It looks like Savard will not be out until the Olympic break after all, which is good news for the Black & Gold. Savvy has been Boston’s top point producer since his arrival in 2006. Savard said that “I feel good and I am right on schedule.” He skated for the second time yesterday, and is inching towards getting back into uniform. Savvy’s injury originally had a prognosis of 3-4 weeks, so his return vs. Buffalo would right in that 3 week timetable.

Marco Sturm, Steve, Begin, and Byron Bitz will all miss tonights game vs. Columbus accordin to ESPN. The Bruins are still trying get healthy, and Savvy talked about how they were so healthy last year. The Ontario native also said “this could be a blessing in disguise, because we are getting everyone back at the end of the season.” The Bruins did not have many injury problems last year which helped propel them to that best record in the Eastern Conference last night.

Boston did not have many injury problems last year during the season, but when the playoffs came around they were very banged up. Several players including Phil Kessel and David Krejci needed surgery right after the season ended for example. Since so many players were hurt at the end of last year, being hurt early could be good in the end for Boston. That’s really only if they can get healthy and pull it together though before the season concludes.

Tuukka Rask was the first off the ice today in practice, which indicates that he will start tonight vs. Columbus. Rask is currently second in the NHL in GAA and SV%. Rask’s stats are also better than Tim Thomas’ so far this season.

Thomas continues to have an up and down year, so this start is important for Rask. The Finish native needs to show he deserves the starting job. Rask has the potential to be the starting goalie for the Bruins, but the biggest question really has to be is he ready? Rask is a rookie getting his first full season in the NHL this year. Remember when the Canadiens traded Cristobal Huet to let coveted prospect Carey Price take over the starting job? Price has since struggled much since, and he is battling Jaroslav Halak some nights for starts.

*Adam McQuaid was sent down yesterday after being called up for practice.

The Bruins lines in practice were these according to the Boston Globe:

The Bruins finally got pivot Patrice Bergeron back after a long two weeks without the him. and The Bruins are still without 1st line center Marc Savard. Savvy will be out until the Olympic break it appears now. It seems the Black and Gold just can’t seem to catch a break this season with injuries. The Quebec native  was not supposed to take any face-offs Monday versus the Senators because he was still feeling pain in his thumb. He did take a few though anyways Bergeron said “I wasn’t supposed to, but I did anyways.”

If Bergeron is too sore to take a face-off then is he really healthy enough to play? As much as the Bruins want Bergy back, rushing him back is not the solution for the Big and Bad. If he ends up hurting his thumb worse it would leave the Bruins season on the brink of destruction.  Bergeron told the Boston Herald that, “It’s sore. I know it’s there, but it’s not something that’s not going to get worse. It’s just a matter of playing through it and feeling better. We are going to work on some different stuff for a splint for the next game, and practicing with the team will help.”

Hopefully Bergeron is right that the injury cannot get any worse. If the injury got worse it would not only leave Bergeron off Team Canada, but also could also kill the Bruins playoff push. If the Bruins can’t get healthy soon they could easily be fighting for 8^th place in the Eastern Conference very soon.

Mark Stuart returned to the Bruins line-up Saturday, when the Bruins were finishing their west coast trip in LA versus UMass Alumni Jonathan Quick and the LA Kings. Quick stoned the Bruins in the shootout and grabbed the win. Despite grabbing a two goal the Black and Gold could not hold on. Michael Ryder scored 2 goals about 13 seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead in the second. The Bruins could not hold a 3rd period lead for the 2nd time on the road trip.

Mark Stuart was paired up with Johnny Boychuk for the past two games. It is an interesting D-pair with a guy like Boychuk who can hit over a 100mph with his slapper. Stuart and Boychuk are also very strong hitters which could make them hard to play against, which is something Peter Chiarelli has been trying to focus on here in Boston. What seemed to be the biggest problem for the pair though was breaking the puck out of their own end. Neither Stuart nor Boychuk are known as puck moving defensemen. As great as they might be to watch them knock the opponent over it is hard to try and watch them break the puck out.

The Bruins lost Marco Sturm, Byron Bitz, and Steve Begin during the West Coast road trip. Bitz and Begin who have been the Bruin 4^th line grinders for much of the season have undisclosed injuries. Both are questionable for Thursday’s match-up with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Marco Sturm suffered a leg injury versus his former team the San Jose Sharks is also questionable for Thursday.

Steve Mason is expected to be in goal for the Blue Jackets Thursday. After winning the Calder Trophy last season he seems to have been diagnosed with the Andrew Raycroft syndrome. Bruins fans remember his excellent rookie season where the Razor won the Calder Trophy, but then after was never able to repeat that kind of season. He lost the starting job in Boston to the likes of Tim Thomas and Hannu Toivonen. That Tim Thomas was not the same Tim Thomas who won the Vezina last season. Tim Thomas had yet to develop into an All-star goalie at that point. Mason was a Vezina finalist last season, as he was one of the top goalies in the game last season. This year he holds a Goals Against Average of 3.33 and a SV% of .889. Mason has fallen off so a wounded Bruins team should be able to take advantage of that, or at least Claude Julien hopes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bruins forward Miroslav Satan skates away as the Bruins drop their second straight home game with a 3-1 loss on Saturday.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown of Sweden, unless of course, he’s playing the Boston Bruins.

Henrik Lundqvist continued his masterpiece of a career log against the Bruins today in the Hub in route to the Rangers 3-1 matinee win, and frankly, it simply didn’t look hard for the three-time Vezina nominee.

Coming into Boston riding a streak of getting at least one point in four straight games, and just five days removed from a 3-2 win over the B’s at Madison Square Garden, the blue-shirts came into Boston looking for their third win over the battle-wounded Bruins in as many showdowns. Considering the close nature of Bruins vs. Rangers showdowns since the Claude Julien’s beginnings in Boston, injuries seemed as if they didn’t matter when these teams got together.

Today, it was a slightly different story.

Still without defensemen Mark Stuart, along with newly injured forwards Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard, and Andrew Ference, the Bruins have found themselves in a tight spot.

Like those precious moments when you’re trying to find a quarter in your change-cup to get through the tolls, the Bruins have replaced key players and veteran presences’ with Providence fill-in’s Trent Whitfield and Adam McQuaid.

Borderline NHL-ready players in the case of McQuaid, and borderline “just stop already and go to Europe” forward Trent Whitfield, it’s clear that the Bruins stood close to no chance today as they went up against a surging Rangers club with a goal-medalist Olympic netminder in goal.

Much like the Thursday night collapse against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Bruins came out with a ton of energy after a Shawn Thornton vs. Donald Brashear tilt just two minutes into the contest. Prematurely stopped by the linesmen when Thornton got a quick take-down on the 6’2″ veteran enforcer, the decision clearly went to #22 in black, who got a few small jabs as opposed to Brashear’s approximate total of zero.

