Bruins 3, Islanders 2

The Bruins are only 2 points out of 2nd in the Eastern Conference after beating the Islanders 3-2 last night. It was a game without stakes, without consequences, and wasn't very interesting. But it was a win.

What drew my attention most was the Bruins' special teams units. They continue to struggle. The PK unit allowed a goal. The Power Play unit failed to move and failed to score, even with a 2 minute 5-on-3. They even allowed a shorthanded goal. But give Michael Grabner and Josh Bailey credit for that one. The Bruins may have won 3-2, but they lost the special teams battle 2-0.

Special teams are so vital in postseason play because most playoff games are played against the boards, within tight coverage, and very little open ice play. When power plays come along, they're a rare opportunity to play with space and time. If the Bruins can't get their PP unit to score, they need to at least tighten up their PK.

I was puzzled to see Seguin, Kampfer, and Hnidy all scratched. This seems like a great chance to give minutes to all three. Perhaps over the weekend.

Daniel Paille has played himself onto the playoff roster. He's been doing all the little things and some big things the past few weeks. He had another excellent game last night.

And how cool is it to see Shawn Thornton score his 10th goal? He, along with Gregory Campbell, are among 6 NHL players to score 10+ times and fight 10+ times this season.

The Bruins play back to back games this weekend, hosting Ottawa Saturday afternoon, and travelling to Jersey on Sunday. Look for guys like Thomas, Chara, Lucic, Recchi, and Bergeron to get at least one game off. Look for Paille, Campbell, Ryder, Thornton, Kelly, and Seguin to get a chance to earn a spot in the starting lineup with some additional ice time.

-The Commodore

Islanders @ Bruins Preview

The Bruins are basically locked into the 3rd spot. They can finish no worst then 3rd in the Eastern Conference and have very little chance of moving up to 3, so at this point it's about not getting anyone hurt and working out some kinks.

One thing I would like to see tonight is Seguin getting some serious minutes. The Islanders are a hard hitting team, and that is something Seguin has struggled with this year. I want to see how he reacts when he get his ass kicked a little bit.

Another thing is I want to see worked on is the power play. "Special teams" are so huge in the playoffs, and the Bruins need to make sure they get that unit going, because they have been anything but stellar this season.

Niether team is really playing for anything tonight, but I still want to see the Bruins shake off blowing the 3-0 lead last night out against the Rangers.

Bruins win 3-1
Player of the Game: Kaberle
Game starts at 7pm

Islanders 4, Bruins 2

This is why during the Bruins' 6 game road winning streak, I was maybe the least excited B's fan in Boston. Not just because I'm a burnt out, soulless pessimist. But because this team has a history of moodiness. I wouldn't say their streaky. Streaky implies an ability to be somewhat consistent for prolonged stretches. The Bruins, however, fluctuate period by period, shift by shift. They have mood swings.

Scoring 2 goals often isn't enough to win. Unless you have a soon-to-be 2 time Vezina winner in net, an imposing defense, and are playing one of the worst teams in the League. You have to be able to go to places like Nassau, and win 2-0 or 2-1. So even though the Bruins need to score more goals, I'm more upset about the goals they allowed in this one.

The penalty kill has been steadily deteriorating. It was a late in the period power play goal that revived the Islanders. The PK has been confused by opponents who move bodies around, not just passing the puck to each other from fixed points (like the Bruins do on their power play). And in the past few weeks, they've been overly eager to trigger shorthanded breakaways, instead of simply smacking the puck down the ice for a clear. That's what happened Friday. Bergeron hesitated, failed to clear, and eventually the puck found the back of the net.

The PK unit has fallen to 18th in the NHL, killing 81.5% of penalties. That absolutely must turn around for the postseason, where special teams can decide a series.

The Islanders simply outworked the Bruins in the 3rd period. While the Islanders hustled to get to loose pucks, the Bruins looked lost, like they'd never played hockey before. A puck would find their stick, and they'd gently bat it 8 feet away in some random direction, allowing an Islander to scoop it up again.

Even when the Bruins were up 2-0, they were hardly the superior team. After the game, Fraud Julien claimed that with a bit of luck the Bruins might have scored more goals. What he failed to mention was that if not for Thomas, the Islanders would have scored more goals. Timmy had one of his best games of the season.

The Bruins might start another hot streak. Maybe Bergeron and/or Marchand will catch fire again. Horton's been producing lately. But tha won't last. The B's might sail their way out of this storm, but what does that matter when the commander of the ship is a fool?

Right now, this team's chances of winning a Cup are 0%. At least while Julien's behind the bench.

Bruins @ Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

-The Commodore

Bruins @ Islanders Preview

Whether it was the ref or not that cost the Bruins the game last night, one thing is certain and that is that the Bruins got a lot of people's expectations up when they won 6 in a row and have fallen on their face since.

The Islanders have been playing better lately, improving to 3-0-2 in its last 5 games, so the Bruins can't come out and play half-assed. Still, I think they are one of the worst teams, and the Bruins should be able to score on them all night. Horton has finally seemed to get it going again as he has point in 6 of the last 7 games. If he can get going that would be huge for this offense.

