Bruins shorthanded and SHORTHANDED…Time after time…

If on the heels of the Winter Classic dramatic win Bruins fans had been told that they would head off to a west coast trip  without the services of Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard,  Marco Sturm, David Krejci, Andrew Ference, Mark Stuart, Dennis Wideman, Steve Begin and still manage to go 1-1-1 on the trip, and pick up the win against the Sharks most would have take the 3 points and run away thinking they had won the lottery.

However, Bruins fans, due to not having had the Cup within reach since the early 90′s, tend to look at the glass as half empty, and yesterday the B’s had a chance to take two points out of LA but needed more than a couple of aspirin and some superglue to hold things together.  Some juncture in the second period the Bruins suffered another set-back, and one that I believe may have been more costly than most realize, an injury to Steve Begin.  Begin has not only been a physical force for the B’s but has been a key part of the Bruins penalty kill.  Watching the game when Dan Paille came up lame after ramming into the Kings cage my heart skipped a beat.  Two guys we could not afford to add to the laundry list of busted and broken B’s would be Paille and Begin.  Well Paille returned, but Begin did not take a shift after the early part of the second period.  The toll of the Begin injury was all too apparent at the end of the 2nd and the critical 3rd period.  The Bruins were forced to kill off 5 straight penalties, including a lengthy 5v3 kill. In the post game interview Claude Julien applauded the B’s effort and in his frustration noted that “bogus calls” had gone against the team and were too much to overcome. The injury riddled B’s simply did not have enough gas in their tank to kill off 5 straight penalties and keep the Kings from using that momentum to tip the ice in their favor.

The game tying goal saw three Bruins tied up behind the net (two defensemen and centerman Trent Whitfield) and while Shawn Thornton and Michael Ryder gazed at the situation, Brown split them, and cut to the net and buried the puck behind Thomas. Clearly penalty killing had taken its toll as non PK guys (Thornton and Ryder) were on the ice together at key juncture late in the third.

The Bruins own the league’s best PK, and had quality chances for Paille and Whitfield shorthanded, and well as a shorthanded cycle that resulted in possession time and shots on goal in the Kings zone. Unfortunately the Bruins could not convert on any of those chances, leaving the door open for the Kings to rally.

With a depleted lineup, the Bruins were almost able to slip past the Kings, as they had the Sharks by playing a simple game and outworking their foes. However the officiating in this match-up was clearly one sided. Mark Stuart, returning from a broken sternum was clearly boarded without any call. He went to even the score and earned a bogus “holding” call for the dance invitation. A second Bruin was boarded late in the third period but again, no call. When Trent Whitfield was sent flying through the air and made incidental contact with a King it was somehow “interference”. I know complaining about officiating in a loss sounds like sour grapes, but there was clear call for frustration on the Bruins part for the inconsistency demonstrated by the men in stripes and while the Kings did not score on the PP, the PK shortened an already short B’s bench.

So Bruins fans take heart, the Western Conference talent and depth is far superior to the Eastern Conference this season, and to take 3 points with an undermanned team is nothing for the Bruins to hang their heads over. I don’t want to sound greedy, but I was far more disappointed with their effort against the Blackhawks, allowing 5 unanswered goals after jumping out to a 2-0 lead, than I was with the results on Saturday.

WKR Line Resurgence
For Bruins fans who continue to wonder when David Krejci will finally “earn” his contract I urge you to re-watch yesterday’s game. Krejci won battles along the wall, cycled, created space and found seams that no one else saw. The Bruins second goal was vintage Krejci, and he set up Zdeno Chara for a walk-in chance that I am convinced no one else saw coming. Krejci also made a whale of a DEFENSIVE play stopping a wrap-around attempt which would have been a certain goal. Now that Blake Wheeler is skating hard again (the arrival of Miro Satan appears to have lit a fire under his butt – yes, Satan pun intended) I am willing to bet Krejci will continue to do all the little things that often go under the radar but will start to see the fruits of his labors show on the score sheet as the big plays come together.

It will take more than one goal for me to remove Michael Ryder’s face from the milk carton. His net front presence was key to the B’s second goal, as Wheeler banked it in off of O’Donnell shin, and O’Donnell was there defending Ryder. However, Ryder and Thornton were asleep at the switch and guilty of puck watching as Brown went streaking to the net with the game tying tally. Ryder has entirely too much talent to sleepwalk through sections of the game, as he is prone to do. Hopefully, his goal on Saturday will get his streaky scoring started, but Ryder has been unable to step up and take on any of the scoring void created with Bergeron and Savard out of the line-up. For fans who want to put losses on Thomas, or blame Krejci or Lucic for being slowed on the road back from injury, or point to the sophomore slump of Blake Wheeler I say look no further than the monstrous contract of Michael Ryder and his lack of production – especially when the white hot spotlight is on in the wake of critical injuries. I hate to say the Habs had this right, but Ryder does not thrive on pressure and I can complete understand why he would have struggled in Montreal as expectations rose. I only hope that with Bergeron close to his return that Ryder will find a way to use the tools he has in his possession and contribute on a more consistent basis.

The Bruins have their hands full with a rebounding Sens squad coming to the Garden for Monday’s matinee. Alfie had a tremendous return to the lineup for the Sens against the Habs on Saturday, and always has tremendous outings against the Bruins. The Sens have been doing battle with the injury bug as well, but getting Alfie back is a huge lift for their team. Hopefully the B’s faithful will appreciate the effort the undermanned Bruins turned in last week and give them a much needed lift on Monday.