5.) —–> To Chicago: Hal Gill, Travis Moen, 5th Round Pick

—–> To Montreal: Kyle Beach, Brandon Saad, 2nd Round Pick

– Seemingly going nowhere this season it may be time for the Habs and GM Pierre Gauthier to start thinking about unloading some pieces in an attempt to build for the future. Both Gill and Moen are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer and could provide a Cup-hunting Blackhawks team with some added depth and grit for a playoff run this spring. Neither Moen nor Gill give you much in the way of flash or skill, but both are very durable players who have a Stanley Cup on their resume. For Montreal, both Beach and Saad fit the mold of what the Habs need the most: big, strong power forwards who can put the puck in the net. While neither will give Montreal much in the way of immediate assistance, they both have the potential to become cogs in the Canadiens’ lineup for years to come.

4.) —–> To Boston: Tuomo Ruutu, Bryan Allen

—–> To Carolina: Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski, 2nd Round Pick

– For a team that has simply run roughshod on the Eastern Conference since the start of November there really aren’t many glaring holes on a roster full of Stanley Cup winners. However, like we saw last February, GM Peter Chiarelli isn’t afraid to tinker with his team in order to add the necessary depth to make another run at Lord Stanley. This trade makes perfect sense for a Boston team that still relies on an inexperienced Steven Kampfer as it’s seventh defenseman. The hard-nosed Bryan Allen isn’t known much for his offense (0G/7A in 51 games this season) but can provide a solid defensive presence in his end of the ice, as well as log some valuable time on the penalty kill. Like Allen, the 28-year-old Ruutu will be a free agent on July 1. The Finland native seems to have been cut from the same mold as Boston winger Rich Peverley in the way that he can be trusted in any situation. Ruutu has posted fifteen goals and added eleven assists in 51 games this season while being shuffled up and down the Carolina lineup.

3.) —–> To Philadelphia: Ryan Suter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Nashville: James Van Riemsdyk, Brayden Schenn, Andrej Meszaros, Jody Shelley, 1st Round Pick

– Now, I’d put this trade as the least likely to happen, at least not until this summer. A deal like this makes perfect sense for a Flyers team that will be without captain Chris Pronger for the remainder of the season. Ryan Suter is perhaps the most underrated defenseman in the entire NHL. Often overshadowed by Shea Weber, Suter has quietly stacked together one all-star season after another and is slated to finally cash in this summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The question still remains as to if the cash-strapped Predators can re-sign Suter to a long term deal to keep him in Nashville. However, if GM David Poile comes to the realization that he will not be resigning with the Preds, he would be better served to deal him now than let him walk for nothing this July. The package I’ve presented seems like quite a hefty price for one player but keep in mind, true number one defensemen simply do not grow on trees. While I really can’t see this one happening before the deadline, if Suter is adamant about not re-upping in Nashville, I can’t see any better scenario for the Predators’ franchise both now and into the future.

2.) —–> To Toronto: Jeff Carter, 3rd Round Pick

—–> To Columbus: Luke Schenn, Nikolai Kulemin, 2nd Round Pick

– There’s no question that Jeff Carter’s brief stay in Ohio’s capital is coming to an early end. Reportedly frustrated by the entire situation, the former Flyers star has put up only seventeen points (10G/7A) in 30 games this season while playing for the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets. While many teams would be skeptical of accepting any player with ten years left on his contract, the Leafs have been on a league-wide search for a true number one center since Brian Burke took the helm in November of 2008. It’s my belief that if Carter is surrounded by a talented team (like he was in Philadelphia) he will once again be able to return to his elite form. While many could think of this as an overpayment for Carter, I would argue that while Schenn still looks like a future all-star, he seems to be the odd man out on a Leafs’ blueline already manned by Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek and John-Michael Liles — all of whom are signed to lucrative contracts. Kulemin is a young player with loads of skill and potential who seems to be struggling under the hockey-crazed pressure cooker that is Toronto. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him a world of good. In Toronto, Maple Leafs’ fans may be foaming at the mouth with the thoughts of putting an elite pivot in between all-star wingers Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul.

1.)  —–> To Minnesota: Zach Parise

—–> To New Jersey: Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, 2nd Round Pick

– This trade simply makes too much sense. With Parise still unsigned and the Devils’ ownership situation still uncertain, it’s easy to suggest that New Jersey will be unable to retain Parise at year’s end. Recent speculation has suggested that the 5’11″ Minneapolis would like nothing better than to return to his home state to continue his career, making him a perfect fit for the Wild. However, a former 40-goal scorer with extensive leadership qualities simply does not come cheap. With this package the Devils pick up a solid return for a guy who will likely be gone for nothing on July 1. Devin Setoguchi is a solid young winger who can play top-six minutes and provide some pop playing across from Ilya Kovalchuk. In Coyle and Brodin New Jersey receives two former first round selections who look to be sure bet NHL contributors in the near future. Parise should provide the right type of boost for a Wild team trying to work themselves off of the playoff fringe.

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5.) Jackets Fail For Nail

– Without question the worst team in hockey through the first half of the season, the Blue Jackets have been an unmitigated disaster all year long. Entering the season most hockey journalists (including myself) had Columbus pegged for their second post-season appearance in franchise history. However, the aforementioned NHL pundits could not have been more wrong. With the acquisitions of Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski not panning out, look for the Blue Jackets to deal one of the two before the deadline. Purely based on Wisniewski’s massive contract, my guess would be Carter moves on for greener pastures elsewhere. The former Flyers’ standout should bring GM Scott Howson a decent haul and will help them continue to build for the future as they trudge along on the “Fail For Nail” campaign.

4.) Kessel Posts 90 Points, Finally Quiets Critics

– Perhaps the most talked about trade in recent Boston sports history, the Bruins–Leafs swap of September 2010 sent crafty winger Phil Kessel to the epicenter of hockey in exchange for three draft selections. Bruins’ GM Peter Chiarelli then used those picks to select forwards Tyler Seguin and Jared Knight as well as defenseman Dougie Hamilton. While Seguin has exploded onto the scene in the Hub, amassing 19 goals and 24 assists through 46 games this season Kessel has truly emerged as one of the league’s most prominent scorers. With 51 points (26G/25A) in 49 games, he and linemate Joffrey Lupul (20G/32A) have completely turned the Toronto franchise around, leading them to a top-eight position in the Eastern Conference. In the second half of this season, I believe that Kessel will easily reach the 40-goal marker and surpass his career high of 64 points to finally justify this trade and quiet the throngs of critics who have harassed the Minnesota native ever since he arrived on the scene in Toronto.

3.) Hitchcock, Blues Continue Magical Run

– Without doubt the biggest positive surprise of any team in the league this season has taken place underneath the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The Blues, who struggled mightily to begin the season under former coach Davis Payne, have been given new life since the arrival of veteran bench boss Ken Hitchcock. With no players in the NHL’s top-50 scoring leaders, the Blues’ team-first philosophy has shown through this season, leading them to the fifth seed in the Western Conference — a comfortable eleven points ahead of ninth place Colorado –. Captain David Backes seems to have his team — a seemingly perfect blend of youth and experience — poised for a deep run through the post-season. In the shocker of the season, I can see the Blues becoming this year’s NHL Cinderella story, upsetting a team or two and making it to the Conference Finals this spring.

2.) Sabres, Habs Continue Rapid Fall From Grace

– Mired in the basement of the Eastern Conference, this season simply has not gone the way fans in Buffalo and Montreal had once thought it would. Currently sitting eight and ten points out of the playoff picture, the Sabres and the Habs have been absolute train-wrecks on ice the entire season. In Montreal, things went awry immediately out of the gate and have only been trending downwards since then. In a year that’s seen the departure of both an assistant coach and a head coach, an unheard of mid-game trade and continuous public outcry for a French-speaking bench boss, the city of Montreal has been an absolute circus all year long. In Buffalo, fans and players alike had Stanley Cup aspirations after new owner Terry Pegula’s ill-advised off-season spending spree. Unfortunately for the hockey-mad folks in Western new York, it just hasn’t quite worked out this season as their beloved Sabres sit tied for dead last in the Eastern Conference. What’s worse? GM Darcy Regier is handcuffed by the insanely generous contracts of Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino.

1.) Bruins, Rangers Will Battle For Eastern Conference Crown

– Now I could be getting ahead of myself a bit here but right now all signs are pointing towards an Original Six showdown with a spot in the Cup Finals on the line. Without a doubt the two best teams in the East through the first half of the season, New York and Boston have put together the two best records in the Conference through the first half of the season. Armed with gritty, two-way players who aren’t afraid to put the team before themselves, the B’s and Blueshirts almost mirror one another in terms of playing style. After putting together an instant classic earlier this month at TD Garden, it’d be easy for one to expect three more beautifully played contests between these two squads this season. However, I’m going to take it a step further and say that New York and Boston will once again meet in the Eastern Conference Finals this spring for yet another chapter in the Boston  vs. New York rivalry.

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The Montreal Canadiens were the team that wanted it more and they made a statement by schooling the Red Wings 7-2 in a rare matchup between the two “Original Six” teams at the Bell Centre.

The loss ended the Red Wings’ seven-game winning streak and they are now one game below .500 away from the Joe Louis Arena (13-14-0). With the win, the Canadiens are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings and are eight points behind the final playoff spot.

The Red Wings desperately missed the Captain tonight. Nicklas Lidstrom was out with the flu and for the first time since April 12, 2009, 213 games ago, he missed a regular season contest. It was the 30th game in his career that he didn’t suit up.  It seemed like his teammates who skated in Montreal played like they were sick as well.

Tonight’s version of the Canadiens played like the team from the late 1970s.  No, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Yvan Cournoyer and Jacques Lemaire weren’t lighting the lamp for Montreal.

Jimmy Howard had a horrible first period by giving up four goals on 12 shots to Rene Bourque, Alexie Emelin, David Desharnais and Tomas Plekanec. As expected, Howard’s night was soon over and he was replaced by Ty Conklin, who didn’t fare any better. Conklin played the rest of the game, but gave up goals to Desharnais, Max Pacioretty and Erik Cole.

On the other side of the ice, the role of Ken Dryden was played by Carey Price who stopped 23 of 25 shots for his 17th win of the season.  In the first period, Price might as well have been browsing today’s edition of the Montreal Gazette because he was rarely tested as he faced six shots.

In the second period, the Red Wings started to gain some momentum and got 12 shots on Price, who stopped them all. They finally got on the board early in the third period when Jiri Hudler scored his first of the two Red Wing goals.

The Detroit Red Wings played a spirited game on home ice this past Monday against the St. Louis Blues. It was action packed the entire game, but if you were to base that on a movie in a game of  Word Association, Predator comes to mind. Now, for anybody who has seen it, it’s a great action movie. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had a great supporting cast. It featured Carl Weathers and it provided the film debut of Jesse “The Body” Ventura who said one of the greatest lines in cinematic history: “I ain’t got time to bleed.”

Now we have tonight’s game in Montreal. If Monday’s game was Predator, then tonight’s game was Predator 2—bad and barely watchable. The Red Wings were just plain gassed. Perhaps the game on Monday took a lot out of them. Despite tonight’s performance, they’re still on top of the NHL standings with 67 points.

Jimmy Howard and Pavel Datsyuk are on their way to Ottawa for this weekend’s All-Star Game, while the rest of the team will get some time away from the rink as they recharge their batteries.  Since this will be Howard’s first All-Star game appearance, tonight’s game is a sample size of what he’ll be facing because defense and All-Star Games are like Kim Kardashian and marriage; they don’t belong in the same sentence.