The low-light of the period came near the halfway point of the opening frame when surprising rookie defensemen Michael Del Zotto skated right up to the B’s crease nearly uncontested by the defense and put a shot right under and through the pads of Tim Thomas, giving Del Zetto his sixth goal of the season along with giving a quick one goal lead in favor of the Rangers. Closing out the period, the B’s survived yet another injury scare when penalty-killing machine and P.J Axelsson-reincarnate Daniel Paille when down after blocking a shot with his shin. The Sabre-turned-Bruin crumpled to the ice and hobbled to the bench with some help from his teammates but did return.

Despite out-shooting John Tortorella’s Rangers by an 11-to-7 tally, the Boston Bruins skated off the ice trailing by just a lone goal after one period.

Failing to create any sort of momentum in the proceeding twenty minutes, it was Miroslav Satan who took his first penalty of his short season on a tripping call against NHL-leading goal-scorer Marian Gaborik. While the Bruins killed off the second of the what would end up being four power-play opportunities for the New York Rangers, it would take just ten seconds of even strength play before the B’s were back on the kill, thanks to (who else but) Sean Avery.

Just mere moments after getting into a shoving match with Bruins center David Krejci, Avery was back on the assault after the whistle in front of the Boston net when it appeared that B’s tough-guy Steve Begin had seen enough as he came to the defense of blue-liner Matt Hunwick and body-slammed Avery into the ice. Begin was sent to the box for a roughing minor and Avery was successful in doing what has made him so effective in his NHL career, he irritated, irritated, and irritated until the Bruins got upset, let their emotions show and took a penalty all in the name of attempting to shut Avery up.

However, while Avery executed his part of the play, the Rangers were unable to capitalize on their second power-play opportunity in just over four minutes.

Widening the lead for New York just past the ten minute mark was Brandon Dubinsky, who chimed in for his eighth goal of the season and second of what would end up being three points in the contest. After putting up 41 and 40 points over the past two seasons, the highly-touted Dubinsky is on pace for nearly fifty points in 2009-10, a milestone New York fans would love to see the 23-year old make given his rather large billing as a future number one center.

Much like the Blackhawks game just under 48 hours prior, the Bruins were thoroughly dominated in the second period, being out-shot by a margin of 18, with 21 shots for the Rangers and just three for the Bruins. Factor in the debacle on Thursday, and the Bruins have been out-shot by their opponents 33 to 8. Affecting more than just fan-cherished momentum, when the Bruins have shown these poor second period efforts, you just get the feeling of hopelessness in the style of their play that they take on. Lackadaisical,  flat, and just plain lazy, the Bruins have arguably been losing their games after just forty minutes by putting their effort in the backseat.

Putting the dagger into the Boston heart just 37 seconds into the third period, Erik Christensen put one by Thomas to give Lundqvist and the Rangers a three goal edge with 19 minutes and change left to play. It’s the third point in two games against Boston this year for the 26-year old winger, who was claimed by the Rangers off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks earlier this year.

Failing on two power-plays in the period, the Bruins finally put one by King Henrik with just three minutes and 44 seconds left as Dennis Wideman rang a shot by Lundqvist for his third goal of the season. In a sad scene for the Bruins, as the goal was scored most B’s fans were in the midst of their mass-exile of the TD Garden, seemingly sickened by the display put on by the hometown club, and to be truthful, nearly none of them bothered turning back around and heading back to their seats.

A sour note for those who bank on faith, but a strong message from the fans to the players nevertheless.

Despite a late rush with an extra attacker (Trent [bleeping] Whitfield of all people), the Bruins failed to get on the board for the rest of the game, dropping yet another home contest by a final of 3-1.

What’s Next?

The B’s will pack their bags and head out to California for a three-game road swing to take on the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Los Angeles Kings. Given the injuries and nature of where the B’s AHL team is located, I would not be shocked to see the Bruins call-up an extra body for this road-trip in the event that Byron Bitz, who has missed the past two games with a back injury, is not ready to return to the line-up. A likely choice would have to be Brad Marchand, but with the considerable offensive losses down the center spot with the slew of injuries, calling someone such as Zach Hamill or Jamie Arniel up seems even more interesting.

Follow me on Twitter!

Have a question for me? Ask me on Formspring!

Fan of the B’s coverage on HockeyIndependent? Make it official and become a fan on Facebook!

According to WEEI Savard will undergo an MRI tomorrow for his right knee. Coach Claude Julien stated that “it is a knee injury.” Julien then went on to comment that “we’ll know more once we get the MRI done [Friday].” The absence of Savard could definitely be felt on the ice as after the Bruins scored their first two goals, they were unable to get much more going offensively. The power play really couldn’t get anything even set up in the offensive end without the pivot. The Bruins were forced into using Mark Recchi as a center on the PP because Steve Begin and Vladimir Sobotka didn’t fit into Julien’s plans I guess.

With Bergeron out for at least another two weeks, and Savard for until who knows!!! David Krejci needs to step up quick, and start doing what he did last season. At the end of the 07-08 campagin Krejci really stepped up when Savard went down with a back injury. Krejci stepped up and played solid on the first line, and the Bruins need to see that kind of leadership from Krejci soon. The Bruins already needed to make a move to help booster their offense, but if Marc Savard goes down the Bruins are in shark infested water and bleeding.

The Bruins defense is also in trouble as they did not play a very good game. Andrew Ferrence and Mark Stuart are both now out of the line-up due to injuries. This has meant they have several AHL/7^th defensemen in the lineup in Matt Hunwick, Adam McQuaid, and Johnny Boychuk. Well the Bruins have had the injury bug all year and it is not going away. Boychuk has been solid, but Hunwick seems to be off this season, and McQuaid still needs time to develop.

This is the time when players need to dig deep and step up. It finally looks like Blake Wheeler is stepping up as he added another goal tonight. The Bruins power forward now has 7 points in his last 4 outings. Michael Ryder needs to do something as he has been nonexistent on the ice for the Bruins this season. Hunwick and Wideman need to start making smarter/better passes when trying to break out of the defensive end. Shawn Thornton needs to be Shawn Thornton. This means when the Bruins are down by a goal or two he needs to step up and drop the gloves. This team could use any boost it can get. There have also been a few instances where a Bruin has taken a cheap shot with Thornton on the ice, and he has done nothing. He is an enforcer, so he needs to start enforcing.

I will have more tomorrow with an update on Savard, or at the very least a twitter update. Make sure to follow me on twitter RMurrayBlog.

The Bruins signing of Miroslav Satan may give the Bruins a bolster in the scoring department they've been looking for.

After just 100 goals in 40 games this season, it appears Bruins G.M Peter Chiarelli has seen enough from his lethargic offense.

Currently, there’s only three teams who have scored less than the Boston Bruins: the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders, and Carolina Hurricanes. Those teams all sit below eighth in the Eastern Conference, or better known as “out of the playoffs” if the season were to end today.

