Game Uno!

          So after getting some rest after last night’s Bruins loss, I've come to the conclusion that the Bruins are going to win this series in 6 games.  Last night game wasn't won by the Canadiens, yes they did score twice on Thomas, but if not for the Bruins playing flat hockey throughout most of the game and the pathetic 31 shots on Price that just happened to hit him in the chest, the B's could of put up a better fight.   The Bruins DID NOT play to their potential and lost that game on stupid turnovers and lousy play in the defensive zone. 
            The Montreal Canadiens on the other hand played their hearts out last night and I don't think they could've played any better.  They were playing tight defense and blocking shots before Price had to make the big save, offensively they took advantage of the Bruins turnovers and scored twice.  With some questionable calls on the Bruins, for example the dive, oops I mean "hooking call" on Krejci drawn by P.K.Suppan, which by the way I gave an 8 for show, or maybe the phantom interference call late in the second period on Marchand drawn by Plekanec (the puck was in his vicinity).  The power play for the Candiens wasn't that great thanks to the penalty kill of the Bruins going 0-4. The Bruins power play was also HORRIBLE going 0-3 and couldn't get ANYTHING going.
           Both Canadien goals were scored by former Boston College Eagle, Brian Gionta, who after having a not so great season decided to wake up last night.  The Bruins did have a few good chances, none bigger than the open net miss by Marchand with a nice pass from Kaberle; Marchand also had a breakaway late in the first period that he just couldn't get past Price's pad.
          For Saturday night’s game I really hope that Claude decides to scratch either Ryder or Paille, who both played miserable last night, and put in the kid who will help on the power play and maybe give the Bruins a spark.

3rd Star = Thomas
2nd Star = N/A
1st Star = N/A

Disappointment = Power Play and all 12 Forwards

Till Next Time,
The B's Knees

Bring on the Habs

              So the Bruins are playing the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs Eh.  After Montreal's win against the Maple Leafs last night they clinched the sixth seed and the Flyers beat out the Islanders so they clinched the second seed, meaning that the Bruins will stay in third place and have to play the Montreal Canadiens. 
            Too say the least its going to be an EXCITING series between these two teams, with so many story lines, the most recent would be of the Max Pacioretty hit.  Sports talk radio is going to have a field day with this series and maybe we will even hear Felger and Mazz go at it again with Canadian sports talk stations.  A couple of question’s I have is, in game three of the series, Will Big Z get silver bracelets as soon as the plane lands in Montreal?  Or, Will the Montreal Police Department distract Big Z with stupid questions enough to distract his game?  Will the Bruins have to sleep in the Bell Centre so that the dumb-ass Canadien fans don't do anything stupid to ANY of the Bruins players?  We will soon find out enough.  With the playoff schedule being released later this afternoon, I can't wait to be at Game 1 Wednesday or Thursday rooting for my beloved Bruins.
          Playoff Beard FREE.
          Bruins tickets to Game 1?  $110.00/each.
          Watching the Bruins kick the Canadiens ass PRICELESS.....

Till Next Time
The B's Knees

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Islanders

           Am I the only person who can't wait for the playoffs to begin?  With 3 games remaining in the regular season (thank god) the Bruins as of late seem to be " Coasting ", their games as of late have been boring.  I mean the Rangers game was kind of exciting in the 1st period but then got really boring I thought.
             Here are some stats before tonight's game.  Tim Thomas is 4-1-1 in the last 6 games with a G.A.A of 1.48 and a save percentage of .947.  Zdeno Chara in the last 10 games has 2 goals, 5 assists, and is a +10.  These 2 players have been IRON as of late and the Bruins will go as far as these 2 players can take them.  I realize it's not fair to put so much pressure on just 2 players but it's the truth.  If Thomas plays as well as he has been playing ALL season long they have a GREAT chance at winning the cup.  If Chara continues to be the shut down defenseman that he is and does what he does best which is stop opposing superstars from being superstars than we will win the cup. That's just my opinion.
               Now to tonight's game versus the New York Islanders,  In kind of a redemption game for the Bruins, after losing a 3 goal lead on Monday night to the Rangers, the B's I would think would of liked to come out tonight and play with a little more heart and effort.  They came out strong tonight in the offensive zone and neutral zone with some good passing and quality shots on net, and in the defensive end the Islanders seemed to be also moving the puck cleanly and beating the D-men to pucks in the corners and if not for the great goaltending of Thomas the Bruins would of been down early. Rick DiPietro also made some nice stops tonight keeping the Islanders close all game long.  With .08 seconds left in the first period Shawn Thornton in his 1st game back since he got a " skate to the forehead " game scored on a rebound. Thomas with 15 saves and DiPietro with 14 saves in the first both had strong periods keeping their teams in it.
                 Second period was again all about the offense on both side of the ice.  Michael Grabner got the Islanders on the board with a power play goal 3 minutes into the period to tie the game at 1. About 6 minutes later the Bruins scored 2 goals in a minute and 30 seconds, first was by Seidenberg on a shot from the point that went five hole on DiPietro, and the second was the Bruins FIRST 4 on 4 goal of the season scored on a nice play by Campbell.  It seems that the B's power play of old is back allowing Grabner to score a shorthand goal with 5 minutes left in the 2nd to make it a 1 goal game.  The power play went 0-3 tonight including a 5-3 in the first period.  It looked like the power play missed Tyler Seguin tonight, not getting anything going.
                  Third period was back and forth hockey with not many shot on net, the Islanders had 4 shots this period and the Bruins with 8.  The B's did come out strong with most of their shots coming early but nothing getting past DiPietro.  It's worth saying that tonight's best line was the 4th line of Thornton, Campbell, Paille scoring 2 out of the 3 goals tonight, and playing extremely well keeping the puck in the offensive zone getting chance after chance and beating out the Islander is every which way.