The Red Wings’ next game is six days from now and that is also the first of a four-game road trip that will start in Calgary for a clash with the Flames.

Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Lucic–Krejci–Horton

Pouliot–Kelly–Peverley

Paille–Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Thomas

Rask

Scratches– ….. Kampfer (Healthy) , Hamill (Healthy) , Caron (Healthy)

NEWS & NOTES

– Today’s contest will mark the B’s first return home to Garden ice since their January 12 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Over that span the team has concluded a four-game road swing. The Black and Gold were met with a few bumps in the road during the trip while posting a pedestrian 2-2-0 record. However, Boston seemed to have found their stride during a three-goal third period explosion that lead them to a victory in New Jersey on Thursday evening.

– Based on the recent trends showcased during the past few match-ups between these two Original Six foes, it would be wise for one to expect yet another hotly contested low scoring affair. My guess? A 1-0 or 2-1 win for either team.

– Today’s battle will also be a match-up of strength vs. strength as the Rangers’ 15-7-2 road record will be tested by Boston’s 16-7-1 mark on home ice.

– Despite this not being the most intense of rivalries nowadays, the B’s and Rangers always provide sixty minutes (or more) of solid hockey for all those watching. Both squads are built from the same mold; hard-hitting, defense-first hockey, backed up by ever-so-solid goaltending. We should be in for a treat this afternoon.

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The Rangers are not the most skilled team in the NHL, and they certainly don’t have the wide range of weapons that a team like the Boston Bruins have. The Rangers trail only the Bruins in goals against per game average with 1.98 and have only given up 83 goals, again trailing only the Bruins in that category. It’s pretty funny to think back when Tortorella  took over the reins from Tom Renney in 2009, he came in with the belief that “safe is death”, because he’s adapted his style to the group that he has here, focusing on defense rather than run-and-gun. It’s not flash and dash and firepower that has them at the top of the standings. It’s incredible work ethic and attention to play in their zone that has them where they are.

Team MVP: 19 different Rangers have worn the “Broadway hat,” the fedora that’s passed along in the locker room to the Rangers’ best player in a win by the previous recipient. Five Rangers have been honored by their teammates twice, but one Ranger has worn it far and away the most – goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist has always been the backbone of this team since the lockout, but this year the 29-year-old Swede has been on another plane. Selected for the All-Star roster for the third time in his NHL career, he’s been stingy with a 1.89 goals against average and a .937 save percentage. Numbers like that will give virtually any team a good chance to win any given night, and should give “The King” his 4th career Vezina nomination.

Biggest Surprise:  After last season’s debacle, there was no real way of knowing just which Michael Del Zotto was going to show up this year. Would it be the cocky 19-year-old rookie or the 20-year-old sophomore who was as lost as lost can be? He’s looked more like the former than the latter, and that’s been great news for a team that desperately needed him to step up when Michael Sauer went down with a concussion.

Honorable mention here goes to Mike Rupp. Back on July 1st, I thought this was a good depth signing that would provide more grit to a team already known for it and would take some of the pressure off Brandon Prust to drop the gloves. A wonky knee from the get-go rendered him relatively ineffective. Since he’s returned from surgery, Rupp has been what was expected of him  – winning 54% of his faceoffs, racking up 45 penalty minutes (25 in fighting majors) and even chipping in 4 goals.

Biggest Disappointment: This one I actually struggled with. Some on the team who have not had great years to this point are ones who I did not have a whole lot of expectations for to begin with, based on their bodies of NHL work. Given that they have been what they’ve always seemed to have been, there’s no way they can be categorized as “disappointments.”

Erik Christensen has been his normal inconsistent self – same as he has been since he was picked up off waivers. He was on the bubble coming out of camp, and John Tortorella opted to keep him on the roster rather than Sean Avery, feeling he was a more talented player. A healthy scratch for 20 games, he was finally sent down to the Whale this week for a 2-week conditioning stint. Wojtek Wolski has been hampered by injury – first it was his groin, then it turned out he had a sports hernia that required surgery. Wolski just re-joined the lineup in the 3-0  loss to the Senators on Thursday, and only because of Brandon Dubinsky’s sore shoulder that has him day-to-day. Prior to taking Dubinsky’s place, he too was offered a conditioning stint with the Whale and had been mulling it over.

Brian Boyle? To some perhaps as he’s failed to replicate his 21-goal season of a year ago. I wasn’t thoroughly convinced they’d get that Brian Boyle again, and it’s why I had advocated against a multi-year contract in the offseason (he was given a 3-year deal). Offensively, Boyle has looked like the Boyle of old, with 3 goals in 42 games (last night’s goal against the Leafs snapped a 22-game drought). They certainly could use more offense from him, but he has been contributing in other ways, such as on the penalty kill. Brandon Dubinsky? He was the last of the Ranger RFAs to re-sign, and he signed a 4-year deal with a $4.2 million cap hit, putting the pressure on him to perform. He has not lived up to the offensive expectations to this point, with only 5 goals in 40 games, but that part of his game started to come around before being sidelined the last 2 games (and for tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens) with a sore shoulder. Like Boyle though, he has been contributing with other aspects of his game so he has not been a complete disappointment.

The biggest disappointment on this team has to be the ineffective power play. It’s not out-of-the-ordinary that this team is struggling. It seems to be a Rangers trademark no matter who the personnel is. The addition of Brad Richards was supposed to boost the man advantage, but they are only functioning at 14.6% (for comparison, the Vancouver Canucks are tops at 23.6%). They’re managed to compile a League-best 60 points with it being ineffective. Imagine how they could  take it to the next level if they can find a way to improve that aspect of the team.

Forty-two games and by all means the Rangers have surpassed the expectations anyone could have had for them. Cynical Rangers fans who have seen their team overachieve in the early part of seasons are just waiting for that other shoe to drop, as this is the time where they tend to go into that midsesason tailspin that sends them scrambling just to get into that eighth spot. Warding off complacency and the mentality of  “playing good enough is good enough” will be key for them as well. If anyone will not let them rest on their laurels, it’s Tortorella, who pulled the team off the ice early in a practice last week because he didn’t like the intensity at the start of the session. It’s hard not to put them as part of the upper echelon of the League.  So far, they’ve had success against some of the League’s “elite” teams. The next big measuring stick will take place this coming Saturday when they face the Bruins in a matinee at TD Garden.

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Well, what made the Montreal Canadiens’ trade of top line winger Michael Cammalleri so different was the fact that he was traded during the second intermission of a one-goal inter-division game!

It all started early in the second period on Thursday with an oddly secretive looking group of Montreal management huddled outside their suite in the TD Garden press box. At first glance, one would have thought nothing of it. In fact, it even lead me to cracking a few lighthearted jokes via Twitter.  However, it was early in the third and final frame that things began to get interesting, as the 5’9″ Ontario native was noticeably missing from the Habs’ bench, with no reports of injuries sustained. This coupled with the knowledge of Wednesday’s comments made by Cammalleri, in which he questioned the collective mindset of his Canadiens’ team, and it was enough to get some folks thinking that the proverbial shoe was about to drop.

“I can’t accept that we will display a losing attitude as we’re doing this year. We prepare for our games like losers. We play like losers. So it’s no wonder why we lose.” – Michael Cammalleri

Reports upstairs then broke the news that Cammalleri had indeed been removed from the game and had been sent to a Boston hotel to wait for further instructions. As if this wasn’t enough to tip anyone off about a potential deal, word from TSN in Canada began to emanate the fact that the undersized forward had indeed been traded. It was then that the game concluded, with the host Bruins holding on for a 2-1 victory over the Habs, and every reporter in Boston made a bee line for the Montreal dressing room.

While questions about the game were asked here and there, the elephant in the room was clearly the Habs’ missing first liner. Unfortunately for the large contingent of reporters and beat writers, Montreal players were just as confused as we were.

“Was he traded?  I really don’t know.  This is the first time this has happened to me?” – Tomas Plekanec

“I don’t really know anything so I don’t have a comment right now.” – Hal Gill

“I don’t know if it (a trade) has happened I can’t give much insight.  I can’t really give an opinion.” – Carey Price

It was then, as the media scrum descended on head coach Randy Cunneyworth’s press conference that he revealed the fact that there was in fact a trade that had sent Michael Cammalleri out of Montreal. “Well, obviously there was a trade made” said Cunneyworth when asked about the absence of his first line left winger. The much-criticized interim bench boss went on to explain how he had only learned of the deal at the start of the third period, and that his players where left in the dark completely as to the whereabouts of their teammate.

Finally, as the swarm of media members were consumed by the ever-growing TwitterSphere, trying to be the first to report the trade’s details, we learned that Cammalleri had been dealt cross country, back to Calgary — a city where he played in 2008 and 2009–.

Ending all the hype and confusion  was Habs’ General Manager Pierre Gauthier, when he stood in front of the aformentioned sea of reporters and delivered the news of the deal, first in French and then repeated himself in English. The English portion of the press conference can be viewed in it’s entirety via the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Along with Cammalleri, the Canadiens forfeited the rights to European netminder Karri Ramo and a fifth round pick in the 2012 Entry Draft in exchange for currently-suspended winger Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland and a second round selection in the 2012 Entry draft.

Now, I’ll leave the analysis of this deal to those folks who are closer to the situation and know more about the skills and tendencies of each of these players. However, I would just like to point out this little doozie of a quote, courtesy of the Calgary Flames official Twitter account:

“I might be in trouble… I don’t speak French, even if I have the most French name on that team.” – Rene Bouque

Well there you have it folks, a first hand account of the first ever mid-game trade in NHL history. On what was once thought of as an uneventful night and a boring game between two once-fierce rivals, history was indeed made. It just goes to show, you really never know what is going to happen next in the National Hockey League.

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Unfortunately for hockey traditionalists throughout North America, this rivalry simply isn’t the same anymore. And that’s putting it nicely. One could argue the reasons for this, whether it be Boston’s new-found hatred for the Vancouver Canucks, or simply Montreal’s irrelevance to the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

“Certainly, it doesn’t have the same flare it had maybe a year ago.” – Claude Julien

Regardless of such, it’s simply been just another game on the schedule each time Boston and Montreal have faced off this season. This was no different on Thursday evening when the two squads met for the fifth time this year.

The game began with a bang as the B’s quickly got on the board, thanks to a surprising contribution from an unlikely source. Playing in his first NHL game since a December 10 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, rookie Bruins’ forward Jordan Caron took advantage of the opportunity given him by head coach Claude Julien as he tapped the puck into a yawning net at the 1:23 mark of the opening frame to give his team an early 1-0 lead.

“I saw Johnny (Boychuk) was going to rim it around and I wanted to get on the forecheck and it bounced in front so I was just there for an easy tap in.” – Jordan Caron

The score would remain this way throughout the balance of a first period controlled by uncharacteristically sloppy play from both sides, with Boston holding the edge as the team’s went to the rooms.

The second period mirrored much of what we saw in the first, neither team was able to muster many quality scoring chances nor come close to putting anything up on the scoreboard.

In the third period the B’s would once again strike quickly as bruising winger Milan Lucic flipped a backhand past Carey Price at the 3:43 mark of the final frame to extend the Boston lead to 2-0. Perhaps the only bit of unsettling roughness came soon after as Habs’ d-man P.K. Subban went up-high for a hit on the B’s top-line center David Krejci. This of course was met my much resistance from the Black and Gold, which resulted in a double-minor roughing call against Andrew Ference. The Habs’ were able to take advantage of the ensuing power-play as utility man Yannick Weber’s wrister found it’s way through a screen and past Thomas to cut the Montreal deficit to one. However, the Habs’ late flurries, in hopes of tying the score, were met by heavy resistance and the Bruins were able to hold on for their third straight victory over their once-hated rivals.

