This game wasn't as exciting as Thursday night's. But it could be more important. The B's are starting a 5 game road trip, and they got it off to a good start with a win, despite having never led the game.
The two goals they allowed were unfortunate and maybe a bit unlucky. Kampfer made a bad decision and gave the puck away, which David Booth turned into a goal. Florida's 2nd came off a freaky deflection that probably came off a high-stick, but we'll have to wait for the Zapruder Film to be declassified to determine that with certainty.
Krejci scored both the Bruins' goals, giving him 7 on the season. Which is a little low. Hopefully, as he continues to gel with new linemates Wheeler and Ryder, he'll be able to make more plays for himself. He scored 22 in 08-09, and 17 last season. There's no reason he shouldn't be scoring 20 goals every year. He has the awareness, he has the skills.
The Bruins still need to improve their neutral zone play, particularly their breakout. On Krejci's 2nd goal, the forwards did a good job of coming back to the defensemen, like receivers cutting back to their pressured quarterback. That opened up space in the zone, and allowed for a great entry, with possession, with speed, and with angles.
Guess what, the Bruins are now tied with the Canadiens atop the division, which elevates them from the 8th seed to the 3rd seed. They have a big test tonight against the Southeast leading Lightning.
The Bruins came out last game, and played with the fire we've been wanting to see all season. The question is why don't we see it all the time? Tonight, the Bruins need to prove that they are going to play this hard game in and game out. I am skeptical to say the least.
The Bruins have used strong third periods to defeat the Florida Panthers twice this season heading into the teams' third matchup tonight. I really think that the Panthers are a terrible team, so the Bruins should win tonight. The key, as always, will be how the offense does. We know the goaltending and defense will be good, but the Bruins offense has been inconsistent to say the least.
The key is their play making centers. If they can setup guys like Horton and Lucic then this offense has a chance to be dangerous, but if they struggle to move the breakout along they won't be putting much in the way of points on the board. Like I said I think the Panthers blow, so the Bruins win easily tonight.
Bruins win 5-1 Player of the Game: Lucic Game starts 7:30pm on NESN.
Milan Lucic scored a hat-trick last night, which gives him 10 on the season. That surpasses his total for all of 09-10, and he's got more than a good chance at beating his career best of 17 set the season prior. Yet he wasn't the top performer of the night. Tuukka Rask stopped 41 shots en route to a shutout, and his first win of the season.
For good chunks of this game, the Panthers were just a bit better than the Bruins. The Panthers also had 10 minutes worth of Power Play time. Tuukka kept the game even, then kept it at 1-0 for about 30 minutes, waiting for Lucic to explode.
The big difference for Lucic this season has been his skating. He's moving around, getting to pucks, crashing the net. That's how he scored all 3 of his goals (it was a "natural hat-trick" by the way, which means he scored all three in a row, uninterrupted by another player's scoring), by getting himself in position to make plays.
He's also developed a nice in-stride shot. His goals are rarely pretty, but they're never ugly. Being with a guy like Nathan Horton seems to help too. He had an assist on all three of Lucic's goals.
Lucic stands at +12, with 10 goals, and 7 assists. He's only amassed 18 penalty minutes, but that's because he's using his strength to make productive plays, not to send messages. Shawn Thornton can do that quite well.
The Bruins have won 3 straight, but they've hardly faced world-class opposition. Florida have the 5th worst record in the NHL, and the Devils are 3rd worst. The Rangers are tied for 15th in the League.
But wins are wins, hat-tricks are hat-tricks, and shutouts are shutouts. The LA Kings (5th best record) come to town Saturday night.
The Panthers are looking for their 3rd straight road win in a row, but it won't come easy against a Bruins team that is riding a hot start to the season (10-5-1). Horton/Campbell get to face their old team, while this will be also the first time Wideman gets to come back to Boston. I am sure the crowd will boo him, because of how terrible he was last year, but whatever.
I think the Bruins will win tonight, but Rask is most likely going to be in net tonight, and they are playing at home (3-4-1), two things that haven't been good things for the Bruins this year. Rask is 0-4-1 with a 2.75 GAA, he hasn't played as bad as his record indicates, but he also hasn't been close to what he was last year. At least he has been good against the Panthers in the past (1-1 with a 1.45 GAA).