While injuries to Milan Lucic, and the struggles to put the back in the back of the net by players such as Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler have slowed the B’s offense down, the Bruins most recently made the move of looking for a potential bandaid before making a move for a top-six forward come March.

Miroslav Satan, a 35-year old Slovakian and 13-year NHL veteran, has been signed by the Boston Bruins to a one-year contract worth an undisclosed amount. Satan spent all of the 2008-09 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, posting 17 goals and 36 points in 65 games for the Pens. After the Penguins acquisitions of forwards Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz at the NHL Trading Deadline, a salary cap issue led to the placement of Satan on waivers. Satan went unclaimed and sent to Wilkes-Barres Scranton where he played with the Penguins AHL affiliate until being called up for the NHL Playoffs, where his cap-hit became meaningless.

In 17 playoff games for Pittsburgh, Miro had a goal and six points in the Penguins march towards their third Stanley Cup.

With a loaded deck of forwards, and the impending return of Milan Lucic from an ankle injury, just where does Satan fit in with the Bruins?

As any B’s fan will tell you, the Bruins continuing experimentation with the top line has been a mess this season. After an injury took Lucic out of the line-up, the Bruins attempted to find a replacement with the insertion of Byron Bitz into the first line to provide a similar style of play to that of Lucic. While the idea made sense in theory, the experiment flopped as Bitz simply couldn’t bank in on the chances Marc Savard would give him. Since then, the Bruins have relied on Steve Begin to fill the void, and Begin has done an admirable job considering the success the top line is having, but has Begin’s promotion been the reason for the connection establishing between Marco Sturm and Savard?

Keep in mind that Miroslav Satan is just three seasons removed from a 27-goal season with the New York Islanders, and the winger has 354 career goals in just over 1,000 career games.

Clearly, the Bruins are looking for a situation much like the one in Atlanta regarding Maxim Afinogenov where a change of scenery in a different system could revive a player’s scoring touch that’s been lost due to being buried on a depth chart. Granted, cases like Afinogenov’s are rare, but the Bruins search for a winger alongside Savard and Sturm has clearly reached a level of desperation.

Satan’s signing includes a no-movement clause, meaning the winger cannot be sent down to Providence, placed on waivers, or traded by the club for the rest of the season. Much like the “Mad Max” signing with the Thrashers, expect the dollar signs to be in the six-figure range, and with pro-rated salary included, Satan’s cap hit should factor in to be around league minimum.

Besides the obvious question as to whether or not Satan still has it, the next factor becomes who takes a seat or is sent to Providence when Lucic is ready to return? Despite his seven points, and even more noticable success from the physical standpoint with 80 hits in 31 games, Vladimir Sobotka seems to be the obvious choice for a demotion to either Providence or to the press box. Even with a demotion of Sobotka, the Bruins would then have to find another player to sit, and the choice for that seems to be Byron Bitz.

The Bruins 6’5″ sophomore has already set a new career high in points with nine, but has struggled to shine when given anything beyond fourth line duty.

Of course, a trade could change the complexion of how the roster moves need to be adjusted to fit everyone in, but until then, the Bruins are going to have to make a deal with the devil in order to get Satan the playing time they signed him for.

Follow me on Twitter!

Email me at TAndersonBruins@gmail.com

Have a question for me? Ask me on Formspring!

Fan of the B’s coverage on HockeyIndependent? Make it official and become a fan on Facebook!

The Bruins pose for a team photo before their practice at Fenway Park

In a league constantly chastised by its fans, the NHL seems to have found their “cash cow” with the Winter Classic.

Now in its third league of becoming an annual New Years Day tradition, the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins are just hours away from taking to the ice on a (not so) makeshift rink at 98-year old Fenway Park. Home of the Boston Red Sox, the 37,400 seat cathedral of baseball tradition dating back to the days of Cy Young, Babe Ruth, and Ted Williams, the ole’ ballpark on Yawkey Way is about to experience a crowd of a different breed.

The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers are two teams rich in history, pride, and tenacity by both their players who’ve donned the sweaters and the fans alike. A hatred built through two cities almost too similar when it came down to their blue-collar attitude, the battles between Terry O’Reilly and Dave Schultz, and the rest of the “Big Bad Bruins” and “Broad Street Bullies” defined what the idea of “Old Time Hockey” was.

Nearly thirty years later, fans and players alike seem to notice that the hatred of Philadelphia by Boston (and vice-versa) has been re-ignited.

Dating back to the beginning of the 2007-08 season when Randy Jones prematurely ended Patrice Bergeron’s season with a vicious and questionable boarding of the B’s alternate captain, the Bruins labeled the Flyers as a ‘cheap’, ‘dirty’, and ‘thug-like’ team. Add in more incidents during that same season, along with four absolutely thrilling regular season battles and it became clear: this rivalry was back.

Adding to Boston’s arsenal of “reasons to hate Philadelphia”, the Flyers acquistions of both Daniel Carcillo, and with the 6’6″ Chris Pronger now wearing orange, the disdain for the Flyers brand of hockey only grew in the Hub.

Rivalry aside, the journey, and struggles of the Flyers and Bruins in 2009-10 has had the same theme as both teams are still trying to find their identity.

The Flyers, who came into 2009-10 banking on a steal-of-a-lifetime with the signing of once thought to be NHL-castaway Ray Emery, UNH stand-out James van Riemsdyk, and along with the continuing progression of forwards Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux, and Mike Richards, the Flyers seemed poised to chase the Bruins for a top spot in the Eastern Conference.

However, struggles on the ice and reports of internal conflicts led to the dismissal of head coach John Stevens, and the introduction of former Providence Bruins coach Peter Laviolette behind the bench in Philly. Laviolette, who won the 2006 Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes as head coach, is known for his high-powered offensive style along with an expectation of hard effort on every shift from his players.

For the B’s, while it may be easy to blame the struggles on injuries to key players such as Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, and most recently Mark Stuart, the struggle to score on a consistent basis like the Bruins club from a season before has been the real issue for the black-and-gold.

Blame it on the departure of Phil Kessel, a sophomore slumping Blake Wheeler, or Michael Ryder’s inability to duplicate last season, fact is the Bruins need to find their scoring ways.

While the Bruins have yet to name a starting goaltender for tomorrow’s match-up, with Ray Emery on the injured reserved and Brian Boucher reeling with what’s being labeled as a “day-to-day” injury, the Flyers will counter with Carolina Hurricane goaltender turned Flyer via the waiver-wire, Michael Leighton. The 28-year old Leighton is 5-4-0 on the season with a .892SV% and has just two games of experience against the Bruins in his career, both of those games being relief appearances for Cam Ward at the TD Garden.

