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 Bruins made their first trip to the "Dirty South", and managed to get their first win against the Thrashers since March of 2006. This was a big game for the B's, as Ottawa won tonight also, so the B's remain 4 points out of the top spot in the Northeast Division.
This was a pretty good game, as the Bruins looked like they were overwhelming Atlanta early on. They managed to take a two goal lead early into the second. Petteri Nokelainen got rewarded for his hard work with the first goal, and Peter Schaefer got himself into good position in front of the net to tip home the second goal.
However, the B's began to fall apart a bit towards the end of the second, thanks mainly to Mark Recchi. His first goal seemed like it could have been saved by Auld the Bald, but in Auld's defense, it was a pretty nice snap shot. The second goal was a beauty, a great tip by Recchi, and there was nothing Auld could have done.
It was good to see the referees try and take control of this game with their ridiculous penalty call on Mark Stuart. Please, Kovalchuk deserved an Oscar for that acting performance. The fact that there was an actual penalty called on that play is ridiculous. The definition of kneeing was read on the air, and it was the act of a player positioning his knee in order to cause harm. Uh...that didn't happen. If you see the replay, Stuart never moved his knee, never turned his foot. He was coming across the ice to play the puck, and collided with Kovalchuk. He was in as much danger of injury there as Kovalchuk was, but because he went down faster than a sack of bricks and leads the league in goals, he got the call. Not only was the penalty a little ridiculous, but a game misconduct? Please, that entire sequence was ridiculous.
That led to a complete momentum shift, and eventually gave Atlanta the lead. The B's penalty kill is absolutely abysmal, and really needs some work. In their defense, it's hard to kill penalties with Wideman and Alberts in the box, and Stuart kicked out of the game, but it still needs a complete overhaul.
Remarkably, Kovalchuk was healthy enough to play on the entire power play! And, wouldn't you know it, he scored the goal! Hooray, another point for the NHL's leading goal man. Thanks, refs.
The B's showed resilience in this one, and answered with the tying goal fairly quickly. Glen Murray continued to put up points after a great pass by Milan Lucic, who just continues to get better with each game.
Speaking of the hulking teenager, Lucic scored the winning goal for his team on a great individual effort. He was knocked down by Bobby Holik, and drew a penalty on the play. He got the puck into the Thrashers' zone, however, and hustled towards the net. On the delayed penalty, Phil Kessel worked hard and got the puck right into the crease, where Lucic tapped it in while falling backwards into the net. A great play from the youngster, and he deserved the goal after working so hard for it.
After that, this game was the Bruins, and they held on down the stretch. There were a couple of close calls with Johan Hedberg on the bench for the extra attacker, but Auld and the defense held their ground, and Marc Savard iced it with his behind the back, no look, empty net goal.
This was Auld's third straight win, and he did have a little trouble with this one. A couple of shaky saves, and maybe a goal that should have been saved, but Auld did his job. He's going to be needed for a while, because Manny Fernandez had surgery and is out for the year. Hopefully, this surgery will be what Fernandez needs, and he won't turn out to be a high-investment bust. Either way, with a trio of Thomas-Auld-Rask (who will be sent to Providence when Thomas returns in 5-7 days), the B's should be in good shape. They are playing great hockey right now (penalty kill excluded). Hopefully, they can carry their play home, and get a win against the Devils tomorrow. It's going to be rough traveling, but their pros. Let's keep the wins coming, boys.
GOALS
Boston- Petteri Nokelainen (2), Peter Schaefer (6), Glen Murray (10), Milan Lucic (2), Marc Savard (ENG) (7)
Atlanta- Mark Recchi (3,4), Ilya Kovalchuk (24)
SAVES
Boston- Alex Auld, 23 saves on 26 shots
Atlanta- Johan Hedberg, 29 saves on 33 shots
NEXT GAME: Thursday, December 13 vs. New Jersey Devils, 7:00 PM EST
The B's headed out to Long Island for another match-up with Ted Nolan's bunch, and got out of there with their first win on the island in over 5 years. It was good to see Milan Lucic get back on the ice and play decently well, though he didn't get on the scoresheet at all. Petteri Nokelainen was flying around the ice for the entire game, and has looked really good in his last couple of games. He scored on a bad play by the Isles' d-man, but he still had to put it past DiPietro.
Glen Murray continued his hot streak with the first goal on the power play, and Chuck Kobasew added his team leading 11th goal. Tim Thomas played another good game, and was only 2 minutes away from a shutout when he gave up a goal on the penalty kill. The B's still need to work hard at their penalty kill, which has been an Achilles' heel all season. They killed four out of five, however, so hopefully improvement is on the way.
Overall, this team is playing well, and may be playing its best hockey of the year so far. Marc Savard has a 10 game point streak, and the offense shows signs of coming to life. Thomas continues to play well in net, and Rask has shown that he can shoulder some of the load as well, and will likely start one of the next three games. The game tomorrow against New Jersey should be interesting, as Jersey is always a tough place to play. If the B's don't beat Montreal on Thursday, I'm going to go nuts. But, they are playing good hockey, and are 4 points behind Ottawa for first in the Northeast.
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.