Still, the Bruins are just a much better team, and I can't pick against them.
Bruins win 4-2 Player of the Game: Mark Recchi Game starts at 7pm
The Bruins problem this past season was that they didn't have anyone to put the puck in the net. The hot rumor today is that they are trying to fix that by trading for Florida's Nathan Horton. Horton is a 20 goal scorer, who has put up as many as 30 goals in a season. His goal totals have gone down each of the last 4 years, but he is only 25 years old, and I think the Bruins could be buying low here.
If the Bruins are healthy, and can add Horton plus another winger through the draft (Hall) the offense should be much improved. The Bruins have the playmakers at center (Krejci, Bergeron, Savard) to setup guys for big season (like Kessel before he was traded).
There is no word on what the Bruins would give up here, but according to one source this deal is on there verge of being completed. There have been rumors that Wheeler is on the block, but the Bruins also have a bunch of draft picks in this draft, so I could see them trading one of them (just not the 2nd overall pick).
***UPDATE***
TSN's Bob McKenzie has tweeted that a deal that would send Panthers' forward Nathan Horton to the Bruins is a "done deal." Details regarding other pieces in the deal remain unknown. A source told WEEI.com Sunday night that Horton expected to be traded and that the Bruins were one of a few teams close to acquiring him. TSN's Darren Dreger is reporting the deal is Horton and another Panther in exchange for one Bruins player.
The Bruins were hosting the 12th place Florida Panthers, playing against their backup goalie, coming off a big win in New Jersey. Everything on paper said the B's would bag 2 points. But this team has defied logic, reason, and continuity all season long.
What makes this defeat really sting is that both the Flyers and Thrashers lost. Even if the B's had managed only 1 point, they would've shot up to 6th place, with a 3 point cushion over Atlanta. As it is, it's back to 8th.
The Bruins are 9th in the NHL in shots per game at 31.5. Not bad. Yet they're 30th in goals per game, at 2.36. That translates to a 7.87% shooting percentage. That's not good.
Not only did the B's get 36 shots on net last night, they had 31 shots blocked by the Panthers. That means they launched 67 shots, only 36 got to the goalie, and 0 got by him. Very few of those 67 shots were of any notable quality. Very token shooting.
The Bruins' shooting strategy seems simple: ready, aim, fire. Only forget the aiming. The Bruins never seem to try to hit a particular area of the goalmouth, they just want to put the puck on net. Which is fine, at times. But there are times when you have to try to go top shelf, or slip through the 5 hole.
And there's nobody on the Bruins who has shown the talent to properly aim his shots, especially within the fraction of a second needed to do it. Let's just go through the Bruins' forwards:
Steve Begin - no way Patrice Bergeron - at times, but needs lots of space and/or a massive target David Krejci - comes the closest Milan Lucic - no hands, self-describes his shooting as "just wanting the shoot the puck as hard as I can." Brad Marchand - nope Daniel Paille - has some skill, but his release isn't fast enough Mark Recchi - pretty much tries to tip it in Michael Ryder - worthless Miroslav Satan - can aim the puck well, just struggles to maintain possession Vladimir Sobotka - nah Marco Sturm - maybe slightly better than Bergeron, but still needs space Blake Wheeler - used to be able to in the 1st half of 08-09, but forgot how Shawn Thornton - nope
But we should be used to games like this one. And in the playoffs, you'll see plenty more.
Bruins @ Maple Leafs Saturday. Another crappy team that the Bruins need to get points from. Because after Toronto, it's Washington (who the Bruins play in Washington twice in their last 4 games).
The Bruins are closing in on a playoff spot, but they need to keep winning. They should tonight, as the Panthers have lost 4 straight, but if tonight is like the rest of the season it won't be as easy as it looks on paper.
With 6 games left in the regular season, Boston, Montreal and Philadelphia all have 82 points to hold down the Eastern Conference's final 3 playoff spots. The Bruins have a 2 point lead and a game in hand on 9th place Atlanta. So, as you can see there is plenty of room to move around in these final 6 games.