Tim Thomas is “unofficially” likely to get the start if you ask me, but Bruins head coach Claude Julien revealed a rather interesting bit of information today during an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub, saying that if the situation calls for it, he wouldn’t be opposed to working both Thomas and Tuukka Rask into the game tomorrow. Regardless of who gets the nod in net tomorrow, both Thomas and Rask are sporting new Winter Classic related masks for tomorrow’s game, with Thomas paying tribute to long-time Bruins announcer Fred Cusick on one side of his mask.

Despite their struggles, Philadelphia comes into Boston as red-hot winners of four straight contests, including a 6-0 beatdown of the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. Simon Gagne had a hat trick while Jeff Carter added two assists in the stomping in Manhattan while Michael Leightonstopped all 22 Rangers shots on goal for his shutout of the season. Gagne’s 25 points in 30 games against the Bruins makes him a player to watch and the always dangerous Jeff Carter, who has struggled to repeat last seasons’ 46-goal performance, has five points in his last three games.

While Gagne and Carter are on hot-streaks, the player to keep an eye may be the 5’11″ center and powerplay threat Danny Briere. The 32-year old center is familiar with the B’s through his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres, and has 36 points in 35 games against the Bruins in his career, 14 of which coming on the powerplay.

The Bruins, winners of four out of their last five, are going to have to look to their top line for success at Fenway. The relatively new line featuring Marc Savard, Marco Sturm, and Steve Beginhas become quite effective for Boston as of late as Sturm has tallied four goals in his past five games while Savard has eight points in the past five. Steve Begin? Well, the 31-year old grinder has two points in that span, not bad for someone who had a total of 12 points all last season, a toal he’s already matched with 43 games to go.

Patrice Bergeron, hot off a selection to Team Canada, is also looking to continue his very strong rebound season with a strong Winter Classic showing. Bergeron currently sits tops among Bruins with 30 points on the year, and has 11 points in 17 career games against Philadelphia with three powerplay goals.

The Philadelphia Flyers practicing on the Fenway ice on a snowy Boston day

With teams as evenly matched as the Bruins and Flyers, the keys to the game may come down to who has a better game in between the pipes. Be it Tuukka Rask or Tim Thomas, the Bruins defense has to keep the Flyers at bay as with a set of forwards as agile, sneaky and downright hard to keep track of the Flyers have a potent offense. The same can be said for the Bruins, who roll out four lines that have a plethora of energy and physicality every time they take the ice.

In what’s sure to be a classic showdown and photo-friendly site at Fenway, fans are going to be rooting for two things to happen that have simply not happened yet at any of the previous two Winter Classics. The first being a fighting major, and with Daniel Carcillo and Shawn Thornton both in the line-up, it’s not such a crazy thought. The second of course being a home team winning the game. As you can recall, it was Sidney Crosby who won the game in Buffalo back in 2008 in the shootout, and the Red Wings who trounced the Chicago Blackhawks during last year’s chilly game at Wrigley Field.

Just how will the weather be for the game? After reports of a possible rain-out, the game will go on as originally planned with temperature for game time scheduled to be around 38 degrees and overcast with a 10% chance of precipitation after some light snow in the morning.

And now for those three words we all love to hear, “drop the puck”.

Follow me on Twitter!

Email me at TAndersonBruins@gmail.com

Have a question for me? Ask me on Formspring!

Fan of the B’s coverage on HI? Make it official and become a fan on Facebook!

The American forward is having a hard time in the Big Apple. In fact, Higgins only has five points this year, and only deux goals. Defensively, Higgins’ strength, is having difficulties adjusting to John Tortorella’s style of play posting a plus/minus differential of -5. Tortorella is mainly using him on the third line as a forechecker. His might run out of patience towards Higgins if the latter doesn’t adjust quickly and start producing on a Rangers’ team lacing depth offensively after Gaborik, Prospal and Kotalik.

Saku Koivu

Saku Koivu, now playing for the Anaheim Ducks, is clearly the second line centre behind Ryan Getzlaf. Playing mostly with Selanne and Lupul before he was suffered a lower body injury, Koivu only has eight points in 15 games with the Ducks. Saku Koivu played his last game on November 7th against the Coyotes. He is currently day-to-day and his offensive contribution would be greatly appreciated on a team that is tankering offensively this season.

Mike Komisarek

The New York native is not playing well, not well at all! No point in 16 games. No point! Some will say it’s normal, since Komisarek is a defensive defenseman, but what about his horrendous plus/minus differential of -9 and his 31 penalty minutes? Komisarek is currently of the shelf with a quadriceps injury. Komisarek hasn’t exactly lived up to the $22.5 million deal he inked in the offseason. He is also making more money than proven defensemen such as Brooks Orpik, Dennis Wideman, Filip Kuba and Rob Blake.

Tom Kostopoulos

It’s hard to analyze the work of a player such as Tom Kostopoulos because offensively, the latter doesn’t bring anything at all on the ice (one point in 20 games), and defensively, his has posted a plus/minus differential of -3. However, we have to take into consideration that key players like Cam Ward and Eric Staal are currently injured which help the Hurricanes to win games. Also, Kostopoulos only plays an average of nine minutes per game, so the offensive opportunities are hard to come by. Globally, his teammates appreciate his work ethic and his style of play, Kostopoulos brings grit and leadership to a soft Hurricanes team.

Alex Kovalev

Canadiens’ fans were unhappy this summer when Bob Gainey didn’t tender an offer to Kovalev. Now they wonder why they were upset. In fact, Kovy’s production is so ordinary that at this current pace, the Artist will post his worst season since 1998-99, during which year he recorded a mere 46 points in 63 games. However, in Ottawa, the Senators seem happy to rely on the services of such a talented player, and fans are glad the Russian winger is donning their uniform. It’s only a matter of time before Kovalev starts producing at a higher pace, since he’s playing with talented players like Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno.

Robert Lang

Before the season, Robert Lang’s personal objective was to score between 20 and 25 goals with Phoenix. Currently, Lang has five goals and six assists for 11 points in 20 games, a pace of 20 goals and 40 points over a full season. Lang is playing good hockey on a much improved Coyotes’ team, so his leadership and experience will prove valuable when his team fight for a tough playoffs berth in the Western Conference. Lang also hopes to avoid an injury like last year’s season ending injury that made him miss the last 30 games.

Francis Bouillon

The American rearguard is happy in Nashville, and the Predators are happy with his play, despite a tough start for both the team and Francis. His plus/minus ratio of -8 has to be improved as Bouillon’s main quality is his defensive play in his own zone. Trotz is showing a lot of confidence in the former Hab giving him almost 21 minutes of play every game. Bouillon acts as a mentor for the very young and talented Nashville defensive corps of Suter, Weber, Franson and Klein, among others.

Mathieu Schneider

After missing the start of the season due to a rotator cuff injury, Mathieu Schneider has only played eight games so far for the Canucks, having recorded two goals and one assist. Schneider can still help the Canucks on the power play and log quality minutes despite his venerable age of 40. The American defenseman has a passion for hockey and with fragile d-men like Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa, Schneider is a nice insurance policy to have.