Being able to find a way to pull out a victory on a night when you don’t have your best game is truly an asset for the Bruins’ and is the mark of a true championship team. Forward Milan Lucic expressed his relief in being able to come away with the crucial two points on Thursday.

“It seemed like both teams weren’t really that sharp with their passing – it seemed like the puck was spinning all over the place and jumping off everyone’s sticks. I think (there were) a lot of blocked shots, a lot of shots that missed the net and [it was] just one of those games where you have to fight it through to get to the end and get to the result. For us, I don’t think it was our best effort but we found a way to win.” – Milan Lucic

KEY STATS

Goals–                       MON (1)                   BOS (2)

Shots–                       MON (34)                    BOS (30)

Power-Play–           MON (1-2)                   BOS (0-5)

Penalty-Kill–           MON (5-5)                    BOS (1-2)

• Ben’s Three Stars– ….. 3.) Jordan Caron  ….. 2.) Milan Lucic   ….. 1.) Tim Thomas

What’s Next?

From here the B’s will depart on a four-game road trip that will begin on Saturday evening in Carolina, when they face-off with Eric Staal’s ‘Canes for the final time in Raleigh this season. The trip will also see stops in Miami, Tampa Bay and New Jersey. The Habs will now return home for a Saturday contest with the red-hot Senators at the Bell Centre.

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Through forty minutes of surprisingly exciting action, an injury-depleted Winnipeg Jets squad that saw both Zach Bogosian and Tanner Glass leave the game with differing ailments, held a 3-2 lead over the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

“I mean, they were playing hard they were winning battles they were competing hard and getting many shots on net.” – Tyler Seguin

Powered by deflection goals from captain Andrew Ladd and former Bruin Blake Wheeler, the Jets’ thoroughly out-played a Boston squad plagued by turnovers and the inability to capitalize on a multitude of scoring chances. Despite not playing to their full capabilities through the first two frames, the B’s were held in it thanks to goals from Nathan Horton and Shawn Thornton. The second of which coming on Thornton’s first penalty shot of his eight-year NHL career. A move that drew laughter from teammates Brad Marchand and Jordan Caron, who were perched high above the ice in the Garden press box. The veteran enforcer can now add “penalty shot goal” the long list of things he’s accomplished throughout the duration of his lengthy workman-like career. “I mean that better be on every highlight tonight” said teammate Tyler Seguin of No. 22′s brilliant dangle. Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg stressed how Thornton’s overall game energized his team on Tuesday.

“(Thornton Was) Huge. He had a fight, a great penalty shot on a back-hand toe drag. I don’t know how many guys can do that – I would end up on the ground if I tried that. It was a good play. He gave us a lot of energy.” — Dennis Seidenberg

Kicking off things in the final frame it was Nathan Horton adding his second of the night when he capped off some beautiful break-in work from Boston’s top line by tapping home a back-door feed for his 14th tally of the year. The B’s however were not done their, as they continued to dominate a final frame in which they out-shot their opponents by an astonishing 22-8 margin. It was at the 3:06 mark of the period that Tyler Seguin would show exactly why he was taken with the second overall draft choice in the 2010 Entry Draft. Taking a feed from the red-hot Patrice Bergeron, Seguin used his overwhelming speed to blow past the Jets’ defense and proceeded to dangle goaltender Ondrej Pavelec out of his pants before roofing it on the backhand. The career-high 17th goal of the season for Boston’s stud sophomore gave the B’s their first lead of the night. A mere three and a half minutes later the Bruins would take advantage of their second power-play of the evening when Benoit Pouliot banged one home from the doorstep for his eighth of the season.  The Alfred, Ontario native has done an admirable job in filling in for chief agitator Brad Marchand, tallying four points (1G/3A) in two games while playing alongside Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin. B’s bench boss Claude Julien spoke of Pouliot’s adjustment to his new team and his comfort level playing in Boston.

“The one thing I know is that he (Pouliot) feels very comfortable with this group of guys, that he knows everybody’s got everybody’s back, so wherever he has to go. I think he’s developed that confidence as we’ve moved on here this year.” – Claude Julien

The score would remain 5-3 for the remainder of the night as the B’s would ride a 29-save performance from Tuukka Rask all the way to the victory. The win was good for Rask’s sixth in a row, as the Finnish netminder continues to impress between the pipes.

“He did a pretty good job, but he just continues to play well for us and win some games, and it makes our situation pretty nice.” – Claude Julien

From The Room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thorburn (Winnipeg)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ladd (Winnipeg)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hainsey (Winnipeg)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pouliot

KEY STATS

Goals–                       WPG (3)                   BOS (5)

Shots–                       WPG (32)                    BOS (42)

Power-Play–           WPG (0-4)                   BOS (1-3)

Penalty-Kill–           WPG (2-3)                    BOS (4-4)

• Ben’s Three Stars– ….. 3.) David Krejci  ….. 2.) Nathan Horton   ….. 1.) Shawn Thornton

What’s Next?

Next up for the Black and Gold will be another hotly anticipated contest with the hated Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening at TD Garden. The B’s and Habs have split the four games between them this season, with each squad winning one at home and one on the road. Next up for the Jets will be a return home to the MTS Centre for a Thursday showdown with Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks.

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The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by eleven points. Tampa Bay is in 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, nine points out of a layoff spot.

After 40 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 28. He leads the Bolts in points with 43. Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 21. Marc-Andre Bergeron leads the team in rating with a +7. Steve Downie is last in rating with an alarming -17.

Forward Steve Downie is last in rating with an alarming -17 and has accumulated 100 penalty minutes. Goalie Mathieu Garon has 11 wins, a 2.85 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:14 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 139.

The Lightning have scored 107 goals (17th in the NHL) and allowed 134 goals (28th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams are awful. The power play success rate is at a season low 13.77% (27th in the NHL) and the penalty kill slipped below 80% at 79.50% (23rd in the NHL). The Bolts are in the middle of an appalling 1-34 road power play skid.Tampa Bay is 25th in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 48.5% of their draws.

Tampa Bay has won 11 of 16 games at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and six of 24 games on the road.

Box Scores

Game 38 – Tampa Bay Lightning 3 – Toronto Maple Leafs 7

Game 39 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Ottawa Senators 4

Game 40 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Montreal Canadiens 3

Three Stars of the Week

Vincent Lecavalier – Two goals and an assist.

Steven Stamkos – Two goals.

Dominic Moore – Two assists.

Transactions

Tampa Bay acquired defenseman Brendan Mikkelson from Calgary for forward Blair Jones.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie was recalled by the Lightning.

Forward Brett Connolly returned from Team Canada.

The Lightning announce a two year-one way contract extension for $600,000 per year for forward Tom Pyatt.

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Forwards JT Wyman and Adam Hall are day-to-day with upper body injuries.

Bolt Notes

The Bolts went 0-3 this past week. At the mid-season mark, Tampa Bay is in trouble. They are nine points out of a playoff spot with four teams to jump over to get into the postseason tournament. The Lightning plays nine of its next 12 games at home and must go on a run to maintain hopes of a playoff appearance in 2012. The Bolts have lost 18 road games, only two less than their total road losses last season.

The first half MVP is superstar Steven Stamkos. The Tampa Bay sniper has a NHL best 28 goals and is on pace for another 50 goal season. The 21 year old center has grabbed hold of a leadership role with the team and is playing a more physical game, getting to the front of the net and battling for “garbage” goals.

The biggest disappointment  of the first half is $3 million goaltender Dwayne Roloson, who is 6-9 with a 3.76 goals against average and an .881 save percentage, last and second to last in the NHL respectively.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Vancouver on Tuesday and  Carolina on Thursday. The Bolts travel to Washington on Friday before hosting Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

On Wednesday night, the Norfolk Admirals faced off against division rivals, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Pennsylvania. The normally tough Brad Thiessen was just not himself. The Admirals beat Thiessen three times in the third period. Richard Panik, Cory Conacher, and Radko Gudas  all lit the lamp to give Norfolk a 3-0 lead. The Penguins put their only goal of the night in the second frame. Cory Conacher would get his second of the night in the third and Mike Angelidis put things to bed with the Admirals fifth goal of the night. Dustin Tokarski stopped 20 of 21 shots in theNorfolk 5-1 win.

Friday night had the Admirals and Albany Devils squaring off at the Norfolk Scope. Norfolkdominated the first two periods with goals from Mark Barberio, Carter Ashton, Trevor Smith, and Evan Oberg. Halfway thru the third period Norfolk fell asleep and Albany started their comeback. The Devils would score four unanswered goals and send the game to overtime.Albany finished the Admirals off with a goal at 3:31 of the overtime period for the 5-4 win.

The Devils were back on Saturday night and set the tone early. Stephane Veilleux of the Devils slashed Cory Conacher as the teams lined up for the opening face-off. If they were trying to intimidate the Admirals, it worked.Albanydominated the entire game. They scored their first goal in the first and added two more in the second.Norfolkwas only able to put one goal on the board from Richard Panik. With the 3-1 win the Devils have now won all four meetings of the season.

Trevor Smith (16G 28A 44Pts +18) and Cory Conacher (2G 20A 41Pts +7) find themselves at the top for scoring. Smith and Conacher are 3^rd and 5^th in scoring in the AHL.  Mark Barberio (4G 28A 32Pts +18) leads allNorfolk defensemen and is in third place amongst all Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (15G 12A 27Pts +9) continues to hold onto fourth place.  Dustin Tokarski (14-8-0 2.45GAA) went 1-1 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-5-2 3.04GAA) lost in his only start this week to the Albany Devils.

For the Season the Admirals are 21-12-1-2 with 45 points. They are currently four points behind the East Division leading Hershey Bears.Norfolkis currently on a 0-1-1-0 streak and is 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Cory Conacher  – Two goals and an assist.

Trevor Smith – One goal and four assists.

Richard Panik – Two goals.

Transactions

Evan Oberg – Returned by theTampaBay Lightning.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – Recalled by theTampaBay Lightning.

Injuries

Alexander Picard – Undisclosed injury – Day to day

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed injury – Day to day

Kevin Quick – Lower body injury – Day to day

An Observation from the Stands

One of the big issues Norfolk has had in the past is starting slowely after the Christmas break. The Admirals have played six games and lost three of them. You can attribute the losses to bad breaks, penalties, carelessness, or flat out being outplayed. At the end of the day none of these excuses matter. A loss is a loss and losing those points will matter at the end of the season. The last two games against Albanywere terrible performances by the Admirals. In the first game they built a four goal lead and lost it in the final 15 minutes. The following game they let the Devils walk all over them.Albanyhas won all four meetings with the Admirals this season. It’s time forNorfolkto wake up and beat them.

The Week Ahead

The Admirals remain home for three games this week. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will be in town for a rare Tuesday night game. Sean Avery and the Connecticut Whale come to town Friday and Saturday night.

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Now, with the year 2011 coming to a close tomorrow evening when the clock strikes midnight, I figured that now is as good a time as any take a step back and review some of the best moments of the 2011 calendar year for the Boston Bruins. Through a year with as much drama and excitement such as this, it was next to impossible to put these amazing events into such an order. If you asked five people to organize this set, I’m sure you’d get five totally different responses.

