And I had the privilege of being there to witness it.
But, the boys did make a good comeback, and taking a point out of this game is
something to be proud of. However, this team never should have let itself get
in that big of a hole to begin with.
There really isn't much to write about this game, but to me this game set this
team apart from last year's version, which is why I disagreed with Kevin Paul
Dupont's Globe article (see Game 32's post) in the first place. This isn't last
year's team, this team has some pride and has a coach who will not let his team
show him up with a stinking performance.
A loss is a loss, but this team showed that it had some pride and some fight in
them by stealing a point from the Penguins.
Hopefully, the B's can learn something from their performance tonight, and put
together a good performance on Saturday, when I'll be there to witness the
return of old friend Brad Boyes, who scored his 20th goal tonight and is on
pace for 50+.
Tying this game up after being down 4-0 makes me feel good about this team, and
this was one point that was certainly hard earned.
Also, credit Zdeno Chara for attempting to light a fire under his team with two "fights" against Penguins' enforcer and league-renowned tough guy, Georges Laraque. While neither of the two bouts were much in the way of fights, Chara showed that he is able to take control of his team and do something to get them going, even if it means putting one's health on the line. Kudos to Chara for trying to get his team to show some "fight".
Speaking of fights, the Crosby-Ference fight was decent. It's ridiculous that Ference got the additional two minutes for roughing, considering that Crosby was punching at him before the fight began too. Of course, Crosby is the Golden Child, and can do no wrong. Ference got cut from the visor on his own helmet, not from a Crosby punch. Both TSN and ESPN are saying he fought to "at least a draw", which I guess I could agree with. I'm glad Ference fought him, and Chara threw some hits against him. I actually like the Penguins, and like Crosby and Malkin, just not when they're playing the Bruins.
Speaking of Malkin, he really is an amazing player. He is an incredibly strong skater, and seems to have some serious chemistry with his linemate Crosby. I remember first hearing of Malkin in the Olympics a few years back, and it's been great to see him develop into such a talented player. Again, however, not against the Bruins.
Go B's Go.
GOALS
Boston- Marco Sturm (11), PJ Axelsson (5), Petteri Nokelainen (3),
Dennis Wideman (4)
Pittsburgh- Evgeni Malkin (12,13), Sidney Crosby (16), Erik Christensen
(4)
SAVES
Boston- Tim Thomas, 25 saves on 29 shots
Pittsburgh- Ty Conklin, 37 saves on 41 shots
NEXT GAME: Saturday, December 22 vs. St. Louis Blues, 1:00 PM EST
The Alex Auld show rolled into Buffalo tonight, with the B's looking for their second straight win over a Northeast division opponent. The HSBC Arena has not been kind to the B's in recent years, as Sabres goalie Ryan Miller had never lost to the B's in that arena, and had never allowed more than 3 goals in any of those games. However, this was all in the past, and the B's showed no signs of letting Miller continue his streak. They jumped out to an early 2-1 lead, and ended up outlasting the Sabres to get that second straight win, 4-1. I missed the first period due to a final exam, but was pleased to see that they had jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
From what I saw, the B's, and Auld in particular, played really well. Auld was huge in the net, and seemed to be in the right place at the right time for every Sabres' scoring chance. It seemed like Milan Lucic played one of his best games of the season so far, and was on the scoresheet with two assists. Phil Kessel showed some flashes of his great speed again, and seemed to have an extra jump in his step tonight. The defense played well also, not allowing too many odd man rushes or any good shooting lanes. The B's had a great penalty kill early in the second after Matt Hunwick took a tripping penalty, and kept the Sabres off of the board with some good, hard work, from PJ Axelsson in particular.
The offense seemed to be pretty strong too, generating some good scoring chances with hard work deep in the zone. Overall, a great game from the B's, and great to see Alex Auld get another big win for the team. On to Atlanta we go...
GOALS
Boston- Marc Savard (6), PJ Axelsson (4), Peter Schaefer (5), Glen Metropolit (7)
Buffalo- Jaroslav Spacek (7)
SAVES
Boston- Alex Auld, 44 saves on 45 shots
Buffalo- Ryan Miller, 17 saves on 21 shots
NEXT GAME: Wednesday, December 12 @ Atlanta Thrashers, 7 PM EST
This is starting to look familiar, and starting to get verrrrrrrrrry annoying. The Canadiens coming out and sticking it to the Bruins, looking faster, sharper and more skilled in every aspect of the game. I was at this game, just like the last time the Canadiens were here, and wanted my money back after the first period. It was probably the worst period of hockey this team has played all season. Just absolutely terrible. Positives? The only positive to be taken from this period was that it was only 3-0. ONLY 3-0??? That says a lot about how bad it was...
Fortunately, the Bruins were playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde hockey, and came out looking like a new team in the second period. They were shooting, hitting, buzzing the net, getting physical, and putting pressure on Montreal's rookie netminder, Carey Price. They cut the lead to 3-2 in what was probably their best period of hockey all season, and actually had a third slide in the net after a whistle. It was questionable whether or not it was a quick whistle, but ultimately looked like the right call. So after one crappy period and one stellar period, the B's found themselves down just 3-2, with all of the momentum on their side.