Steve Bégin

Following injuries to key players like Marc Savard and David Krejci, Bégin received a nice vote of confidence from his head coach, Claude Julien; that is, kill penalties, play against the opponent’s most offensive line and provide leadership to a younger Bruins’ team. With nine points in 20 games, Bégin is having a great season so far in Boston and Julien is giving him more playing time than he ever had in Montreal under Guy Carbonneau. Bégin even played 18 minutes against the Sabres earlier this month!

Alex Tanguay

Tanguay has finally woke up. And when Alex Tanguay is playing well, the positive results are immediate. With twelze points in 18 games, Tanguay is finally clicking with fellow Quebeckers Vincent Lecavalier and Stephane Veilleux. Tanguay is red-hot with ten points in the past nine games. He is providing the depth the Lightning were looking for when they signed as a free-agent this summer. With offensive weapons such as St-Louis, Lecavalier, Stamkos and Malone, Tanguay is bound to have a great season. Expect him to notch at least 65 points with the Bolts this year.

Finally, a very interesting statistic: the former Canadiens playing elsewhere currently have 46 points while the Canadiens’ new acquisitions have combined for 60 points… And the Canadiens have problems finding the back of the net. What if Gainey had kept all of the above players instead?

Source of inspiration: http://www.fanatique.ca/canadiens/les-anciens-du-canadien-sont-ils-si-dominants+5015.html

(Note: This is technically last week in Bruins, but I’m posting this on Monday due to personal obligations over the weekend)

Welcome to the third installment of This Week In Bruins. Overall, it’s been a decent week for Boston all things considered, and the fans in the Hub are becoming a little more excited with the impending return of Marc Savard and Milan Lucic in the coming weeks.

What’s Left Of Penguins Shut Out By Thomas

* The Pittsburgh Penguins come to Boston missing Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, Maxime Talbot, Kris Letang, Tyler Kennedy while the B’s are still without top-liners Milan Lucic and Marc Savard.

* David Krejci returned to the line-up after missing two games with the H1N1 virus. Krejci was third among B’s fowards on the night for time on ice, but stayed off the scoresheet. However, Krejci would have likely had a goal had it not been for larceny at it’s finestby Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove.

* Matt Hunwick scores his fourth goal of the season, tying him for third on the team for goals.

* Daniel Paille finally connects with a goal on a breakaway, a goal that also gave Mark Recchi his 900th career assist.

* Steve Begin adds two assists in the 3-0 win, making everyone forget about Stephane Yelle.

* Tim Thomas stops all 27 of the Penguins shots as Crosby is neutralized by Zdeno Chara and goes pointless.

B’s Fall To Vokoun & Panthers In Shootout

* It’s Military Appreciation Night at the TD Garden and Mark Stuart has bought an entire section for soldiers enjoying a break from overseas, naming the section “Unit 45″ for the night.

* The third line for Boston presents a new rather small combo, with 5’9″ Brad Marchand and 6′ Paille being centered by 5’10″ Vladimir Sobotka.

* B’s toughguy Shawn Thornton gets into a fightwith Panthers blueliner Bryan Allen (not to be confused with Bruins legend Bobby Allen), for Thornton it was his third fight in as many games after beginning the year with just three scraps in 13 games.

* Starting off the second period on a good note, the B’s get called for a too many men on the ice penalty. It was the Bruins fifth bench minor of the season, tying them with the Colorado Avalanche for second most in the NHL (only New Jersey has more, with 7).

* Boston outshoots Florida 19 to 1 in the second period, presenting perhaps the most one-sided shot differential in recent memory.

* The B’s put 36 shots on Tomas Vokoun after 60 minutes of play, including six shots from Zdeno Chara and Blake Wheeler along with five each from Shawn Thornton (really?) and Dennis Wideman but are unable to score.

* Tim Thomas stops all 23 shots by the Panthers after the overtime period, earning his second consecutive shutout. It also gave Thomas a streak of over 165 minutes without giving up a goal.

* Steven Reinprecht is the first shooter for the Panthers and is stopped by Thomas, not once, not twice, but three times as The Tank bats the puck away from going in using his leg and then his fist. Has Tim Thomas already made his save of the year, much like last year’s against the Devils?

* Vokoun stones Bergeron and Chara as fans wonder why Chara was chosen as the third shooter/why he didn’t go with the slapshot? To answer that, I took in practice at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington the day before and during the shootout drills, Chara was one of the few B’s players who scored a goal in the drill, beating Tim Thomas with that exact move.

Why Are Home Teams Shooting First?

Now here’s a trend I simply don’t understand. It’s becoming the newest fad in the NHL to elect to shoot first as the home team, a practice the Boston Bruins have used in all three of their shootouts against their opponents at home.

“Putting the pressure” on the opposition to score is clearly the idea behind the idea, but it’s backfired two times in a row now for the Boston Bruins.

First when Michael Cammalleri ripped a wrist shot by Tim Thomas in round one on November 5th against Montreal, and then Thursday night when Cory Stillman put it by Thomas to win the game for Florida.

This experiment is clearly not a successful for the B’s, who are not a well established team in the shootout as is. I feel that the Bruins fully need to utilize their home ice advantage and opt to shoot last, having the final say in the game.

Bergeron’s Stick, Thomas Fall To Pens In OT

* Returning to the line-up for Pittsburgh was Evgeni Malkin, a notorious Bruins killer throughout his short career. In typical fashion, Malkin gets credited for three assists and a +3.

* The Bruins and Penguins battle back and forth for three periods, providing absolutely exciting play. Down 4-3 with 11 minutes remaining in the three period, B’s forward David Krejci answers, scoring his fourth goal of the season to knot it up and it’s Marco Sturm who scores three minutes later to put the Bruins up by a goal with two and a half to play.

* With time expiring, the Pens make their move to pull Brent Johnson in favor of the extra attacker and Bruins alternate captain Patrice Bergeron is unable to put the puck in the empty net due to his composite stick breaking, surely to the dismay of Jack Edwards.

* With one final St. Louis Blues circa Martin Luther King Day 2009 rush, the Penguins score with a Billy Guerin wrist shot with 0.4 seconds left in the third period as Thomas slams his stick against the crossbar in frustration.

* Opening the overtime period, Tim Thomas miscues handling the puck behind the netand Pascal Dupuis scores on an empty net after a feed from Jordan Staal.

Foppa The Bruin?

* As first mentioned by good friend Jesse Connolly over at HockeyBuzz.com, in his recap of last week’s victory over the Penguins, mentioned CBC.ca’s notion of the B’s being a team that has openly expressed their interest in Swedish forward Peter Forsberg.

* Forsberg hasn’t played in the NHL since 2007-08, but has 18 points in his last 16 games in the league with the Colorado Avalanche.

* Over the past two seasons, Forsberg has played six games for MODO of the Swedish Elite League, scoring four goals and seven points.

