This was honestly probably the happiest I've ever been after a Bruins loss. Sure, they lost the game, but they handed Montreal a beating as well. "Ehhhhh, ze penalty minutes vill not get you into ze playoffs!" Shut it, Frenchie. I don't care. The Bruins beat the #### out of the Canadiens, and showed that they wouldn't go down without a fight. Or two. Or three.
As far as the game itself went, it was pretty obvious that the Canadiens were the more skilled team. They have smaller, faster players who are more skilled with the puck. Does this mean that they are a better team than the Bruins? Not necessarily, just that they are a different kind of team. To their credit, they kept up the pressure even after allowing the Bruins to tie the game on three separate occasions. However, the Bruins were also able to come back, which speaks to the character of their team as well.
It was good to see Glen Murray get his offense going, as in the last game against the Leafs, he had about 2 or 3 chances that just hopped over his stick or were just wide. It must have been getting pretty frustrating for him, so let's hope he can keep the production going, and get the offense going in the right direction. As far as the offense goes, the B's were able to put up 4 goals again, so hopefully whatever Claude's been telling them is going to stick, as they have 9 goals in the last two games.
Defensively, this team is still somewhat suspect. Andrew Ference missed this game with another injury, but Matt Hunwick filled in admirably, playing a pretty solid game. Dennis Wideman had a bit of a rough game, making a few turnovers or ill-advised passes, but he has been the B's best defenseman for the past three weeks. Everyone's going to have "one of those games". Speaking of "good to see them getting on the board", Zdeno Chara got his first goal of the season on a laser from just beyond the faceoff dot. He needs to start using that powerful shot of his more, as it's going to take some real courage from the opponent to get down and block that missile.
Tim Thomas played fairly well again, but I thought the goal by "Gui Unit", Guillaume Latendresse, was a little soft. Unfortunately, that got the momentum going for Montreal, and they never looked back. Timmy may need a night off, so hopefully they get him one soon. Tuukka Rask will likely be back up, but Providence needs him as well. P.B's starting goalie Jordan Sigalet, who has multiple sclerosis, had an MS related episode during a game last week, and was face down on the ice and taken off on a stretcher. Needless to say, it was a scary episode, and best wishes to Jordan on a quick recovery.
However, my main interest in this game was the fight that the Bruins showed towards the end. After Montreal went up 6-3, my friend Billy, who is one of the biggest Bruins fans out there, and I both agreed that this game was all but salted away, and that we just wanted to see this team show some fight. Show some pride that they were losing. To put it plainly, we were looking for some balls from this team. Something to show us that they actually cared that they were losing.
Well, needless to say, we got it. Andrew Alberts, who is big but doesn't usually fight, took down Tom Kostopoulos it what was honestly probably the closest to an even fight that night. About a minute later, Mark Stuart, who is quickly becoming a fan favorite because of his willingness to take the body, beat the #### out of Andrei Kostitsyn. I'm sick of hearing people say how Stuart baited him into it, and how Kostitsyn isn't a fighter. Bull. If you don't want to fight a guy, don't slash and spear him a few seconds prior. This fight was one of the most lopsided I've seen in a while, and was just a complete beatdown for Kostitsyn. Needless to say, it'll be a while before he fights again.
Then, the head turtle of them all, Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau, started yelling at Claude Julien through the glass. Claude didn't back down, and Carbonneau ended up walking the other way, or supposedly being "restrained" by his assistant coach. Please. If there were ever coach fights, Guy Carbonneau vs. Anyone would be a pretty easy fight for the "Anyone" coach.
After this fight, we saw what a little fighting momentum can do, as Murray wired home his second of the night off of a faceoff to make it 6-4. Suddenly, it seemed like the B's may still have a chance, but Montreal was able to hold on, mainly because of Zdeno Chara's penalties. He took an elbowing penalty after he hit Alexei Kovalev, who is one of my least favorite players, after Mike Ribeiro, then charged right after Guillaume Latendresse and quickly dropped him with three right hands to the face. I'm honestly not quite sure why this fight occurred, but it was good to see Chara show some anger. However, the Habs scored easily on the ensuing 5-3, which isn't a surprise considering they have arguably the best power play in the league, and that was the end of the game for all intents and purposes.
However, Tom Kostopoulos decided he hadn't had enough of a beating yet, and decided to go after Mark Stuart. Thankfully for the B's, Kostopoulos started the fight, so he got the instigator, the suspension, and Carbonneau got the fine of $10,000. Oh, and Kostopoulos got another beat down. Good choice, Tom.
Overall, as I said at the beginning, I was thrilled with the result of this game, and it only could have been better if they had won. If any hockey fans actually came on these blogs, I'd expect plenty of backlash from Habs fans, who say that this was goonery and has no place in the league. However, I'm pretty sure I speak for most hockey fans, especially American ones, when I say that this is what the league needs. It needs the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry to be intense again, and needs some rough stuff to bring fans back. I'm in no way that disappointed with how the league is now, but I wouldn't be opposed to more roughhousing.
Needless to say, I'm all ready to go get my tickets to the B's-Habs game at the Garden on December 6th. It should be a good one.
GOALS:
Boston- Glen Murray (2,3), Zdeno Chara (1), Marco Sturm (9)
Montreal- Saku Koivu (5), Tom Kostopoulos (2), Andrei Kostitsyn (3), Guillaume Latendresse (3), Roman Hamrlik (2), Mike Komisarek (3), Alexei Kovalev (10)
SAVES:
Boston- Tim Thomas, 45 saves on 52 shots
Montreal- Cary Price, 32 saves on 36 shots
NEXT GAME: Tuesday, November 20 @ Toronto, 7:00 PM EST
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.