However, the Canadiens seemed to lock down, and the B's really didn't get much going offensively in the third. They seemed to be content protecting a one goal lead, and did a good job of it. They did finally go on the attack, however, and Andrew Alberts looked like one of the old MBTA turnstiles on Mathieu Dandenault's third period-icer. Game over. I couldn't get out of that place fast enough, as the Bruins seem bent on making losing to the Habs a habit (no pun intended).
Rask played shakily in this game. The fourth goal wasn't really his fault, as my friend said Dandenault had him "dead to rights", and I agree with that assessment. Others, however, were a little shaky. Five hole goals, bad rebounds- Rask wasn't on his game tonight, but everyone has an off night. Phil Kessel's play is starting to annoy me as well. He continues to try and dance into the offensive zone, deking through 3 players only to lose the puck. This has drawn him the unfavorable comparisons to........Sergei Samsonov. Uh-ohhhhhhhh...Fortunately, he has improved his defensive play, and seems to get the message whenever Claude Julien gets tough with him. He better be tough with the whole team after this one, as the B's are back on the road against a hot Toronto team on Saturday night, and can't afford to start going on a skid now.
The Bruins came out pretty flat in the second game of this home and home series, and honestly deserved this loss. They were winning most of the game, but were unable to hold off the Isles offensive attack, and were unable to do much down in Rick DiPietro's end. This was a very frustrating game to watch as a Bruins fan, because they couldn't get anything going, and it almost felt like it was only a matter of time before the B's lost the lead.
As far as bright spots, there weren't many. It was good to see PJ Axelsson get on the board again, on a great pass from Marc Savard. Tim Thomas played another pretty good game, but the Andy Hilbert goal was pretty soft. He should have had that one. Other than that, this game sucked for the Bruins. Claude Julien said the B's were "outworked", and that's kind of an understatement. The players are in for one hell of a practice after this one.
GOALS
Boston- PJ Axelsson (2)
New York- Andy Hilbert (1), Richard Park (2)
SAVES
Boston- Tim Thomas, 27 saves on 29 shots
New York- Rick DiPietro, 20 saves on 21 shots
NEXT GAME: Monday, November 26, @ Philadelphia Flyers, 7:00 PM EST
This game marked the long-awaited debut of the Bruins goalie phenom, Tuukka Rask. The 20 year old Finn had been up and down from Providence for a week, leading many to wonder whether or not he was even going to make a start. Well, he got one, and veeeeeeeeeery interestingly, against Toronto, in Toronto. Hmmmm. Toronto traded Rask to the Bruins for Andrew Raycroft in the summer of 2006, and Rask made his first start against the Leafs? Supposedly this was all a coincidence, but it seems more like the Bruins showing the Leafs the cool new toy that they got rid of. Either way, it was good to finally see the kid in net.
The first thing I noticed was that Rask is pretty small in the net. He isn't a big guy, standing at around 6 foot 3 inches, 160-70 pounds. However, his instincts seem to be amazing. He was never caught out of position, and seemed to always know exactly where to move next. He also was amazingly calm and collected, never looking rattled or like he didn't have control over a situation. He has great reflexes too, and is very quick. He'd flash out his pads to make a leg save, and in what seemed like a nanosecond, be back on his feet, ready to glove the next puck. Overall, he seems like he's very skilled, and very grounded. This kid should be a joy to watch in the very near future.
As far as the goals he allowed, both of them were fluky. The first goal was deflected twice, and the second one was like a knucklepuck from Mats Sundin. Both goals scored on Rask were last touched by Bruins players, making it hard to criticize Tuukka for either of them. He got a lot of the first one, but it trickled through his arm. The Sundin goal looked like it just took off on him, and people at the game described it as moving like a knuckleball or curveball. Overall, Tuukka played excellently, and only added to the anticipation, as Bruins fans now got a taste of what should be a very exciting future.
As far as the rest of the game, I actually found it really boring. Two friends I was watching with actually fell asleep, and I wasn't too far behind. I attribute this to the Leafs' style of play, which I can't fault them for. They played this stifling, slow, trap kind of game against Ottawa the other night, and emerged with a 3-0 win against one of the best teams in the league. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
The game was slow and chippy, with neither team really able to get much going. Phil Kessel's goal was the result of a strong effort by the B's, as well as a few failed clear attempts on the part of the Leafs. It was good to see PJ Axelsson finally get on the board for the season, and even better that it came as the game tying goal. Chuck Kobasew, who is quickly becoming this team's best offensive weapon, scored the next two to give the B's their first win of the season when trailing going into the third.
Hopefully, this is the start o####ood stretch for the B's, as they came out of their stretch of Northeast division games standing in 3rd place in the division, only 3 points behind Montreal. Rask may not get another start anytime soon, but he certainly came up with the effort the B's needed this time around.
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.