Quote of the night by Jack Edwards after a great save by Thomas.  " It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the Vezina trophy winner " I love it...

3rd Star = Greg Campbell
2nd Star = Tim Thomas
1st Star  = Shawn Thornton

Disappointment = First line of Lucic, Horton & Krejci and also the Power Play

Till Next Time,

Rangers

             So with the Rangers trying to stay in the playoff race and most likely clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight, I would think they would of came out flying, even after a shootout win last night versus the Flyers.  I was wrong, they came out flat while the Bruins came out flying and having their way with Lundqvist, scoring the first 3 goals of the game Paille and Horton in the first period and Kelly got his first goal as a Bruin ten minutes into the 2nd period.  With the Bruins starting to ease up their play with a 3-0 lead the Rangers picked their game up and the Bruins allowed Vinny Prospal to score a pair of goals and have the Rangers trail by 1 going into the third.
              With a horrible defensive game tonight, other than the first period, the Bruins allowed 3 more goals in the 3rd period and lost to the Rangers 5-3, the fifth goal on an empty net.  Tim Thomas definitely had an off night tonight along with the rest of the team.  The B's got caught sleeping tonight after that 3-0 lead and the Rangers capitalized.
              The B's had a chance tonight to come within 2 points of the Flyers and Capitals for 1st place in the East tonight but just couldn't come through. Oh well, as long as they perform in the playoffs and get us to the promise land and bring Lord Stanley home to Boston all will be well.        
              The Bruins power play has looked lousy the past 6 games, not sure if it's the lack of opportunities or just playing like crap.  They are 2 for the last 10 on power play chances and both goals came against the Flyers.  Some people would say that could be because they aren't moving their legs and aren't creating penalties and other people would say the damn zebras are closing their eyes when it comes to Bruins opponents.  I think its a little bit of both. 
              Goal tending for the Bruins has been REMARKABLE, (not including tonight).  With allowing only 9 goals in the previous 5 games for a stunning G.A.A of 1.80, and stopping 134 out of 144 shots.

3rd Star = Paille
2nd Star = Chara
1st Star = N/A

Disappointment = Tim Thomas

Till Next Time,
The B's Knees         

Leafs!

 With a win tonight the Bruins could clinch the top spot in the Northeast and possibly send Toronto back home with nothing to look forward too, officially. 

First period the Bruins offense came out dead, looking tired and uninterested with only 9 shots on net, none of which were quality shots.  Toronto got on the board first with a goal scored off of Kaberle's knee and trickled through Thomas for a 1-0 lead.   In between somebody must of said something that lit the Bruins asses on fire, because they came out FLYING.  They were playing great hockey getting good quality shots on net and even scored the tying goal shorthanded on a great play by Marchand 2 minutes into the period.  Less than 1 minute later Krejci scored to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead on some nice passing from Horton and Lucic.

With the physical play picking up in this period the Bruins seemed to have the edge winning battles in the corner and against the boards.  Toronto would come back to tie the game at 2 with a power play goal by Lupul.  But not long after the Bruins would once again take the lead 3-2 on a shot from the point by Ference.  That would be the last of the scoring in this period but the aggressiveness picked up as the period continued with back and forth confrontations and lot of pushing after whistles.  At this point I'm just waiting for Lucic to grab Komisarek and break some teeth, sorry didn't happen.  

 In the 3rd period not sure what really happened, the Bruins came out slow again, worse than the first period.  They once again seemed uninterested with a 3-2 lead.  Not playing well with the lead as of late you would think that they would learn their lesson, NOPE.  8 minutes into the period Lupul scores his second of the night and tied the game at 3.  Let me just say after regulation the Bruins did not score on the power play going 0-3. Overtime here we come!

 Last chance to knock these Leafs out of the playoff race for good.  After a bullshit of a call Gunnarsson was given a penalty shot on a great play by Kampfer to keep Gunnarsson on one side of the ice and have Thomas make a good save.  Lucky for the Bruins Thomas stopped Gunnarsson and kept the B's alive.  The Bruins had one more shot on the power play after a slash by Toronto that broke Kaberle's stick right in half.  And once again could not score. Overtime was over and Toronto and Boston go into a shootout.  1 goal was scored in the shoot out and UNfortunately it wasn't Boston.