10.) Boston’s 8-6 “Old Time Hockey” Victory Over Montreal At TD Garden (February 9)

– In a game that featured back-and-forth hockey from two of the NHL’s biggest rivals, the Boston Bruins would deliver their first victory of the year against the hated Habs. Arguably the most memorable game of the regular season for Boston, the B’s and Habs played an exhilarating contest filled with goals, fights and mayhem galore en route to an 8-6 Bruins’ victory. A night of hard-nosed play from both sides lead to brawls and chippy-ness, including a fight between netminders Tim Thomas and Carey Price, a rare sight in today’s NHL. The game truly had the feel of one of those 1980′s Boston–Montreal classics that we hadn’t seen here in many years.

9.) Re-Signings Of Rich Peverley (October) And David Krejci (December)

– If you take a look at the past three winners of the Stanley Cup, the easily noticeable common denominator would be each team’s tremendous depth at the center position. Over the past few months, the Bruins and GM Peter Chiarelli have done an excellent job in assuring their team will remain among one of the league’s deepest team’s down the middle. The re-signings of Peverley ($9.75 MIL) and Krejci ($15.75 MIL) to new three year extensions have solidified the Bruins’ depth in the middle for many years to come.

8.) Selection Of Dougie Hamilton At The Entry Draft In Minnesota (June 24)

– The drafting of Niagara Ice Dogs defenseman Dougie Hamilton with the 9th overall selection of the 2011 NHL Entry was the entrance of the final chapter of the Phil Kessel trade. Despite not qualifying for a spot on the 2011-’12 Bruins’ roster, the 6’5″ Toronto native has been tearing it up for the Ice Dogs, posting points in games, and is expected to compete for a position with the big club in 2012-’13.

7.) The Acquisitions Of Rich Peverley And Chris Kelly (February)

– Arguably the two most versatile players to don the eight-spoked “B” in 2011, Peverley and Kelly came to Boston as part of under-the-radar acquisitions made by Chiarelli to sure up his team’s depth. Aiding Boston to it’s first Cup win in 39 years, the two have this year become cogs on the highly successful third line that has led the Black and Gold to first place in the Eastern Conference.

6.) Nathan Horton’s Third Period Goal In Game 7 Of The Eastern Conference Finals (May 27)

– In what was one of the greatest hockey games played at TD Garden in over a decade, the Bruins knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to secure a ticket to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1990. Cashing in for the only goal of the night, in a 1-0 Tim Thomas shutout, it was Nathan Horton who would redirect a beautiful saucer pass from David Krejci past Dwayne Roloson to give Boston the lead, and the victory.

5.) Sweeping Of The Philadelphia Flyers In Round 2 Of The East Playoffs (May 6)

– Bruins’ fans in every nook and cranny of New England know the story of the 2010 post-season. Perhaps the worst moment in franchise history was the collapse at the hands of the Flyers in Round 2 of the 2010 Eastern Conference playoffs. The memory of 2010′s collapse undoubtedly made the Bruins’ 4-0 series sweep of the Flyers in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals all that much sweeter.

4.) Nathan Horton’s Overtime Winner In Game 7 Against Montreal (April 27)

– After falling behind 2-0 in the first round of the 2011 playoffs after two straight home losses to the Montreal Canadiens, experts across the country wrote off the Bruins and left them for dead. However, the resiliency of the Bruins payed off as the B’s fought and clawed their way back to a 3-3 series tie and a 3-3 tie in overtime of game 7 at TD Garden. It was then that Nathan Horton blasted one past Habs’ netminder Carey Price to silence the ghosts of Game 7′s past and vault the B’s into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3.) The Stanley Cup Banner Raising Ceremony (October 6)

– Despite the unfortunate outcome of the game that was played, a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, opening night 2011 was undoubtedly the most memorable kick-off of a Bruins’ season in many years. The Bruins and their staff put together a truly special ceremony for their fans. Perhaps the best feature of the ceremony was the reenactment of the Cup-raising tradition that takes place after a team has secured Lord Stanley. With Game 7 of the Cup taking place in Vancouver, and Bruins’ fans being relegated to watching the original ceremony on television, the B’s staff decided to let their devoted fans get a chance to watch it live on Opening night. The night would conclude with the franchise’s sixth world title banner being securely raised to the rafters of the TD Garden.

2.) Rolling Rally Stanley Cup Championship Parade (June 18)

– On June 18, the entire city of Boston poured it’s heart out for it’s favorite hockey team as over one million New Englanders converged on the Hub for the celebration of the Bruins’ first Stanley Cup championship since 1972. Boston’s hockey roots truly shined through on this day as the B’s rolling produced the largest turnout for any Boston sports celebration ever, surpassing marks set this past decade by the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots.

1.) Winning The Stanley Cup (June 15)

– This one needs little explanation. The most complete team in recent Bruins history ended the city’s 39-year Stanley Cup drought by quenching their fans’ thirst for victory with a 4-0 shutout of the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena to capture the sixth world championship in team history. June 15 will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest days in Boston sports history.

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The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by ten points. Tampa Bay is in 12th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference, six points out of a layoff spot.

After 37 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team and the NHL in goals with 26. He leads the Bolts in points with 43 (4th in the NHL). Martin St. Louis is tops in assists with 20. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +12.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 80 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has 11 wins, a 2.73 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:18 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 128.

The Lightning have scored 102 goals (13th in the NHL) and allowed 120 goals (25th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams still need work. The power play success rate is 14.7% (24th in the NHL) and the penalty kill slipped to 80.1% (24th in the NHL). Tampa Bay is 25th in the league in faceoff percentage, winning just 48.8% of their draws.

Tampa Bay has won 11 of 16 games at the Tampa Bay Times Forum and six of 21 games on the road.

Box Scores

Game 35 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Philadelphia Flyers 1

Game 36 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 – Montreal Canadiens 3

Game 37 – Tampa Bay Lightning 5 – Carolina Hurricanes 2

Three Stars of the Week

Steven Stamkos – Six goals.

Martin St. Louis – Six assists.

Steve Downie – Two goals and five assists.

Transactions

The Lightning recalled defenseman Evan Oberg from Norfolk for the sixth time this season.

The Lightning announced the signing of Norfolk forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie to a two year, two way contract.

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Forward Nate Thompson is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Victor Hedman is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Bolt Notes

Tampa Bay got just what they needed this week. The Bolts went 3-0 and accumulated six out of a possible six points. The Lightning has won five of their last seven games. The offense is clicking as they averaged over four goals per game and gave up only two goals per game. Goalie Mathieu Garon sparkled with three wins, a 2.00 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. Superstar Steven Stamkos jumped to the top of the NHL goal scoring race, netting six goals in three games to give him 26 on the year. Martin St. Louis is back and better than ever after a facial fracture. He had six helpers this week. Ryan Malone had a three assist game Saturday night versus Carolina and recent call up JT Wyman scored his first NHL goal and garnered two points this week.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay is at Toronto on Tuesday, at Ottawa on Thursday and at Montreal on Saturday.

The Quarterdeck Log – Norfolk Admirals Week In Review

By Ken Peacock

About The Author

A man with an identity crisis. A full time fan of all things hockey and supporter of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. A fan of two NHL teams in the same division? Really? Yes, it can be done. It’s tough, but it can be done. I am also a full time husband, IT Professional, and a Norfolk Admirals Hockey Blogger at Vultures Row.

Weekly Log

The Norfolk Admirals returned to action after the Christmas break with a Wednesday night game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Bridgeport opened up the scoring eight minutes into the first period. This would be their only goal of the night as the Admirals defense shut the Sound Tigers down. Norfolk would get two goals in the second period from Mike Kostka and Philip-Micheal Devos. This would be all that the Admirals needed to secure the 2-1 victory. Both teams went scoreless in the defensive third period. Dustin Tokarski  was stellar in net turning aside 26 of the 27 shots.

Friday night saw the Admirals and Sound Tigers back in action once more at the Scope. Norfolk dominated the first and second periods. Cory Conacher and Matt Fornataro would score in the opening period. Tyler Johnson would add another in the second frame. The Admirals found themselves in penalty trouble in the third period and Bridgeport capitalized on those mistakes. The Sound Tigers scored two quick power play goals before the Admirals were able to recover. Bridgeport continued to put on the pressure, but Tokarski answered back and the Admirals held on for the 3-2 win. Bridgeport winger, Tomas Marcinko was injured when Jean-Philippe Cote of the Admirals was pushed to the ice.Cote’s skate came up and caught Marcinko in the neck. Marcinko was rushed to aNorfolk hospital and required surgery. Marcinko is back with Bridgeport and recovering from his injury.

Norfolk was in Hershey on Saturday for a New Year’s Eve match against the division leading Bears.  Ondrej Palat opened the scoring in the first period for the Admirals. Hershey would strike back in the second. Norfolk found themselves on the power play twice, but the defense failed as the Bears would get two shorthanded goals to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room. Mike Kostka tied the game in the third and sent the game to overtime. Both teams failed to score in the overtime frame and that brought on the shootout. Braden Holtby stopped all five of the Norfolk shooters, while Jaroslav Janus stopped all but Keith Aucoin. Aucoin’s shootout goal secured the 3-2 Bear win.

Trevor Smith (15G 24A 39Pts +17) and Cory Conacher (19G 19A 38Pts +6) find themselves atop the Admirals scoring list. Mark Barberio (3G 26A 29Pts +19) leads all Norfolk defensemen and is in third place among all Admirals in scoring. Carter Ashton (14G 11A 25Pts +9) continues to hold onto fourth place.  Dustin Tokarski (13-7-0 2.40GAA) went 2-0 this week. Jaroslav Janus (7-4-2 3.04GAA) lost the shootout decision against the Bears on Saturday.

For the Season the Admirals are 20-11-0-2 with 42 points. They are currently 2 points behind the East Division leading Hershey Bears. Norfolk is currently on a 4-0-0-1 streak and is 7-2-0-1 in their last ten games.

Three Stars of the Week

Mike Kostka - Two goals, one assist, a +1 rating and seven shots on goal.

Kostka is the first star of the week

Dustin Tokarski – Two wins in two games and stopped 53 of 56 shots.

Cory Conacher  – One goal, two assists and a +1 rating.

Transactions

J.T. Wyman – Recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Evan Oberg – Recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Charles Landry – Assigned to the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) from the Florida Everblades (ECHL)

Pierre-Cedric Labrie – Signed to a two-way NHL contract by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Injuries

Alexander Picard – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Pierre-Cedric Labrie– Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Richard Petiot – Undisclosed – Day-to-day

Kevin Quick – Lower Body Injury – Day-to-day

An Observation from the Stands

Norfolk has a bad habit of coming back from the holiday break and losing a few. Coach Cooper must have had a good talk with them before the first game and they came out hungry for a win. The games against Bridgeport were solid games. If there is one thing that they still need to work on, it is taking to many penalties. They have to cut down or it will come back and bite them in the rear end.  Dustin Tokarski and the defense played great games againstBridgeport. The Admirals truly deserved the wins.

Saturday’s loss against the division leading Bears was a result of a defensive collapse. The defense that played well on Wednesday and Friday failed to show up in Hershey. Having the man advantage usually benefits a team, but not the Admirals. Twice they allowed shorthanded goals to the league’s top offensive team. Not a good night for the boys. It is time to tighten their belts and get things together. We are all looking for a nice long run, deep into the playoffs this year. Time to get things going guys!