One guy that I have been really impressed with is newcomer Rich Peverley. He reminds me of Chuck Kobasew. He plays hard on every shift, and I like that he seems to have a quick shot when near the net. The Bruins are going to need to correct two things in their game. First, is what Rob has been harping on all season and that is the breakout. The Bruins have way too many turnovers in their own end. The puck can't be down there for more then half the game and expect to win. The second is taking advantage of chances in the offensive end. Too many times this season the Bruins "hit the post" or the goalie "makes a great save". You can only say that so many times before the bottom line becomes "just put the fucking puck in the net". I am looking at you Ryder, Horton, Bergeron, Krejci.

Bruins win 6-2
Player of the Game: Bergeron
Game starts at 7pm on NESN

Bruins 6, Islanders 3

The Islanders have a handful of quality forwards, and some delicious ice girls.

That's it. They don't have a defense, and certainly don't have any good goaltenders. They've had 6 different guys start in net for them. They don't have a starter and backup, they have an entire rotation.

What can you say about a 6-3 win over a team this bad? I'm not impressed. I hardly care. I'm glad Rask didn't completely blow the 5-1 lead he was given, allowing Thomas a proper night off. Where are all those Tuukka Time twits now?

Seguin had a nice game. He skated with determination and gusto. He was rewarded with a goal. With the great Chris Kelly in the mix now, Seguin will be competing for ice time. Instead of say, learning how to play pro hockey in Providence and getting 20 minutes a night. Seguin did have a nice statement game for himself last night, at least.

Every game, Nathan Horton reminds me more and more of Glen Murray in his final days. Crafty enough to find space for himself, good enough to be in the right place at the right time. Then missing every shot. He's not even getting pucks on goal. When will it be scratch time for him?

The B's play another struggling team in Ottawa tonight.

-The Commodore

Bruins @ Islanders Preview

Claude Julien and Bruins fans were not pleased with the loss to the Maple Leafs last game. Toronto is one of the worst teams in the league, and Boston is supposed to be a top team in the Eastern Conference. Luckily the Islanders are also one of the worst teams in the league, so the Bruins have a chance for some redemption.

The Bruins are 9-1-1 in the last 11 meetings against New York, and Tim Thomas has gone 6-0-1 with a 1.57 goals-against average during that span. For Boston to continue their success they are going to fix whatever is wrong with their penalty kill. Boston has let its opponents score 9 times in their last 22 chances (40.9 percent) in their last 5 games, something that shouldn't happen on a "defensive team" with the best goalie in the NHL.

One thing Boston can be happy about is getting back on the road. For whatever reason Boston is a much better team away from the Garden (16-7-4) then in it (15-12-3).

Bruins win 4-2
Player of the Game: Bergeron
Game starts at 7PM on NESN

Mario Lemieux Should Shut Up

"Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn't hockey. It was a travesty," Lemieux said. "It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that (ESPN)."

Lemieux is referencing the Islanders game when there was a ton of fights. I can agree that the fighting can get out of control, and I got back and forth on it's place in the game. Yet, the last person I want to here this from is the guy who employees Matt Cooke. Cooke is the most out of control player in the league. He ended Savard's career, and is lucky that he didn't do it the other day to another player. I mean what a joke. If you want to make these kinds of comments they cut the "dirty" players from your team.

Again, I understand the argument against fighting and in a lot of ways I'll agree, but don't sit here and lecture the NHL when you have the biggest villain in the NHL on your team.

Bruins 5, Islanders 2

Normally, I'd criticize the Bruins for not utterly destroying a team as bad as the Islanders. Let's be honest, though. You don't need 100% effort or execution to beat that team. They're just awful, and actually kind of sad to watch. Thankfully, the Bruins beat them.

Milan Lucic scored his 14th and 15th goals in this game. Like pretty much all of his goals this season, they were hardly highlight reel snipes. But I like what he's been doing. He seems to have learned how to be a better player from his teammates. His puck-handling is better, perhaps learning from Krejci. His defensive play is better, thank you very much Mr. Bergeron. And like Mark Recchi, he now has an instinct to put himself in the right place at the right time. And that positional awareness is why he has 15 goals.

The second Bruins goal was a shorthanded score from Brad Marchand, his 4th, and 3rd shorty of the year. He's been a very nice addition to that 4th line, which plays so often in key situations, it can hardly be called a 4th line.

Andrew Ference had one of his better games of the season. His pass found Ryder in the high slot, giving the Bruins a 3-1 lead. And he also set the events leading to Marchand's goal into motion by winning a battle in the corner. He and McQuaid will need to play well the next few weeks, with Stuart out of the lineup.

It was nice to see Rask get a win. He played well, and it was refreshing to see him get his second victory of the season, even though he deserves a few more than that. And how relaxing is it to give the best goalie in the world a night off, and get to put the likes of Rask in there?