Rask will be getting the start tonight, and he has been nothing short of amazing all season (9-4-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average and three shutouts since Feb. 7). Last time out he shoutout the Devils, in a game that went to overtime. That game basically told you everything you need to know about the Bruins. Solid defense, great goaltending, can't score. The Bruins have the best goals against average in the entire NHL, and let's just say Florida isn't anywhere close to that.
So, you would think the Bruins would roll over them tonight, but this has been a strange year, so always expect the unexpected.
The Bruins have acquired defenseman Dennis Seidenberg from Florida. Byron Bitz, who is not on the ice for practice, is said to be involved in this deal. I am actually going to miss Bitz. I am not going to sit here and tell you I know a lot about Dennis Seidenberg, but here what Boston.com is saying...
"Seidenberg has two goals and 21 assists in 62 games this season, averaging 22:54 of ice time per appearance. Seidenberg is a left-handed shot. Seidenberg is earning $2.25 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent at year's end."
The Bruins still need to add a goal scorer, preferably a winger. To do that they are most likely going to have to move some salary. There have been rumors all over the place from Ryder to Tim Thomas being dealt. I guess we will have to wait to see, but after that last game it was obvious Boston has to shake up this team.
While I'm certainly satisfied with the way the Bruins finished their 4 game roadtrip, with a shootout win over Florida, I'm still a bit concerned. One might be tempted to call this victory "finding a way to win." I'm more cynically inclined.
I remember back in October and November. The Bruins would play 30 minutes of good hockey, 30 minutes of bad hockey, and somehow come out on top. That's what happened Saturday night. The team was utterly listless for long stretches of play, struggling with even basic things like moving the puck up the ice out of their own zone.
But Recchi deflected a puck to tie it in the 3rd, Krejci lost his handle on a shootout attempt and it found the 5-hole, then Recchi beat Vokoun for the win. There was as much luck as there was strong play.
I don't mind good luck, especially in a desperate playoff race (the Bruins went from 12th place to 7th in about a week). But it would be nice to see the Bruins remain emotionally balanced for more than 3 games in a row.
They've got time to work on it. About 2 weeks. Bruins host the Canadiens on March 2nd. They'll have 22 regular season games left, an extended sprint to the finish. And lapses like those in Florida cannot be afforded.
The Bruins scored 5 goals on their way to their 3rd win in a row. That's the most goals they've scored since December 23rd. The B's are also on a 5 game point-streak, and haven't been trailing in any of those games.
But it wasn't as pretty as it should have been or could have been.
The first 30 minutes was sheer dominance. The best the Bruins have looked since Game 2 of the season when they crushed Carolina 7-2. They got 21 shots off in the 1st. After the first 7 minutes of play, Tampa Bay didn't get a single puck on net in the opening period.
But in the 2nd, the Bruins only got 5 shots on goal.
Remember Mighty Ducks 3? The Ducks get recruited to play JV hockey for some prep school. In their first game they score like 8 goals, and everyone's real impressed, then they allow 8 goals in the 3rd period. That's what this game reminded me of.
I actually felt worse about the game AFTER the B's scored the 5th goal. The Bruins play awful when they have leads. And the bigger the lead, the worse they play. They lose their focus and the fundamentals breakdown.
Tuukka Rask is not God. He's mortal (unlike Manny Fernandez) and he has flaws. Flaws which can eventually be polished, but they're still there. All the "Tuukka Time" jerks out there are quick as Mercury to point out Tim Thomas' foibles and miscues, so when I criticize Rask, just shutup and deal with it.
He closes up his 5-hole well enough, but he is slow to close it. That comes with being 6' 2". He's not anticipating things well enough. Again, that can improve with experience. He doesn't steer rebounds away as well as some goalies (Thomas). He's wretchedly indecisive handling the puck.
He's the hot goalie, and if a playoff series started tomorrow, I'd want Rask in net because he is the hot goalie. But he is human.
Had the Bruins blown this game, the season would've ended. No exaggeration here. To surrender a 5 goal lead against a playoff competitor, right before going into the Olympic Break. That's utterly devastating. And guys like Derek Morris did their best to sabotage this win.
I wish the Bruins would alter their breakaway strategy. When you're up by 2+ goals, you're going to force turnovers and get odd man rushes up ice. The Bruins fail to score about 99.9% of the time on these rushes. And what they often do is create a rush for the opponent.