The Week Ahead

The Admirals find themselves on the road Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a match against the Penguins. Norfolk returns home for a Friday and Saturday night set against the Albany Devils.

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Then suddenly, the light bulb went on. On Halloween, the “soft” Rangers took down the San Jose Sharks 5-2 and closed the home stand with wins over the Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets and proceeded to rattle off three more against the Senators, the Carolina Hurricanes and the rival New York Islanders. There’s been a seven-game win streak, a 5-game win streak and their current 5-game win streak that have accounted for 17 of the 21 wins they have on the season. Since their home opener, they have not lost more than 2 in a row. A major factor in the Rangers’ success has been balance throughout the lineup.

The balance begins in net. Henrik Lundqvist has been exactly what you’d expect him to be. When they’ve needed him to be lights out, he has. But when he needs a break, there’s tremendous confidence that backup Martin Biron is up to the task. Following the win on  4-2 win on December 22nd over the New York Islanders,  Biron is now 7-1-0 (including a shutout) and boasts a .933 save percentage and 1.84 goals against average. After that game, John Tortorella called him the “1A” goaltender, as backup doesn’t seem an appropriate label for him. Tortorella is right. This combination is arguably one of the best pairings in the National Hockey League. At the rate that Biron is being started, Lundqvist would project to start in around 63 games, that would be the fewest starts since 53 in his rookie year when he started out as a backup. When playoff time comes around, having a fresh Lundqvist will be vital to a run.

Lundqvist and Biron have had plenty of help in front of them. Even before Marc Staal’s post-concussion syndrome issues came to light, there was some concern over the relative inexperience on the Rangers’ blue line. Relatively unnoticed outside of Rangers circles, Dan Girardi has stepped into the spotlight in his partner’s absence, leading the League in TOI with 27:27. Sophmore Ryan McDonagh has been equally up to the task partnering with Girardi. He’s 12th in the league in TOI with 25:15. They lost another top-4 defenseman, Michael Sauer, to a concussion on December 5th looked to be another blow to the the team. Steve Eminger and Michael Del Zotto stepped up to pick up the slack. Del Zotto has rebounded tremendously from the sophomore season from hell, and continues to mature.  As for Eminger, he suffered a separated shoulder  December 17th against the Phoenix Coyotes and is now out 8-10 weeks. When a team is built to be defense-first, losing half of  the defense corps would seem like the kiss of death. But the players who have been brought in have done a decent job of filling in. Two players picked up to plug some of the defensive holes -  Jeff Woywitka, plucked off the waiver wire from the Canadiens right before the season started and Anton Stralman, who was signed as a free agent on November 5th after failing to make the New Jersey Devils as a training camp tryout – have managed to hold the fort down. Stu Bickel, a callup from the Connecticut Whale when Eminger went down, has brought physicality and size back there and has put up 4 assists in the 4 games he’s played. How good have the Rangers been on the defensive side of things despite the injuries? They’ve only allowed 69 goals against in 34 games, putting them 2nd in the League  behind Boston. As Staal moves  ever-so-closer to returning, and once Sauer and Eminger are ready to come back to re-bolster the defense, tough choices will have to be made on who becomes the odd men out.

As far as the offense goes, they have not exactly been a juggernaut (101 goals scored is good enough for 9th in the League). Brandon Dubinsky, last year’s team-leading goal scorer, has all of 2. Brian Boyle, who shocked everyone with a 21-goal performance last year, also has scored only 2.  The return of the Marian Gaborik of 2009-10 has helped. Gaborik has scored a League-leading 22 of them.  He and sophomore Derek Stepan, who has 8 goals of his own, have clicked so perfectly together. Gaborik has accounted for just over 20% of the collective goal total, it doesn’t quite feel like it has in the past, where the offensive burden has been on one guy, the way it was when Gaborik first came as a free agent, or when Jaromir Jagr wore a blueshirt. The defense has chipped in 15. Ryan Callahan and Brad Richards are in the double-digits, with  13 and 12, respectively. Callup Carl Hagelin has dazzled with his speed and skill, with 6 goals in 16 games.

All around, this Rangers team feels far more balanced than it has in past seasons, not all on one or two guys to carry the load. It’s not always been pretty, perfect or complete, but so far it’s been good enough to put them at the top of the standings. However, they know they can’t just sit on their laurels, that they have to play better if they want to hang with the top of the pack and perhaps make some noise in the playoffs.

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The Bolts are in fourth place in the Southeast Division and trail the division leading Florida Panthers by twelve points. Tampa Bay has fallen to 13th place in the 15 team Eastern Conference.

After 34 games, forward Steven Stamkos leads the team in goals with 20 (1st in the NHL) and points with 37. Marc-Andre Bergeron is tops in assists with 19. Stamkos leads the team in rating with a +10.

Forward Steve Downie has accumulated 76 penalty minutes and goalie Mathieu Garon has eight wins, a 2.84 goals against average and a .902 save percentage. Dwayne Roloson has become the number two goalie, struggling with six wins, a 3.72 goals against average and an .883 save percentage.

Defenseman Eric Brewer leads Tampa Bay in ice time, averaging 23:08 per game. Steven Stamkos leads in shots on goal with 118.

The Lightning have scored 88 goals (15th in the NHL) and allowed 114 goals (28th in the 30 team NHL). The Bolts special teams were awful this week. The power play success rate fell t0 14.3% (25th in the NHL) and the penalty kill slipped to 80.7% (25th in the NHL).

Box Scores

Game 33 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 – San Jose Sharks 7

Game 34 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Colorado Avalanche 2 OT

Three Stars of the Week

Martin St. Louis – One goal and one assist.

Pavel Kubina – One goal.

Dominic Moore – One goal.

Transactions

The Lightning recalled defenseman Evan Oberg and forward JT Wyman from Norfolk and then reassigned Oberg to the Admirals. This was the fifth time this month that Oberg was reassigned.

Injuries

Forward Ryan Shannon is out 2-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund remains on IR after undergoing surgery on both knees. Ohlund has had a major setback and his return this year is questionable.

Defenseman Matt Gilroy is day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Forward Nate Thompson is day-to-day with a lower body injury and is slated to return on Tuesday.

Bolt Notes

Tampa Bay was embarrassed by San Jose early in the week, then played well versus the Avalanche, but still lost in overtime. They have now lost 12 of their last 18 games and are eight points out of a playoff spot with five teams to jump over. A daunting task, to be certain, with 48 games left.

The Bolts remain woefully inconsistent. The defense and goaltending are struggling mightily. Injuries are hurting the blue line as the Bolts are playing with only six healthy defensemen. Five of the seven defensemen have negative +/- ratings, with Victor Hedman and Brett Clark  ”leading” the way with a -12 and a -11 rating respectively.

Many are calling for GM Steve Yzerman to “do something” to help his club, but it is very difficult to work a trade this early in the season because most teams still do not know if they are buyers or sellers yet.

The measure of an NHL GM and organization  is how they handle adversity. Last season, almost everything fell into place and it looked relatively easy to the Lightning faithful. Now that the road to the playoffs has become rocky, Yzerman and the Bolts brass have an opportunity to show their mettle.

Tampa Bay must go on a run immediately following the Christmas break. The schedule favors them as 12 of the next 18 games are on home ice.

The Week Ahead

Tampa Bay hosts Philadelphia on Tuesday, Montreal on Thursday and Carolina on Saturday.

Are you looking for The Quarterdeck Log? Ken will be back when the AHL break is over next week.

Follow WB Philp on Twitter @LightningShout and “Like” Hockey Independent Lightning on Facebook.

Follow Ken Peacock on Twitter @VBKen.

This time, it was Big Zee who has proved to all the doubters, why he is given the honor of wearing the “C” on his sweater. As a good captain always does, the 6’9″ Slovakian blueliner stepped in to the aid of a teammate engulfed by the struggles of a long NHL season. This time, it was none other than the B’s sensational sophomore forward, Tyler Seguin.

Now, during the course of a season, especially one as long as 82 games as is the case in the NHL, it’s normal for all players to go through peaks and valleys, unless of course your name is Sidney Crosby. Scoring only two goals and collecting four assists in the fourteen games prior to last Saturday’s win over the Flyers, it appeared as if Boston’s favorite young hockey star was indeed being overtaken by one of those valleys. “I don’t think it’s all about points, but I was in a bit of a valley there. I got frustrated a little bit, I wasn’t really shooting pucks, I wasn’t doing what I do good” said Seguin after Monday night’s victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

However, it was prior to Saturday’s 6-0 romp of the rival Philadelphia Flyers that the B’s captain and current face of the franchise sat down for a talk with Seguin, likely the future face of the franchise.

 ”I really felt a difference after I talked to Zee (Zdeno Chara). He just told me to go back to what I’m good at. Stop getting frustrated about not getting any points and about not producing. I’ve been thinking a lot, I know my streghths are skating and shooting and I feel like when I get back to that, I play better. He goes back to what he’s good at. He says in his head what his one or two strengths are and he starts there, which is what he calls the foundation and continues to build the house. For me, it’s about shooting and skating and work on my D-zone from there.” – Tyler Seguin

In today’s world, no matter how great a coach may be, everyone knows that it’s not always easy for a player to take and utilize hints and tips from their bench boss. Sometimes it must come from a peer, someone they might “look up to” or model their own work ethic after. In these cases, the veteran savvy of a player like Chara can truly be a benefit to the Boston Bruins. Also, knowing he has the luxury of an experienced and knowledgeable vet like Big Zee to help guide his younger teammates is undoubtedly a huge advantage for head coach Claude Julien.

Since the talk with Chara, Seguin has scored one goal and added two assists in his past two games, including a very nifty saucer pass to linemate Brad Marchand to set up the game winning goal on Monday against Montreal. The 19-year-old Brampton, Ontario native has been very conscious of the improvements in his game over the past week;

“The last two games I thought I’ve been shooting the puck more, skating harder and I want to keep that up. I think if I start getting involved more in the play and finishing my checks, something that’s not usually my style, it’s going to help me in the long run.” — Tyler Seguin

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Pittsburgh now realizes the Chicago offense can’t be taken lightly, even with a three goal-advantage. The Blackhawks should understand the opening 40 minutes of hockey can’t be wasted, especially against very good teams.

The Penguins fulfilled my formula for success as they had the best skater and goal tender on the ice. Center Evgeni Malkin was the best skater on either team, as he was credited with three assists. Ray Emery had another solid performance, but Marc-Andre Fleury was the better goalie.

Emery played well enough to keep his team in the game during the first and second periods. The Penguins came out more determined and played a simple, effective game. The Blackhawks didn’t start to skate and move the puck until the final frame, but it was too late. The Hawks outshot the Pens 19-4 in the third period, and Fleury was the difference.

Some may want to believe the Hawks lost the game because John Scott took an instigator penalty at 8:55 of the first frame. The Penguins converted on the subsequent power play and then added two additional goals in the next period. Scott was assessed 17 minutes of penalties for standing up for Marcus Kruger, who was taken advantage of by Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland. The Pens surged on after their initial goal.

Blackhawk faithful shouldn’t blame Scott for doing his job. This loss didn’t boil down to one power play goal against; it isn’t that simple.

Scott has to fight in that situation, but don’t confuse his actions as being a real deterrent. For the most part, Scott beating someone up doesn’t change the behavior of an opposing team, but he has to defend his teammates.

Let’s take a closer look at a few important points from Tuesday night’s contest.