* Just where does Peter Forsberg fit on this Boston Bruins team? He may in fact not fit on this club with a plethora of centers as is with Marc Savard, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

Marc Savard: The 6.5 Million Dollar Man

First reported by K.P Dupont of the Boston Globe and touched on by the Puck Daddy Blog on Yahoo, it’s indicated that Marc Savard and the Bruins are close to agreeing on a “four or five year extension worth about 6-6.5 million dollars a season”.

* Savard’s current deal, which has paid him five million dollars over the past four seasons is set to expire at the conclusion of this season and the B’s are sure to want to prevent their top point guy since 2006-07 from hitting the open market.

* Savard has tallied 60+ assists in every season since 2005-06, but has missed nearly a month with a broken foot. Before his injury, Savard was on pace for yet another 80+ point season, with seven points in as many games.

The Ghost Ryder & These Guys Are New?!

* Before Saturday, Michael Ryder went 10 games without a goal, or assist. Ryder was -2 in that span.

* Derek Morris is fitting into the B’s system so well that you’d think this is third or perhaps even fourth season with the club. Through 19 games, the 31-year old Morris has 11 points, five of which coming on the powerplay and is proving to be a better all around defensemen than Aaron Ward.

* Daniel Paille is thriving in black and gold and helping the penalty kill rise back to the level they were expected to play at. Since the acquistion of Paille, the B’s have killed off 34 of 35 penalties, good for a 97.1%.

Follow me on Twitter!

Ty

Tonight, for 60 minutes, the Bruins simply out-worked, out-hustled, and out-played the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins came into Boston still without alternate-captains Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, who are among the Pens’ long injury list along with Tyler Kennedy, Kris Letang and Maxime Talbot.

Fortunately for the Penguins, they still had one already iconic player: Sidney Crosby. However, the Crosby Show was cancelled tonight as  the Bruins stingy defense made people in the crowd literally ask where number 87 was.

Led by the top line defensive pairing of Zdeno Chara and Derek Morris, the B’s defense held the Penguins to just two shots in the first period. How would Bruins netminder Tim Thomas react in the 2nd period after averaging facing just one shot every ten minutes?

In the second period, it was Matt Hunwickwho got the party started for Boston, scoring on a wrap-around in the opening two minutes of the period, a goal which wasn’t counted until about two minutes later. Initially, the goal horn sounded and the Bruins gathered for a celebration, however the goal was waved off and play resumed as Dennis Wideman raced down the ice and knocked Jordan Staal off the puck on a near breakaway.

After the whistle, the play went to review and the replay shown on Garden HDX clearly showed the puck going top shelf over Marc-Andre Fleury’s shoulder. As the B’s fans rejoiced before the call was made official, it was clear the B’s were going to be up 1-0.

As the call was made official by referee Bill McCreary, it was officially 1-0 in favor of the Killer B’s.

It turned out to be all the Bruins needed in what was perhaps the strongest effort of the season by Tim Thomas.

The second period provided a great test for the 2009 Vezina. The ailing Pens poured on an offensive onslaught of 13 shots in the second, Thomas answered by repeatedly stopping the Penguins with great poise and making it look easy in the process.

“Our team defense has been playing very well for I’d say the last seven or eight games,” B’s goalie Tim Thomas said following the game “and now we’re getting the offensive production we need to get the W’s, also.”

‘Very well’ may in fact be putting it too lightly as Boston has let up just eight goals in their last seven games. Led by a strong defense, Bruins goaltenders Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask have put together a 1.14 goals against average over that span.

Early in the third period, it was Daniel Paille who finally tallied a goal on what has to be his fourthor fifth breakaway with the Bruins. It was Paille’s first goal on the season and first with the Bruins. More significantly, the goal also gave Mark Recchi his 900th career assist. In doing so, Recchi became the 18th player in NHL history to have 900 assists or more, adding to his already incredibly impressive career resume.

The Bruins continued their defensive shutdown of Pittsburgh in the third period, but it was the play of Marc-Andre Fleurythat kept the Pens in this game until nearly the final bell. With just over five minutes remaining in the period, Fleury made a simply insane save against David Krejci, where the number one overall pick from the 2003 NHL Draft was in a split and robbed a sure goal away from Krejci with a spectacular glove save.

The Bruins penalty kill capped off a win for the guys in black with an empty net knuckle-puck goal from Patrice Bergeron with four seconds left in the third period to make the final a three to zip Bruins win.

Ty’s Three Stars of the Game

1. Tim Thomas – The B’s anchor was simply in control tonight. Following a near goal after an odd bounce off the Garden glass, the 35-year old netminder regained his composure immediately and gave the Bruins all they needed to earn the win tonight, holding the Penguins to zero goals and stopping all 28 shots put on by Pittsburgh.  

2. Derek Morris – You’ll look in your box score tomorrow and see a zero in the points column for Derek Morris, but man is this guy good. The puck-moving defensemen the Bruins signed to a one year deal over the summer has done an incredible job since being paired with Zdeno Chara. Morris complements Chara’s game ideally, more so than Aaron Ward and is a rock defensively while providing great chances for the Bruins forwards out in front of the net. Did I mention he was nearly out of tonight’s line-up with flu-like symptoms?

3. Marc-Andre Fleury – While the loss goes to the 24-year old Quebec native, Fleury was the lone reason that the Penguins weren’t blown out tonight. Fleury stopped 26 out of 28 shots and was a stud in net for nearly the entire 60 minutes of play.

Dumb Quote of the Night

Tonight, the dumb quote of the night was in the form of a sign as one fan held up a sign saying “Penguins Belong In The Arctic”. Normally, I’d be okay with this, but does this fan holding the sign believe that bears are native to Boston? Or perhaps that wings with feathers reside peacefully in Detroit?

Silly, just plain silly.

Jersey Spotting of the Night

Inside the Garden tonight, there were some conflicting feelings towards Phil Kessel. Upon entering the arena, I saw one jersey with Kessel’s name on the back and above it someone taped “Bring Back”. However, later in the night I saw a kid wearing a Phil Kessel player tee, with the words “Number 1 Pick” taped over Kessel.

Oh Phil, will it ever end?

What’s Next?

On Thursday night, it’ll be the Florida Panthers making their first trip to the TD Garden this season.

The Panthers are 5-9-1 thus far in 2009-10 and are coming off a discouraging loss to the Washington Capitals last Saturday night where Scott Clemmensen let up a career-high seven goals. The Panthers will likely be without Radek Dvorak along with David Booth for their match-up against Boston, a team they went 1-3-0 against last season.

Follow me on Twitter!

Ty

B’s, Rask Shutout Oilers

* The B’s take to the ice for the first time on Halloween for the first time since 2002, where they lost to the Anaheim Ducks 4-1. Only one player was active for that game seven years ago remains on the current roster, Tim Thomas, who served as the B’s back-up for two brief stints with the club during the 2002-03 season.