It's simple math. You have a 2-on-1 edge going up the ice, that means your opponent has a 4-on-3 advantage behind you (or worse if you're changing lines). So puck possession is precious in these situations. Unless there's a good scoring chance with the goalie out of position, the B's should hang onto the puck and wait for everyone else. Try to set-up a sustained possession, keeping the puck 150 feet from your own net.
When up 3 or 4 goals, the Bruins need to summon their inner Bill Belichick and "run up the score." The best way to protect a lead is to add to it.
Despite the near tragedy, a win is a win is a win. Michael Ryder looked confident for the first time this season. I think going against Nittymaki, who he's owned in the past, was a good opportunity for him to once again find that scorer's mentality.
Oh, and fuck Steve Downie. Guys like this just piss me off. He tries to fight with Satan, who has been in 2 fights in his 14 year career (Thanks Hockeyfights.com!) Then he instigates Chara by punching him in the back of the head, then Chara turns his 6' 9" 250 pound body around, and suddenly Downie shrinks and turtles.
If you don't want to fight Chara, who is nearly a foot taller and has 50 pounds on you, then don't strike him in the back of the neck. Don't pull on Superman's cape.
Although the whole thing reminded me of this video...
Bruins end their Florida excursion Saturday night against the Panthers. Why does Florida have 2 teams and Wisconsin has 0?
Believe it or not, the Panthers are decent. They're floating around that 8th spot in the Conference. Beating them on the road is a nice little snack.
Tim Thomas was outstanding. He allowed a weird goal that came off a bad-angle shot and found the .01% of the post side that Thomas didn't have covered. It was a shot meant to create a juicy rebound, but sometimes guys get lucky.
After that, he was like Dominek Hasek out there. I've seen much better outings by him, this year and last, especially in terms of positioning. But his athleticism atoned for those shortcomings in anticipation.
Ryder tipped in the Bruins' first goal, his 10th of the year. Sturm's game-winner was his team-leading 11th. Sturm's speed coupled with Savard's vision and touch will make for a deadly combination once the two spend enough time together to figure everything out.
The Bruins registered another fine defensive performance. Tim Thomas was stellar in net, the defensemen broke up play after play, and forwards like Bergeron and Bitz were outstanding in their own zone.
Offensively, not so bad, believe it or not. I know, I know, 0 goals is 0 goals. But the Bruins put 40 shots on Tomas Vokoun. And he had an amazing game himself, made no mistakes. And these weren't a sloppy 40 shots either. In my book, if you get 40 shots on net, you've at least had a decent offensive night.
One thing that worried me was that some Bruins lost their patience in the 3rd period. Michael Ryder exhibited none in the final period or the overtime. He tried some silly behind-the-back pass, and several times his attempted fanciness triggered Panther counterattacks. If not for teammates who were playing excellent Hockey 101, Ryder would have cost the Bruins the game.
Another shootout loss. The Bruins are 2-3 in OT/SO. But they were 7-10 last year, so this is hardly a new trend. Michael Ryder's fancyboy play was contagious, spreading to Blake Wheeler and Patrice Bergeron in the shootout.
When it was announced that Chara would shoot 3rd, I was happy. I figured he'd just rear back, and let loose with a 105 MPH slap-shot. Sort of like a closer throwing a high fastball. "If you get this, good for you." Instead, even Chara fell victim to impatience and fanciness.
And it simply wasn't intelligent shooting by Wheeler, Bergeron, Chara, and Ryder. They tried to get Vokoun to make a mistake and get out of position. That's something he hadn't done on 40 previous shots. Wheeler actually did get Vokoun to move, but couldn't execute.
It's frustrating, but worrying about shootout wins is something to do in February and March, not November. The goals will come, they'll come from solid defensive play, so long as the forwards remain patient. For now, just credit Vokoun with an outstanding performance and we can all move on to the next game. Which is at Pittsburgh Saturday night.
You do have to feel for Tim Thomas though. In his last 6 games, he's allowed 6 goals, and has only 1 win. He's in Pedro Martinez in 2001 territory now.