NHL officiating is not as good as it should be in many games. One way or the other, Engelland could have been assessed another penalty. He came in high on Kruger and left his feet to deliver the check. Call it a hit to the head, charging, boarding or whatever else, but Engelland deserved a penalty. Instead, Engelland was only given a five minute fighting penalty for getting beat up by Scott.

The NHL and many members of the hockey media constantly defend officiating. Excuses are many but they always include the fact hockey is played at a high speed and officials can’t see everything.

The referees’ job is to officiate a game played by elite athletes at a fast pace. If NHL officials can’t follow the action and have the ability to make correct split-second decisions, they need to find another career.

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Next article will be posted tomorrow.

Forwards ($38.05 MIL)

Line 1:

Phil Kessel (Toronto) $5.4 MIL — Jason Spezza (Ottawa) $7.0 MIL — Joffrey Lupul (Toronto) $4.25 MIL

I like the chemistry shown between Lupul and Kessel up in Toronto; throw in Jason Spezza’s world class play-making abilities, and you’ve got one of the best first lines in the league.

Line 2:

Brad Marchand (Boston) $2.5 MIL — Tyler Seguin (Boston) $3.5 MIL — Max Pacioretty (Montreal) $1.65 MIL

Boston’s duo of sensational sophomores have proven themselves as legitimate top-six forwards in this league. Their speed, coupled with the size and strength of Montreal’s budding power forward would provide a difficult match-up for any D-pairing.

Line 3:

Nick Foligno (Ottawa) $1.2 MIL — Patrice Bergeron (Boston) $5.0 MIL — Clarke MacArthur (Toronto) $3.25 MIL

You have got to love the versatility of this line. All three of these players can be counted on in any situation, including on both sides of special teams.

Line 4:

Daniel Paille (Boston) $1.1 MIL — Gregory Campbell (Boston) $1.1 MIL — Zenon Konopka (Ottawa) $0.70 MIL

Konopka and Campbell are two of the best face-off men in all of the NHL, while Daniel Paille can be a very valuable asset on the penalty-kill. All come at a very reasonable price and provide the team with the necessary grit to excel in today’s NHL.

13th Forward: Nathan Gerbe (Buffalo) $1.4 MIL

Defense ($19.85 MIL)

Pair 1:

Zdeno Chara (Boston) $6.9 MIL — Erik Karlsson (Ottawa) $1.3 MIL

Easily the two biggest no-brainers on this team, Chara and Karlsson provide the perfect balance of defense and offense on the squad’s top pair.

Pair 2:

P.K. Subban (Montreal) $0.85 MIL — Dennis Seidenberg (Boston) $3.25 MIL

Subban and Seidenberg also provide a great mix of offense and defense. Seidenberg’s veteran savvy and poise should be able to assist the young Subban’s development.

Pair 3:

Luke Schenn (Toronto) $3.6 MIL — Andrej Sekera (Buffalo) $2.75 MIL

The youngest pairing of the three, both players should be good enough to one day become top-pair defensemen. Meanwhile, both come at relatively inexpensive cap hits.

7th Defenseman:  Jake Gardiner (Toronto) $1.20 MIL

Goaltenders ($7.75 MIL)

1.) Tim Thomas (Boston) $5.0 MIL

2.) Carey Price (Montreal) $2.75 MIL

Boston’s Tim Thomas is once again putting up Vezina-worthy numbers, furthering the notion that he truly ages like a fine wine. Meanwhile, Carey Price, who comes with a manageable price tag, has also asserted himself as one of the best netminders in the game.

Recap:

Total Salary: $65.65 MIL

Cap Space: $0.00

Representation: Boston 8 , Toronto 5 , Ottawa 4 , Montreal 3 , Buffalo 2

General Manager: Peter Chiarelli (Boston)

Head Coach: Claude Julien (Boston)

– It’s hard to argue with the defending Stanley Cup champion head coach and GM combo.

Home Arena: Bell Centre (Montreal)

– One of the loudest buildings in the league, this one was an easy choice.

– NHL salary cap information courtesy of CapGeek.

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“Losing one of your top players like that, we all have to step up individually and as a team and tonight we did a good job.” – Tyler Seguin

Despite the suspension of first line winger Milan Lucic, the Boston Bruins continued their red-hot roll on Monday night against the hated Canadiens.

Playing without Lucic due to the one-game suspension handed down by the NHL’s discipline Czar Brendan Shanahan, the Bruins’ used goals from three different players on three different lines to edge out Montreal for a 3-2 victory on Monday night. The B’s victory gave new Habs’ head coach Randy Cunneyworth his second straight loss and a defeat in his first taste of the heated Boston–Montreal rivalry. Meanwhile, the Bruins improved their record to 19-2-1 over their past 22 games.

Scoring his sixth goal of the season at the 12:13 mark of the first period, former-Canadien Benoit Pouliot notched the first goal of his career against his former team.

“It always feels good (scoring against his former team). Obviously winning is a lot better, it feels great. And putting a goal out there, it feels good.” — Benoit Pouliot

Pouliot’s emergence as a truly reliable third line presence on this Bruins’ team is something his head coach has definately taken notice of.

“Improvement. I think he’s gotten better as the season’s gone on. He’s adapted well to our hockey club. We talked about being patient at the beginning of the year when a lot of people probably were writing him off, and right now he’s showing that he’s very capable of playing on our club and doing a great job. He scores big goals for us, and he’s got four game-winners so far.” – Claude Julien

Unfortunately for Boston, noted Bruins’ killer Tomas Plekanec would even the score at one only 1:13 later after converting on a pretty feed from Michael Cammalleri. The score would remain that way until the 2:42 mark of the second frame when top-line pivot David Krejci was credited with his sixth of the season after an Andrew Ference centering pass deflected off his leg and past Price to give Boston the lead. Collecting an insurance tally with less than six minutes to go in the game, courtesy of Brad Marchand’s beauty of a back-hand dangle, Boston was now ahead by two goals. “Seguy (Tyler Seguin) made a great play to Marchy (Brad Marchand) there. Great instinct by Marchy to go right behind that D to bring him back. He read that poke check real well so it was a great goal” said Patrice Bergeron.

The goal by Marchand turned out to be of utmost importance for the B’s, as they would allow the Habs a sliver of hope after Erik Cole deflected one past Tim Thomas for his 12th tally of the season.

However, Boston was able to hold off the Habs for the final 1:14 and come away with their 5th straight victory.

From The Room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Seguin

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pouliot

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thomas

KEY STATS

Goals–                       MON (2)                BOS (3)

Shots–                       MON (35)              BOS (31)

Power-Play–           MON (0-2)           BOS (0-3)

Penalty-Kill–           MON (3-3)          BOS (2-2)

• Three Stars– ….. 3.) Brad Marchand  ….. 2.) Benoit Pouliot  ….. 1.) Tim Thomas

What’s Next?

The Bruins will have the luxury of a few days off while at home this week, as their next game isn’t until Friday evening when they will host the Southeast division leading Florida Panthers. The Cats defeated the Bruins at the Garden earlier this month by a 2-0 score, thanks to a shutout from Jose Theodore. “We just have to try to get traffic in front of him and get pucks to the net” said Brad Marchand of the opportunity to face Theodore for the second time this season.  Up next for the Habs is a set of back-to-back road games in Chicago on Wednesday and in Winnipeg on Thursday.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Caron–Krejci–Horton

Pouliot–Kelly–Peverley/Hamill

Paille–Hamill/Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Thomas

Rask

Scratches– ….. Peverley (Undisclosed–GTD) , Campbell (Lower Body–GTD) , Lucic (Suspension–OUT) , Kampfer (Healthy)

– Tonight’s game can be seen on NESN (Edwards, Brickley) and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub (Goucher, Beers), the flagship radio station of the Boston Bruins.

NEWS & NOTES

– The B’s will be without top-line left winger Milan Lucic tonight, as he was today suspended for one game following his hit from behind against the Flyers’ Zac Rinaldo. After avoiding a much-clamored for suspension for his steamrolling of Sabres’ netminder Ryan Miller, most had expected the league to finally deliver a message to Boston’s hulking left winger.

– Tonight will mark the first TD Garden appearance for former B’s blueliner Tomas Kaberle since being dealt to the Habs earlier this month. Kaberle, sporting a 0-14-14, -12 line in 33 games this season, made his first return to the Hub, while playing with the Hurricanes back in October.

– The Bruins’ are now in the midst of what is a very light stretch of the schedule from now until New Year’s. After tonight, the B’s will play host to the Panthers on Friday, prior to the league-mandated break for the Christmas holiday. The Black and will then venture out to Phoenix for a game on the 28th, and a New Year’s Eve showdown with Michael Ryder’s Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Arena.

– New Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth will get his first taste of the Boston vs. Montreal rivalry as bench boss of the Habs on Monday, two days after replacing the fired Jacques Martin. On Saturday night, the Canadiens dropped Cunneyworth’s debut by a 5-3 score to the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre.

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It was with only 2:32 remaining in the third period that former Chicago Blackhawk Tomas Kopecky would knock home a rebound after an end-to-end rush by Shawn Matthias to break a scoreless tie that would lead the Panthers to a 2-0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Knocking off  the defending champion Bruins, a team that had won fourteen of it’s previous sixteen games, in their own barn is certainly something for any team to be proud of, especially a team of up-and-comers like Florida.

“We said before the game it’s going to be a big test and we want to prove to everyone we are for real and we did that tonight.” – Marco Sturm

It was then that former Bruins draft choice Kris Versteeg who would drive the stake through the heart of Boston fans when he out-raced Dennis Seidenberg to a loose puck in the B’s zone and back-handed it into an empty net to seal the Panthers’ victory in their past games.

Thursday night’s contest was the truest definition of a goaltending duel if there ever was one. Throughout the first two periods and for most of the third, both offenses were completely neutralized by the opponent’s netminder. The spectacular efforts from Tim Thomas and Jose Theodore –  who combined to make 68 saves on the night – were enough to thwart numerous quality scoring chances on both ends of the ice. Florida’s veteran goaltender Jose Theodore – who has performed well historically against the Black and Gold, dating back to his days with the Montreal Canadiens – was the clear-cut number one star on Thursday, something his head coach clearly took notice of.

“Goaltending was stellar tonight.  It was really impressive.  We made numerous quality saves.” — Kevin Dineen

Thursday night was a coming out party for the Panthers, who proved to both the Bruins and the rest of the National Hockey League, that they are not the push-overs that they once were, something B’s defenseman Johnny Boychuk took note of:

“They are just a different team than we have seen in the past. Their forwards are really fast and their D do a good job of moving into them. Their work ethic is a lot better than it has been in previous years.” – Johnny Boychuk

Posting 36 points in 28 games this season, knocking off perennial cup-contending teams like Washington and Boston, and taking complete control of the Southeast division, the Florida Panthers have sent a direct message to the the rest of the Eastern Conference: They are for real.

From The Room:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Milan Lucic (BOS)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Marco Sturm (FLA)

KEY STATS

Goals–                       FLA (2)                BOS (0)

Shots–                       FLA (30)              BOS (40)

Power-Play–           FLA (0-1)             BOS(0-4)

Penalty-Kill–           FLA (4-4)             BOS (1-1)

• Three Stars– ….. 3.) Tomas Kopecky….. 2.) Tim Thomas….. 1.) Jose Theodore

What’s Next?

The B’s will once again take to the road, as they prepare for a Saturday night contest against Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. This will be the second meeting of the season for these two clubs. Back on October 17, the Bruins held off Columbus in a shootout to win the game 2-1. It’s a quick turnaround for the Panthers as they will travel up to Buffalo for a Friday evening game against the Buffalo Sabres.

