This was another game that I didn't see much of, and I wish I had missed what I did see. From what I heard on the broadcast, the B's came out horribly flat, and trailed after the first on two goals from Vincent Lecavalier, who is quickly becoming the premier player in the game (if not at the top already). They came out pretty slow again in the second, but managed to cut the lead in half on a power play strike from the still-streaking Glen Murray. However, any momentum was killed on a goal from Tampa's Mathieu Darche with under a minute to go in the second. That was, essentially the game right there. The B's climbed back in it, only to let Tampa take the game but with seconds to go in the middle period.
I'm not really sure what to attribute this poor performance to, as it shouldn't be fatigue. Every team has off nights, and maybe this was the Bruins. In some of the pregame notes by the Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa, he said that this Tampa team had lost 6 in a row, and was bound to bust out soon. Unfortunately, they did it against the B's, led by Lecavalier's 4 point night (though, to be an optimist, Lecavalier is on my Fantasy Hockey team. The glass is half full.)
This would have been a big win for the B's, as they are surely in for another tough game against the men from Long Island tomorrow. As of the time I write this (Sunday night), the B's have 28 points, and sit at 6th place in the East. They are 6 points behind the plummeting Ottawa Senators in the Northeast Division, but are also only 4 points from 14th place in the conference. The East is packed tight right now, and should make for an interesting season.
As far as this coming week, we should see Tuukka Rask again at some point. The B's have a full slate this week, with games Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'm going to the Thursday game against Montreal, and would love to see a Tuukka-Cary Price matchup. It'd also be cool to be at Rask's first home start, but we'll have to wait and see.
Hopefully the B's can get back on track Monday night, as they have a big week coming up. We'll know a lot more about this team a week from now.
GOALS
Boston- Glen Murray (7)
Tampa Bay- Vincent Lecavalier (17,18), Mathieu Darche (3), Martin St. Louis (9)
SAVES
Boston- Tim Thomas, 24 saves on 28 shots
Tampa Bay- Johan Holmqvist, 28 saves on 29 shots
NEXT GAME: Monday, December 3rd @ NY Islanders, 7:00 PM
I'm a 20 year old kid from Dorchester, MA, who one day hopes to be a sportswriter for a big time newspaper, and figure this is a good place to start. I'm in college at Suffolk in downtown Boston now, and it's awesome. I love all sports, with the Bruins and Red Sox being my favorite teams, thought I'm also a big Patriots and Celtics fan. I think it's ridiculous how no one in this town cares about the Bruins anymore. I like college sports too, no particular teams, especially any big bowl games and March Madness. I hate fairweather fans, especially everyone who jumped on the Sox bandwagon in 2004. The "pink hats" and "OMG Varitek's so hot!!" drive me crazy, just like anyone else who's a real baseball fan. Pick a team, know the players, stay loyal and be a real fan- in good times and in bad.
