 3.80 GAA. I have no problems choosing to use Thomas to start this game.
And where was the offense. It's true the Bruins got 42 shots on net, but how many of them were of any quality? I'm not asking for Mario Lemieux calibre stuff.
A quality shot is one set-up by quality puck movement. There's nobody on the Bruins who's capable of beating Ryan Miller straight up. You get him to move around, which opens up the holes in the wall. Krejci's goal was a result of persistent movement and pressure, which drew Miller (who like all good tenders, is prone to aggressiveness) out of position, and Krejci bounced it off the goalie's skate and in.
It speaks to how good Ryan Miller is that both Bruin goals were odd bounces off Miller. He was never flat out beaten.
The Bruins remain in 8th, 2 points behind Philly and Montreal, but only 2 points ahead of Atlanta. They're at New Jersey tonight. The Devils are struggling lately, only winning 2 of their last 6. But their record at home is impressive (25-10-2).
-The Commodore
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