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Tonight’s Line-Up (Subject To Change):

FORWARDS

Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin

Lucic–Krejci–Horton

Pouliot–Kelly–Peverley

Paille–Campbell–Thornton

DEFENSE

Chara–Boychuk

Seidenberg–Corvo

Ference–McQuaid

GOALTENDER

Rask

Thomas

Scratches– ….. None

– Tonight’s game can be seen on NESN (Edwards, Brickley) and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub (Goucher, Beers), the flagship radio station of the Boston Bruins.

NEWS & NOTES

– Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs will receive a much needed emotional boost from the return of their no. 1 goaltender, James Reimer. As I suggested in Wednesday’s blog, the 23-year-old Manitoba native will make his first start tonight since October 22, when he suffered a concussion, courtesy of Montreal Canadiens’ captain Brian Gionta.

– Bruins’ youngsters Jordan Caron and Steven Kampfer are both not with the team today after being sent to Providence early on Thursday morning. Both took part in the P-Bruins’ 4-1 loss to the Connecticut Whale on Friday and will likely be back in action on Saturday evening as Providence pays a visit to the Manchester Monarchs.

– Former Boston Bruins’ prospect and 2008 first round draft choice Joe Colborne will likely be making his TD Garden debut on Saturday night. Since being dealt to Toronto last February in the trade that sent Tomas Kaberle the way of the Bruins, the 6’5″ Colborne has notched one goal and added four assists in seven career games with the Leafs.

– Tonight will mark the first game of the month of December for Boston. The Bruins enter the final month of the calendar year after a historical 12-0-1 run through November. The B’s 13-game point streak will be put on the line on Saturday against a Maple Leafs’ team looking to re-take control of the Northeast division.

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Following a successful sweep of a five-game home-stand that featured wins over the Islanders, Oilers, Sabres, Devils and Blue Jackets, the Boston Bruins departed the Hub for a three-game road swing, with stops in Long Island, Montreal and Buffalo.

Standings

The Bruins currently sit in a tie for second place in the NorthEast division with the Buffalo Sabres, as both squads have secured 24 points on the season. The B’s and Sabres are both two points behind the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston also sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, three points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Team Leaders

Despite rapidly cooling off over the past week, Bruins sophomore sensation Tyler Seguin continues to lead the team in all of the major offensive categories. The 6’1″ Brampton, Ontario native has matched his career-high of eleven goals, while adding ten assists and potting three game winners in nineteen games played. Seguin is also second in the entire NHL (Shea Weber is first (+18)) with a plus/minus rating of +17. Rugged fourth line winger Shawn Thornton has restored his place atop the stat sheet when it comes to PIMs, registering 39 of them through 19 games of action. Boston’s top two shut-down defenseman Zdeno Chara (25:16) and Dennis Seidenberg (24:35) are numbers one and two respectively when it comes to average time on ice per game.

Through 13 starts this season, B’s netminder Tim Thomas has shown no signs of slowing down. The 37-year-old Flint, Michigan native has posted a 1.77 GAA and a .938 save percentage, while winning nine games for Boston this season. Meanwhile, Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask has been nothing short of stellar in the pipes for Boston as well. Rask has posted a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage and has won his last three starts.

The Boston power-play sits at 18th in the NHL, scoring at a 16.4% clip. On the flip side of that, the B’s penalty-kill is currently 8th in the league, stopping their opponents 86.5% of the time.

Boston 6 , New York Islanders 0 (F)

This past Saturday evening, the Boston Bruins paid a visit to the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island for a date with the New York Islanders.  Sparked by a two goal performance from Chris Kelly, the B’s steamrolled the Isles to the tune of a 6-0 victory. Saturday’s game was not much of a contest, as the Bruins put three past Rick DiPietro in the first period and three behind Anders Nilsson in the third and ran away with it. The Isles never had much of an answer for the B’s throughout the night, and Boston was able to win their 8th in a row.

Boston 1 , Montreal 0 (F)

On Monday night, the B’s paid a visit to the team that last beat them, back on October 29, the Montreal Canadiens. Late in the first period it was Boston defenseman Andrew Ference who would score a goal for the second straight game. This would be the first 2-game goal streak of Ference’s 14-year NHL career. As it turns out, Ference’s goal would be all Boston needed as they skated away with a 1-0 victory thanks to a 33-save shutout from Tim Thomas.

Three Stars Of The Week

1.) Tim Thomas – Back-to-back shutouts for the defending Vezina trophy winner has lowered his GAA to 1.77. Thomas is simply not slowing down.

2.)  Chris Kelly – Two goals and two assists in the past three games for Kelly; Continues to prove his value and durability.

3.) Adam McQuaid – Scored his first  goal of the year last Thursday against the Blue Jackets, while playing top-pair minutes and shutting down Rick Nash and Jeff Carter.

What’s Next?

As mentioned above, the Bruins will be taking on the Buffalo Sabres toninght in Western New York, prior to returning home for a brief two-game home-stand. The home-stand will feature a matinee contest against the Detroit Red Wings on Black Friday followed by the first ever visit to TD Garden from the new-era Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.

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Today we learned of the imminent return of the league’s undoubtedly most talented forward, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsbugh Penguins. Suffering a concussion on January 1, 2011 after a collision with then-Washington Capital David Steckel, Crosby has not played in an NHL game since January 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Penguins PR staff announced early on Sunday afternoon that Crosby would be back in the Pittsburgh lineup on Monday night when the New York Islanders visit the Consol Energy Center.

Now, Crosby’s return is without doubt fantastic news for the Penguins, the NHL and the entire hockey community. In any situation a league playing without it’s number one superstar is sure to face it’s obstacles; just ask Roger Goodell about losing Tom Brady in 2008 and Peyton Manning in 2011. The league and the sport simply isn’t the same without that player.

However, the return of Sidney Crosby, and Versus’ (or NBC Sports, whichever they like to be called) imminent decision to preempt the scheduled game between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens in order to broadcast said match-up between Crosby’s Pens and the New York Islanders is what has revealed a fundamental problem in the NHL’s marketing strategy.

The Boston-Montreal rivalry is ageless. A tale as old as time. For as long as there as been the NHL, there has been hatred-a-brewin’ between the B’s and the Habs. Countless classic encounters have taken place between these two storied franchises. From the days of Maurice Richard, To Bobby Orr and Patrick Roy, all the way up to today’s confrontations between Zdeno Chara and Max Pacioretty, these two cities have seen it all. This rivalry is undeniably the best the NHL has to offer and way very well be the best in all of sports.

Instead of treating the country’s viewers to another classic bout between these two original six rivals, and a chance to watch as the defending Stanley Cup Champions go for their 9th straight victory, we get to watch Sidney Crosby’s ten minutes of ice-time against the worst team in the Eastern Conference — the same team that was just on the receiving end of a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of the Bruins on Saturday night –.

The problem that the NHL has created for itself is that it is constantly limiting it’s growth potential. Through the constant pushing of guys like Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the league is limiting it’s audience. The way the NHL and Versus are forcing the same handful of players, while great for the teams involved, is unhealthy for the league as a whole.  Now, one can argue that the use of this tactic is to draw in the casual fan who might have more interest in an individual talent, rather than a team as a whole. However, if you are able to draw in these casual fans, you are creating an audience that may only be interested in watching a game that features one of the over-marketed players.

Prior to the change of schedule for Monday’s game, the Pittsburgh Penguins already had four of their next six games slated to be on national television (NHL Network, Versus, CBC). While fans are being force-fed dose after dose of Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, the talents of players like Colorado’s Matt Duchene, Carolina’s Jeff Skinner and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos aren’t being properly showcased.

If the NHL ever plans to grow to a point in which it can surpass the popularity of the NBA, MLB, or even the NFL (that’s a long-shot), the league must do a much better job in properly managing and marketing their teams, as well as their superstars.

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Arriving at the Garden with the league’s worst record (3-13-1) and sporting two bottom-three special teams units (28th on the Power-Play, 29th on the Penalty-Kill), the Columbus Blue Jackets have been an absolute disaster this season. Couple that with the Bruins unfortunate ability to at times play down to the level of their opponents, and you had all the elements of a “trap game”.

“Well, I think there’s no easy games in this league. There’s a lot of parity. They’re a good team, they’ve got good players, high skill, and we didn’t play at our best.” — Rich Peverley

After a relatively bland first period, in which both teams combined for only 11 shots, it was Columbus who would get on the board first when Derek MacKenzie deflected a Nikita Nikitin shot past Tuukka Rask with only one second remaining on a Blue Jackets’ power-play. Fortunately for Boston, they would be able to answer back in short fashion after an Adam McQuaid wrist shot found it’s way through traffic and past Curtis Sanford. The goal was good to tie things at one, the score that would hold up through a scoreless third period of action.

As we entered overtime, the Black and Gold would catch a break as Blue Jackets’ forward Antoine Vermette would be sent to the box for a slash, only 1:05 into the extra frame. However, after the B’s were unable to capitalize on a multitude of quality scoring chances –courtesy of Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, amongst others –, Columbus would get a a chance with the extra man for the final 51.8 seconds of the Overtime after Andrew Ference was sent off for boarding.

“We got some chances but the luck wasn’t on our side on that power-play. We hit the post then missed a pretty nice chance there at the back-door. You don’t want to get frustrated because I knew they were going to get a power play that’s how it always goes. Your team gets a power play and the other team somehow gets a power play too.” – Tuukka Rask

Luckily for Boston, their 24-year-old Finnish netminder was able to hold the fort for the remainder of the Overtime and send the game to a shootout. In the shootout it was Boston’s most unsung hero, Rich Peverley, who would score in the second round of the shootout, followed by Krejci’s game winner in the final round. On the other end, Rask came up big again for the B’s, stopping two of three Columbus shooters, including Vermette in the last half of the third round. Despite being out-hit, out-shot and simply out-played by the worst team in hockey, the Bruins were able to survive a nail-biter and extend their winning streak to seven games.

“Yeah a win is always a win no matter how you get it. Today we didn’t play our best hockey everybody saw that, but the result is the only thing that matters … But again a character win to be able to squeeze it out like that.” – Tuukka Rask

Undoubtedly a huge factor in Boston’s ability to squeeze this one out was the play of Bruins’ defenseman Adam McQuaid. Skating alongside captain Zdeno Chara –replacing Johnny Boychuk who was out due to flu-like symptoms — , the 6’4″ PEI native not only scored Boston’s lone goal in regulation, but was responsible for keeping the Columbus top line of Rick Nash, Jeff Carter and RJ Umberger off the scoreboard the entire night.

“Well all three (Nash, Carter, Umberger) are big guys with a rare combination of size, skill, speed, and strength and they can challenge you in any area so you definitely need to be on your toes at all times. You have to try to limit their time and space.” – Adam McQuaid

KEY STATS

Goals–                        CBJ (1)           BOS (2)

Shots–                       CBJ (31)          BOS (27)

Power-Play–           CBJ (1-3)         BOS (0-2)

Penalty-Kill–           CBJ (2-2)        BOS (2-3)

• Three Stars– ….. 3.) Tuukka Rask  ….. 2.) David Krejci    ….. 1.) Adam McQuaid

What’s Next?

The Boston Bruins will now take to the road for the first time since a November 5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Black and Gold will depart Boston on Friday for a three game trip with stops in Long Island, Montreal and Buffalo. The Blue Jackets will travel south for a match-up with the Predators on Saturday before returning home for a Monday night contest against the Calgary Flames.