The Bruins have finally won back-to-back games, and it is even more impressive since they did it against two teams that are leading their respective divisions. The Panthers have been struggling of late, so this is a great time for the Bruins to go on a little bit of a run, which could continue even longer with players like Lucic and Savard getting closer to rejoining the team.
Boston has been even better defensively lately, allowing eight goals in the last seven games. The offense isn't anything special, but they have simplified the game, and are doing a good job of being there for those "garbage goals". The Bruins won't blow anyone out, but with the defense they have been playing lately they don't need to.
Saying that there are still some things I want to see from the Bruins tonight. For one, I would like to see Krejci get it going. He doesn't have a point in his last 5 games. I know he is coming back from swine flu, but he needs to get it going, especially with the Bruins shot on forwards. Ryder is another guy that needs to get it going. He has been held without a point for the last 9 games!!! Unacceptable....hopefully tonight is when those two can get it going.
The Bruins have been horrible lately after cruising for most of the season. Boston is currently on a 1-4-2 slide, and it can basically be contributed to the lack of offense. The Bruins are getting their shots, but they are not finishing the play. Boston hopes to change that tonight as they get Ryder back as they face the Panthers.
Coach Julien thinks Boston has just hit a rough patch, and they really just need some luck on their side. He referenced the fact that Boston has outshot their last three opponents by a combined 118-96 margin, totaling a season-high 43 shots to the Lightning's 18 on Sunday. Basically, the Bruins need a finisher. Kessel finally got his first goal in a long time last game, and hopefully that is a sign of things to come, as earlier in the year he was on pace to score 50 goals. Players like Savard, Krejci, Kessel, and Ryder really need to step up and put up some points.
Florida is one of the teams that have beaten the Bruins recently, and they came from great goaltending. I expect the Bruins to come out strong in front of their home crowd and kill this team. Expect at least a 4 goal performance from the Bruins, as they bring Florida back down to Earth.
The Bruins threw 41 shots at Vokoun and the Panthers, but it wasn't enough to put a single goal on the board as they lost 2-0. Boston had plenty of chances, but Vokoun had the game of his life, which was capped off with a leg first sliding safe to stuff a Bergeron wraparound.
Florida is now 14-5-3 since the new year, and their goaltending has been amazing. It was 0-0 going in to the final period, but that didn't last long as the Panthers scored less then 2 mins into the period. Boston once again had a hard time getting out of their zone on the breakout. It seems like their wings are playing way to low. Still, if you have 41 shots you should at least have a couple goals. Boston had lost its ability to finish a play, and I bet you will hear a lot more about how the Bruins need to trade for a finisher. Anyways Bruins play again today at 5pm against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Manny Fernandez was outstanding last night stopping all 27 shots he faced, as the Bruins rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Panthers. The win ended the Panthers 3 game winning streak, while the Bruins have now won 4 in a row. Phil Kessel has some streaks of his own going, he scored in five straight games and has six goals in those games (1 goal against the Panthers). He also owns the NHL's longest current point streak (11 games).
The Bruins easily dominated this game, even with all the injuries. It was good to see Wideman, who missed last game, back on the ice. The name that people need to start remembering is David Krejci. If you don't watch the Bruins, you probably have no idea who this kid is, but he has been a big reason for a lot of the Bruins' success. He has 23 points already this season, and had 3 assists last night.
The Bruins next game in Monday vs Tampa Bay in Boston. Looks like another easy win for the Bruins.
The Bruins keep winning, but they have been having to deal with a lot of injuries, specially on defense. Already missing Andrew Ference due to a fractured right tibia, the Bruins are now having to play without Aaron Ward (leg) and Dennis Wideman. Yet, the Bruins keep plugging away, largely due to great goaltending (Boston leads the league with a 2.08 team goals-against average), and the play of players like Phil Kessel. Kessel is on pace for 50 goals this season, and lately has been carrying this team offensively. You have to love the fact that he is only 21 years old, and it just goes to show you how deep and young this team really is.
The Panthers have been good team at home this season (6-3-2). This might look like an easy game on paper, but Florida is playing much better lately, and are riding a 3 game winning streak going into tonight. Still, I think the Bruins will come out with a win tonight, because the Bruins have better goaltending, and won both games last year that they had to play in Florida.