I'm calling the next 8 days Exam Week for the Bruins, because they've got some games that will test them, and allow us to gaage how good they really are. Here's what's coming up:

Saturday 12/11 - vs. Philadelphia
Wednesday 12/15 - @ Buffalo
Thursday 12/16 - @ Montreal
Saturday 12/18 - vs. Washington

There's games against the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best records in the NHL in an 8 day stretch, along with a divisional road game squeezed in. Not easy.

-The Commodore

Islanders @ Bruins Preview

The Islanders were supposed to be a team on the rise going into this season, instead they are one of the worst teams in the NHL. The Islanders are 5-15-5 on the year, and although they are very young it doesn't look like they will be turning it around any time soon.

Bruins are 8-1-1 in the past 10 meetings with the Islanders, and 3-0-1 in their last four games. The Bruins did lose Mark Stuart for the next 6 weeks, so their defense could be a little weak after already losing Hunwick via trade. Still, the Bruins goaltending will be the difference. Plus, it seems liek Boston's offense is finally starting to get it going again.

The Bruins are at their best when Horton and Lucic are affective on offense. I think they will be tonight, and the Bruins are going to win by a couple of goals.

Bruins win 5-2
Player of the Game: Lucic
Game starts at 7pm on NESN.

Islanders 4, Bruins 1

Turnovers a mere 5 feet from their own net. Is there a more horrible sin in hockey? It's the equivalent of red zone interceptions for a quarterback, or lead-off walks for a pitcher. Actually, it's worse. The Bruins resorted to some of their bad habits from early October. Combined with another bland night of finishing scoring chances, and you get a 4-1 loss to the Islanders.

The Bruins have made goaltenders look very good this season. And why is that? Well, it's because they are good. NHL goalies don't mess up, they're good at everything a goalie needs to do, and if allowed to get in position, with a clear sight-line, they'll make saves on just about everything.

Without a player like Marc Savard, the Bruins lack the cleverness to create space, and ultimately draw goalies out of position. The things Savard can do are fractional, hardly noticeable elements of an equation. But hockey is a fractional game (as proven by Guerin's goal Saturday night with 2/5 of a second left).

The Bruins power play was 0 for 4, which includes a 95 second stretch of 5-on-3. The Bruins have scored 5 power play goals since the 2nd game of the season. That's where this team misses Savard.

But Savard's absence cannot be blamed for this loss. The turnovers were awful. Assignments were missed, particularly Bergeron's, and he's normally the best defensive forward on the roster.

Maybe it's frustration. The defense had been phenomenal lately. The penalty-kill unit has killed 38 of 39 penalties since October 17th. But this team has allowed itself to lose focus far too often this season. And we're no longer in the beginning of the year, we're in the middle. Things need to change quickly.

The Bruins begin a 4 game road-trip, which might help get their collective head back into the game. They play 10-6-1 Atlanta Thursday night.

-The Commodore

Islanders @ Bruins Preview

The Bruins will try to get over that tough loss to the Penguins the other night. Tonight they face the Islanders who are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Boston will play without Tim Thomas tonight (day off), which I think it a good idea, since he seemed like he needed a little time to get his head straight.

The Islanders have been playing great hockey, but they seem to have 1 reoccurring flaw....they don't protect the lead. Their last 3 games have gone to overtime, and they were leading in all those games.

Boston is hoping the scoring touch they found last game will show it's head again tonight. Boston is 3-0-2 in its last five home games, and usually handles the Islanders well. I expect Boston to get the win tonight, and continue their climb up the standings...

Game starts at 7pm on NESN.

This Is Why You Don't Give 15 Year Contracts

"New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro is out for the season after playing only five games because of persistent problems with his surgically repaired left knee (ESPN)."

DiPietro (BU) is in the third season of his ridiculous 15 year contract. Listen, I know he is a very good goalie, but a lot can happen in 6 years let alone 15. His knee is messed up, and that is not a good sign that he will be able to fulfill his contract. The good news is it is really not all that serious. They are holding him out of the rest of the year, because they are in last place, and have no shot at the playoffs. They want to come in last place, so they can stockpile some draft picks, so keeping out their franchise goalie is a smart move. Still, that contract is fucking stupid.

-BMack

Bruins vs. Islanders Preview

The Islanders (12-27-4) are a joke. They haven't won a game in 2009, and they are not going to win tonight with the Bruins (32-7-4) in town. Boston is battered, bruised, but yet somehow are able to keep winning. Eventually I think the Bruins will slow at some point, but this Islanders team is so bad that it will not start tonight.

The good news is that the Bruins should have Lucic back after this game, and they will need him when they face the Capitals. The Islanders are just as beat up as the Bruins, and are playing without their franchise goalie DiPietro (BU grad), forwards Doug Weight and Mike Sillinger, defenseman Andy Sutton. On top of all that they just lost their backup goalie Joey MacDonald. Basically this is going to be a cake walk for the Bruins 33rd win.

-BMack