* The TD Garden was a haven of ridiculous costumes, varying from an H1N1 pig, to a perfect duo dressed as the Blues Brothers, David Puddy from “Seinfeld” and even a man in a full on chicken costume, chicken feet and everything. Got a question? ‘Gotta ask the 8-Ball.

* The Bruins score, but don’t, as time expires in the second period.

 * Vladimir Sobotka, sporting a usual chip on his shoulder, chimes in for two points (1 goal, 1 assist) along with linemate Blake Wheeler in route to a 2-0 win over the Oil. It was Sobotka’s first multi-point game since April 4th, 2008.

* Tuukka Rask stops all 19 of the injury-riddled Edmonton Oilers shots, earning his first shutout of the 2009-10 season and second in his short career.

Bruins Blanked In Big Apple

In a rare Sunday matinee for Boston, the B’s traveled to the city that never sleeps to take on the New York Rangers.

* The New York Rangers gave the Bruins perhaps the biggest fit last season among Atlantic Division teams, going 2-2-0 against Boston with all the contests being decided by just one goal, including two 1-0 losses against the B’s.

* Tim Thomas got the start for Boston against Henrik Lundqvist, Thomas has one Vezina Trophy to his name while Henrik has been nominated three times but left empty-handed all three times.

* Expecting nothing less from the man we love to hate or hate to love, Sean Avery was involved in a pre-game spat with Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins. The two would not exchange anything worth noting during the game, however Sean Avery was found guilty of boarding B’s young forward Blake Wheeler and was sentenced to two in the sin bin.

* The Bruins anemic powerplay goes 0-for-5 against New York, creating clouds of concern in the Hub as to how much these team needs Marc Savard back.

* Lundqvist survives a last minute swarm by the Boston offense, securing a shutout as the B’s leave Madison Square Garden with a loss for the fourth straight time. The last time the B’s left Manhattan with a win was on January, 20th, 2008.

Red Wings Beat Bruins 2-0

* The Bruins enter Detroit as the only team in the National Hockey League with a winning record against the Red Wings since 2000. The Red Wings have appeared in three Stanley Cups in that frame, winning two out of three.

* In their only meeting last season, Boston beat the Wings 4-2 decisively at the Garden.

* For Michigan native and B’s defensemen Matt Hunwick, it was his first game in his hometown state. Hunwick didn’t do anything to “wow” his friends and family in the crowd, logging 16 minutes and 33 seconds of ice-time and having zeros all across the stat-sheet.

* Trent Whitfield, who got thrashed in a fight last week against Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, was going at it with a Wings player near the exact same spot he did last week, but before Whitfield was able to presumably lose a fight again, B’s toughguy Shawn Thornton stepped in and separated them.

* While the rest of the Bruins were struggling to get anything going, Shawn Thornton was hitting everything and everyone in his way, including a nice hit into the boards on Nicklas Lidstrom.

* Chris Osgood buys the posts of his net a steak dinner for their self sacrifice following help on shots by Michael Ryder and Marco Sturm from the iron.

* The B’s powerplay goes 0-for-3 while the penalty kill shines, stopping four of Detroit’s five opportunities.

* Tim Thomas stops 24 of 26 shots put on goal by Detroit, stopping 46 of his late 49 when including the game against New York, good for a .939 save percentage, but has no wins to show for it.

B’s Comeback, Lose To Montreal In Shootout

* Marking the 700th game between Boston and Montreal, it was yet another showdown of Carey Price vs. Tim Thomas.

* When it’s Price vs. Thomas, Boston has a 11-9-3 record against Montreal, but have won eight in a row against Price.

* There was no Lucic vs. Laraque showdown of fists, words, as both #17′s were out with injuries. Laraque, bothered by a bad back, while Lucic continues to nurse a broken finger.

* Former Bruin Glen Metropolit gets the party started early for Montreal with his third goal of the season scored late in the first period after a Wideman-Hunwick collision leads to a 2-on-1 for Montreal.

* Maxim Lapierre continues to be one of my least favorite players to watch, ever. After starting a scrum in front of the Boston net, 5’11″ Bruins defensemen tried engaging Lapierre to trade blows in a fight, Lapierre declined but continued to talk trash to Ference.

* Price haunts B’s fans to flashes of 2007-08 Carey, stopping 42 of 43 Boston shots in route to his third win of the season.

* Patrice Bergeroncontinues his strong comeback season, scoring his fifthgoal of the season and ninth point of the season. Bergeron is on pace for 50 points, and perhaps a 25-goal season.

Krejci Has Swine Flu, Who’s To Blame?

Prior to Thursday’s game against Montreal, it was announced on BostonBruins.com that David Krejci had in fact been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. Krejci, who played Tuesday against Detroit, reportedly felt immediately ill after the game.

Just how did Krejci get it?

It’s possible that Ladislav Smid, who played against Boston on Saturday despite having Swine Flu, spread the illness to the Bruins.

Or it’s possible that Krejci contracted the virus on the team’s road trip to New York City, where the Swine Flu is running rampant.

Regardless, the team will be without Krejci until he is fever-free for 24 hours.

Two More Years of Tuukka: Rask Extended

The 22-year old prized prospect of the Boston Bruins, Tuukka Rask signed a two-year extension to remain a Bruin through the end of the 2011-12 season.

Rask is off to a solid start in 2009, going 2-1-1 with a .915 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average.

The extension for Tuukka is between 1.2 million dollars to 1.6 million dollars per season, a steal for what Tuukka can bring with the playing time and experience he’s sure to gain with added playing time.

Other News, Notes, & Foolery

* What’s the difference between Trent Whitfield’s skating and mine when I was nine years old? Trent Whitfield is getting paid 550,000 dollars more than I was.

* Where is Johnny Boychuk? The leading scorer from last season’s Providence Bruins who earned the role of the seventh defensemen for this season’s Bruins, has appeared in just three games for Boston this season. In three games, Boychuk showed great physicality, averaging three hits per game and even got into a good fight in the B’s 4-1 loss to Phoenix.

* Byron Bitz, who has been sidelined for the past three games with a groin injury, was spotted by me and my buddies at the 7-11 outside of the Garden. Bitz was buying a nice tin of Skoal to enjoy in the press box for the game.

* The Bruins called up Mikko Lethonen for Thursdays game against Montreal, did anyone notice? It was Mikko’s second career NHL game, does anyone remember the first?

* Boston’s powerplay is now dead last in the NHL, due in large part to their current streak of zero powerplay goals on their last 19 chances.

*Should the Bruins try their luck and move Matt Hunwick to a forward spot and dress Boychuk as a blue-liner? Hunwick has three goals and four points in 15 games and with the injury woes up front, should the B’s perhaps put Hunwick on a wing, something they experimented with last season?