The Capitals won tonight in overtime.  Looks like the Bruins will end up 3rd in the East, being 3 points behind Washington.


3rd Star = Thomas
2nd Star = Marchand
1st Star = Lucic


Disappointment = Power Play going 0-4 tonight and couldn't get anything going until the overtime chance.


Till Next Time,
The B's Knees

      

Blackbirdies!

          I would like to apologize to my readers for not blogging the past couple of games over the weekend, unfortunately I had to work all day on both days and just didn't have the energy to watch the replay on DVR, but anyways I'm back
          Supposedly I missed a couple of good games, a 1-0 loss to the Rangers who have been on fire as of late, also which Hendrik Lundqvist won that game single handed making 26 saves.  Then on Sunday a 2-1 victory over the Flyers who are 1st in the East and hasn't lost a game in regulation in the previous ten games, and with that victory clinched a playoff spot.  So the playoff beard begins now!
           Let's get to tonight's game versus the Blackhawks.  Not really paying much attention to LAST years Stanley Cup champion this year I really had no clue who their goalie was or how good he really is.  I mean we all know Toews, Sharp, Kane, Hossa, Keith but nobody really realized that this kid, Corey Crawford, was this good.  He made some GREAT saves early in this game keeping the Blackhawks in the game. Up until half way through the 2nd when Chara scored to make it 1-0, Crawford was unbelievable.  About 2 minutes after the Chara goal another defense man scored for the Bruins to make it 2-0, Boychuk.  Both goals were deflected in by Chicago players.  On the other side of the ice Timmy T got the start for the Bruins and also played a great game making key saves on what could of been turning points for the Blackhawks.
          One player in particular stood out to me in this game, Patrice Bergeron, after 2 periods he had 7 shots on net, 7 face-offs won, and was a +2 with 13 minutes of ice time.  He really was all over the place and I would say 5 of the 7 shots were good quality shots.  The defense played a good game in front of Thomas making sure that Timmy wasn't in a position where he couldn't make the save, also not letting the Blackhawks get too many scoring chances.  Since that New Jersey game this defense has been really really good.  The Bruins won this game 3-0 on a 3rd period goal by Horton who made a nifty move to get Crawford to make the first move and give Horton a wide open net.  Thomas ended the night with his ninth shutout of the season making 32 saves.  Crawford did have a good game as well making 31 saves on 34 shots.
           It was pretty noticeable that their legs were gone half way through the 2nd period and I realize that the Blackhawks played a tough, hard fought game last night against the Red Wings and went into overtime to win the game, but no excuses, they need every point they can get to stay in the playoff hunt, especially in the Western Conference.

On a side note the Bruins did not have 1 power play tonight, but killed 2.

3rd Star = Bergeron
2nd Star = Chara
1st Star = Thomas

 Disappointment = N/A

Till Nest Time
The B's Knees        
        

Somebody Call 9-1-1

           See what happens when Rene sings the National Anthem?  Ass kicking happens! What a game.  From start to finish the Bruins played a hard fought game. The B's did what they wanted, when they wanted.  They scored 7 goals tonight against a team that needed to win tonight to keep up with the B's in the standing and have a fighting chance for 3rd place.  Carey Price had a horrible, horrible game allowing 5 goals on 33 shots and got pulled early in the 3rd period.  There was absolutely no fight in this game for the Canadiens.
               As for the Bruins, they played the best game of the season tonight, and to say that this late in the season is pretty impressive.  The power play even got going tonight with a goal and looked very impressive peppering the Montreal net with good quality shots.  Horton and Campbell with 2 goals a piece and Chara, Lucic, and Krejci all recorded 3 assists, career highs for Lucic and Chara.  Thomas made 24 saves tonight and got his 25th career shutout tying him with Byron Dafoe for 6 on the All Time Bruins list.  The only player that didn't have a good game tonight according to the birthday boy, Jack Edwards, was Tuuka Rask. 
                Tonight's victory was a team effort.  The B's were playing great in the defensive zone, offensive zone, and the neutral zone, capitalizing on all turnovers.  Not being very physical tonight and playing the way that Montreal plays, making great passes and taking quality shots.  They played Montreal hockey tonight and won. So for the Montreal yahoo's who say that the B's only win when their physical, SUCK IT. For the doubters who said the Bruins couldn't keep up with a fast pace team, SUCK IT. And for those of you who said that the Canadiens were going to win this game, SUCK IT!  We beat the Montreal Canadiens playing THEIR game.  Even on the penalty kill we scored on a 5-3, and killed all 4 of their power plays.
              On a side note the most important part of this game was the 2 points that the Bruins got for the victory.  They are now 5 points ahead of Montreal in the standings with 2 games in hand.  Also as slim as it might be, they do have a fighting chance at 2nd place in the East being only 4 points behind Washington with 1 game in hand.


3rd Star = N/A
2nd Star = N/A
1st Star = The Boston Bruins!


Needless to say no disappointments tonight!


Till Nest Time,
The B's Knees