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L-R: Del Zotto, McDonagh, Gaborik, Rosen, Richards, Dubinsky, Deveaux

Before introducing the players, Rosen himself shared some insight on the 3 men who performed analyst duties with him over his 28 years of Rangers broadcasting for MSG.  He called Phil Esposito one of the funniest men you’ll ever meet, great storyteller, great knowledge of the game, but did zero preparation. He stated that John Davidson, his broadcast partner for 20 years, set the standard and called him and John Madden the 2 best analysts in sports TV history. Rosen also mentioned Davidson’s incredible preparation, sharing an anecdote of how he had both a U.S. and an “illegal” Canadian satellite dish, so he could watch all of the games. He also complemented the preparation work of his current partner, Joe Micheletti.

The players were in a jovial mood, joshing each other in answering many of the questions, undoubtedly buoyed by a 7-game win streak and coming off of a 4-2 win over the rival New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum the night before that had been heavily attended by Rangers fans. Dubinsky was part of the team that won 7 straight games in October 2009. “I think this win streak is a lot better than ’09,” Dubinsky said when asked about remembering it. “I like this team a lot more. I think we’re capable of sustaining it a lot better than we were at that point.”

Deveaux, the “newbie” of this group, learned a thing or two about New York City traffic, which delayed him to the event. A recent callup from the AHL, he was asked about life in the NHL. “It’s pretty rough, the game’s a lot quicker,” he noted and said that the guys have made him feel welcome. Deveaux was born in the Bahamas (making him the lone player born there to ever play in the NHL) but his family moved to Welland, Ontario when he was young so his mother could pursue her medical degree. Welland is also the hometown of Dan Girardi, and the 2 of them grew up together.

When McDonagh was introduced to the audience, reference was made to the trade that brought him to the Rangers. Not surprising, mention of the move, which sent free agent bust Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens, elicited cheers. It was when he was traded that McDonagh learned that this was not just about playing a game but a business. McDonagh has undergone baptism by fire in the NHL, not only this season with the injury to Marc Staal but last year as well. A little less than a year ago, McDonagh was called up when Michal Rozsival suffered an injury and had to learn on the job. “I had a lot of guys that helped me along the way … the group of guys that we have we were coming down the home stretch and it was about winning games and so they were helping me along the way and making sure as I was calm as I could be with Torts.”

McDonagh’s comment about trying to remain calm with John Tortorella in charge elicited laughs from the audience, who had a pretty good feel for the coach’s temperament and what he expects from his players. When further asked about Tortorella as coach, McDonagh said  it’s “Scary at times … He gets the best out of you. Someway somehow he’s gonna let you know … All he cares about is winning and it doesn’t matter how. It might not be pretty but at the end of the day it’s a ‘W’ and as long as that’s happening he’s gonna help you out.”

Gaborik declared, “He is very demanding … he’s trying to squeeze the best out of you.”

“For me it’s been great,” Dubinsky offered. “You look for a coach to hold guys accountable no matter how much they make or what their position is on the team. I think he’s that guy for us… Everybody sees him get mad all the time but he’s really a fair guy and it’s no secret where you stand with him whether you are doing good things or bad things he’s going to let you know.”

Richards himself is in his second go-around with Tortorella, with whom he won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and said was involved in the offseaon free agency pitch by the Rangers. Rosen asked Richards what it was like winning it all that year:

“It just kind of happens,” Richards replied.  “It’s one of those things as the  year goes on your team gets closer and closer … it’s just one of those runs you get on … you’re kind of hypnotized with the whole experience …you’re kind of in a fog. It’s amazing. Everyone has bought in and Torts doesn’t have to yell and scream anymore and you’re just rolling along. That’s what makes it so special. You always have that bond with those guys. For some reason those 2 months we clicked at the right time.”

During fan questions, the group was asked who they thought was the toughest guy on the team. Deveaux, Girardi, Brandon Prust and Ryan Callahan were all mentioned. The term tough is interpreted a bit differently for the 4, as Deveaux’s and Prust’s toughness are rooted more in the fighting aspect, while with Girardi and Callahan, it’s more about the shot blocking and the relentless way they sacrifice their bodies for the team. Earlier in the forum, Dubinsky discussed the influence of “Captain Cally”:

“If you were to put in the dictionary what the Rangers  should play like you’d see a picture of Ryan … He’s going to go out every day and lead by example with his work ethic … You look at our team last year and the way we were on our way to the playoffs and feeling pretty good about ourselves and he went down and we just lost a little of our jazz … he’s deserving of the captaincy and we really believe in his leadership.”

Of course the evening wasn’t strictly all business. One of the lighter moments happened when a fan asked what career paths they may be on were they not NHLers. Richards said ideally a top 5 golfer, but maybe a lobster fisherman like his father. Deveaux thought he’d probably be a lawyer, like his father, revealing they were big “Law & Order” fans in his his house growing up. Del Zotto took his non-hockey career aspirations from “Dexter” (I’m presuming the foresics, not the serial killing). McDonagh, 3 years into earning a finance degree from the University of Wisconsin, thought maybe he would be working on Wall Street. Gaborik deadpanned, “Brad Pitt,” sending the room into uproarious laughter. Dubinsky, not one to be outdone, declared he’d be the mayor of Trencin (the Slovakian town Gaborik hails from), eliciting more laughter.

One thing that took me by surprise was just how funny Gaborik was. For some reason I just wasn’t expecting it from him, but that was what the evening was about – getting to know the players a little bit. We’ll get to know more about this sextet and the rest of their teammates in a matter of weeks when “24/7: Flyers/Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic” premieres on HBO December 14th at 10PM.

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“Our team got a lot better after that” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien during his post-game press conference on Saturday evening. “That”, which Julien spoke of was at 13:13 of the 1st period when B’s winger Milan Lucic knocked over Sabres’ netminder Ryan Miller in a hard collision  after the 6’2″ Buffalo goaltender left his crease to chase a loose puck and prevent Lucic from a breakaway opportunity.

At that point in the game, Buffalo was ahead ahead 1-0, thanks to an early tally from noted B’s killer Thomas Vanek, and had dominated play throughout most of the first frame. When a loose puck slide down towards Miller, it was Lucic who was barreling full-speed towards the Buffalo net. Miller proceeded to skate to the puck and toss is away from the Bruins’ winger. Unfortunately for Miller, Lucic didn’t stop skating, even after the puck had been cleared. After contact was made, and Miller was laid out on the ice surface, a group of Sabres chased Lucic into the corner. Despite having no. 17 cornered behind the Buffalo net, no Sabre player ever made an attempt to retaliate against Lucic. The Sabres’ failure to come to the defense of their all-pro goalie was truly a shock, and perhaps provided extra motivation for the Bruins. Lucic had this to say when asked what his team would do to respond if the roles were reversed and it was Tim Thomas who was knocked to the ice:

“Definitely. You know, we wouldn’t accept anything like that. We would have (taken) care of business. But we’re a different team than they are.” – Milan Lucic

Saturday’s Lucic–Miller incident has perhaps sparked a fire between a once classic rivalry between two former Adams Division foes. Following the game, Miller poured Kerosene on the fire by making this comment, prior to storming out of the Buffalo locker room in disgust:

“I’m not going to really get into that. I just stuck around because I just want to say what a piece of (expletive) I think (Milan) Lucic is. Fifty pounds on me, and he runs me like that. It’s unbelievable. Everyone in this city sees him as a big, tough, solid player. I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless. Gutless, piece of (expletive).” – Ryan Miller

Well folks, we could be in for some fun over the course of this season, as the B’s and Sabres are slated to meet five more time before year’s end.

After the hit, the ice tilted completely in the favor of Boston, as they went on to score 6 consecutive goals, en route to their 5th consecutive victory. B’s players spoke of how they were able to feed off the energy from the Lucic–Miller incident:

“The crowd got into it, you know, everyone was cheering pretty loud after that. So it was good to see all the guys step up and get into it.” – Milan Lucic

“First of all we controlled the play for quite a while after that, so the puck never really got near me. And we have a pretty tough team. If you start playing that game, we’re a pretty tough team to play that type of game against.” – Tim Thomas

Early in the 2nd, it was B’s winger Rich Peverley –Playing in his first game since 11/3 — who would cash in his 4th goal of the season as he slid the puck through Miller’s 5-hole after using some nifty puck-work to get through the Buffalo defense. Not long after Peverley’s goal, it was the Bruins sensational sophomore, Tyler Seguin, who would knock home his 10th of the year as he and linemate Brad Machand were able to connect and capitalize on a 2-on-1 opportunity. It was only a mere 0:16 seconds later that Nathan Horton would extend Boston’s lead to 3-1 as the B’s continued their recent streak of scoring 2 goals in under a minute of play. Allowing back-to-back goals can clearly be a huge detriment to any team trying to win a hockey game.

“It really takes a lot of wind out of your sails when a team can get a couple goals.  We really want to focus on that right now.  If we get a goal we want to bounce back and get another one right away.  Looch’s line did a great job on following up on our second goal and getting a third one.  It brought a lot of momentum to our side.  The game was over after that.” — Brad Marchand

Despite it only being a 2-goal margin entering the final period, Sabres’ head coach Lindy Ruff opted to pull Ryan Miller at the start of the 3rd in favor of Swedish ‘tender Jhonas Enroth. As the 3rd frame began,  it was Rich Peverley again showing why he is so valuable to this Bruins team, as he made a picture-perfect back-door pass to Chris Kelly to make it a 4-1 game. Less than 2 minutes later, Seguin would tie his goal total from last season as he notched his 11th of the year on a beautiful drop pass from Patrice Bergeron. Seguin, who has been on an absolute tear as of late (4-game goal streak/6-game point streak) would once again show his skill as he would thread the needle on a pass to linemate Brad Marchand who would beat Jhonas Enroth for the B’s 6th goal of the game. Despite d-man Marc-Andre Gragnani’s late-period power-play goal, the Sabres would fall 6-2 as the Bruins improved to 3-0-0 on their current home-stand.
For the B’s, the chemistry between fellow sophomores Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand simply continues to grow and impress. In Saturday’s game they were able to combine for two goals and four assists. Seguin managed to extend his point-streak to 6 games while Marchand extended a point streak of his own to four games. After the game, Seguin spoke to the confidence and chemistry the two Canadian forwards have with one another:

“I mean he’s fast. Obviously Bergy (Patrice Bergeron)’s fast too but when Bergy’s in his own zone and he’s playing his good defensive zone you know we’re there and then if the puck pops out I know that Marchy (Brad Marchand)’s flying down the other boards or Marchy knows I’m going and you know, it just works out with our speed” – Tyler Seguin

Throughout this 5-game win streak, the Bruins have proved their ability to once again play to the level of champions as they continue to shake off the dreaded “Stanley Cup Hangover”.

KEY STATS

Goals–                        BUF (2)          BOS (6)

Shots–                       BUF (23)          BOS (35)

Power-Play–           BUF (1-4)        BOS (0-3)

Penalty-Kill–           BUF (3-3)        BOS (3-4)

• Three Stars– ….. 3.) Brad Marchand   ….. 2.) Rich Peverley   ….. 1.) Tyler Seguin

What’s Next?

The Boston Bruins will continue their lengthy 5-game home-stand this week as they prepare to host Zach Parise and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday evening. After that, the B’s will conclude their home-stand on Thursday when Rick Nash and the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets pay a visit to Boston. Next on the docket for the Sabres is a trip north to the Bell Centre for a Monday evening clash with the Montreal Canadiens.

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