* Steve Begin is becoming a fan favorite of sorts, it became official after I saw someone wearing a Begin jersey last week in the balcony.

* Derek Morris has eight points in 15 games this season, including seven assists, tying his total in 57 games last season with Phoenix.

* Jack Edwards makes fun of Phil Kessel’s voiceduring a replay of Ohlund’s hit on Kessel, I feel justice has been served, considering Kessel made fun of my voice to Andrew Ference at last year’s Wives Carnival.

* Chuck Kobasew, traded out of Boston earlier this season in a cap-clearing move, has two points in eight games for the Wild.

* Daniel Paille has without question helped the B’s penalty kill big time, which has now killed off 78.8 of their penalties.

* A photoshopped picture of David Krejci wearing the 2010 Winter Classic jersey hit the web, do you like these (fake) pictures better than what the B’s are actually using for their historic game at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day?

Twitter-Plug Time

Follow me on Twitter!

Ty

Following a dominating performance against a semi-healthy Dallas Stars team, the Bruins sputtered out of the gate and lost to the currently-untouchable Ilya Bryzagalov the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 in the desert. Before the game, the Bruins lost Milan Lucic for the night, and went on to lose him for the next 4-6 weeks with a broken finger.

Just how does one of the NHL’s toughest players get away with sitting out four to six weeks because of a broken finger? Well, you can ask him if you see him, but I know I won’t be backing you up.

* To add injury to injury, the Bruins also placed linemate Marc Savard on the long-term injured reserve with a broken foot. While Savard’s seven points were good for best on the Bruins, it was deemed best if 91 spent some time in the press box, giving him time to let the broken bones heal. The injury was suffered during the pre-season, but gives Savard more time to pursue a modeling career, photos by the Improper Bostonian, courtesy of the Looch Ness Monster blog. 

* The Bruins call up Guilliam Lefebvre, sent him down, call him up for a half hour, and send him down again. While Lefebvre is heading back to Rhode Island for perhaps the rest of the season, I’ve grown curious as to how much gas money Peter Chiarelli has given Lefebvre.

* Brad Marchand gets an assist in his first NHL game, but rubs Bruins, music, and musically-inclined Bruins fans the wrong way before the game when he admits to wanting to interview Nickelback.

* The Bruins acquire Daniel Paille from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for one of the Bruins 1,982 draft picks. Paille impresses Bruins fans the next night with his dogged determination, tenacity and assist on a game-winning goal for Boston.

* Steve Begin continues to make Boston fans miss P.J Axelsson and Stephane Yelle less and less by the game. Currently, Begin is on pace for 54 points and is second on the Bruins with four assists.

* Surprisingly, Patric Hornqvist survived 60 minutes out there against the Bruins on Wednesday. The Sweden native forward, who stands at a whopping 5’11″ and 186 pounds was hacking away at Thomas’ pads all game, crosschecking Sobotka and being an all around irritation to the Bruins.

* Bruins survive a last second melee in front of Tim Thomas’ crease to secure a win against the Nashville Predators, continuing their streak of  inconsistency.  

* My negativity towards the Boston Bruins via Facebook status leads to the team waking up, I know I’m friends with Zach Hamill on there, but does news really travel that quickly?

* Both Vladimir Sobotka and Brad Marchand admit that Marley & Me made them cry. Winning the hearts of dog-lovers all over, but creating a buzz about just what is going on in the city of Providence?  

* Bruins unveil “official” Winter Classic hatsduring pre-game skate with Philadelphia Flyers, continuing to upset fans with their lack of anything cool for this year’s battle at Fenway Park.

* The scouting report on Tuukka Rask continues to read “top-shelf”. However, Tuukka still performs admirably in the 4-3 shootout loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, including a stellar save against Jeff Carter on a shorthanded breakaway.

* Scott Hartnell has still refused to get a haircut, to the dismay of even his closest family. His search for revenge on Bart Simpson continues.

*Derek Morris scores his first goal with the Boston Bruins and tallies an assist against Philly, stopping the complaining of B’s fans..for now.

* Is there any team more appealing to loathe than the Philadelphia Flyers? Between that clinically-insane punk Daniel Carcillo to Chris “Mr. Stomp” Pronger, is there any reason as to why anyone outside of Philadelphia would bother liking this club? I suppose it fits their city well though, GREEN-MAN!

* The Canadiens continue to stumble, to the joy of Bruins fans, posing the question, est la Coupe truly downtown? Even more joyous, the Toronto Maple Leafs are still winless seven games into the season, with a wonderfully terrible record of 0-6-1, on pace to give the Boston Bruins the first overall draft pick in 2010. Hey Kessel, how do ‘ya like ‘dem apples?

Tomorrow, the Bruins take to the ice in Kanata, Ontario to take on the Ottawa Senators. This will be the first time that the Bruins face off against Alex Kovalev since his departure from Montreal. Will L’Artist have any tricks up his sleeve or will the Bruins continue to play hard, physical and cliche as they prove to be “tougher to play against”?

If you haven’t already done so, follow me on Twitter!

Ty

Going Green – Capitals defenseman Mike Green was a revelation a year ago, scoring twice on opening night to kick-start a record-setting season. Tonight he and the Capitals face off against the only defenseman to garner more Norris Trophy votes than Green, Boston’s Zdeno Chara. Despite his overwhelming offensive performance, Green appears to still have something to prove – ESPN.com surveyed six experts who named four other defensemen as favorites for the Norris this year. Add in the chance to represent his country at the 2010 Olympics and Green truly has an opportunity to grab the spotlight even more in 2009-10.

Start at the top – The top two teams in the Eastern Conference in 2008-09 square off to open the 2009-10 season. These two teams combined for four of the six members of the NHL First All-Star Team last season (Zdeno Chara, Mike Green, Alex Ovechkin and Tim Thomas) as well as the top two finishers in the Norris Trophy voting (Chara and Green).
Get it started – Washington is an even .500 in season openers in the club’s history (16-16-2) as it starts its 35th season. The Capitals have only faced the Bruins once in a season opener, a 4-3 Boston win on Oct. 8, 1987. Washington is 5-11-2 overall when opening the season on the road and is starting on the road for the fourth season in a row.
Jump start – This matches the earliest start in Capitals history; Washington opened on Oct. 1 once before, winning 4-1 at Toronto in 1997.
Intros needed – Washington’s two significant free agent acquisitions, Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison, should make their Capitals debuts tonight. Knuble and Morrison have been teammates before at the University of Michigan and with Linkopings in Sweden in 2004-05. Four players – left wings Boyd Kane and Quintin Laing, defenseman Tyler Sloan and goaltender Semyon Varlamov – have made an NHL opening-night roster for the first time in their careers.
Familiar faces – Washington’s top five point scorers and top six goal scorers from last season are on the opening-night roster, as are seven of the top eight defensemen (by games played) and the top two goaltenders.
 

Popular guys – Each of Washington’s first three games are televised nationally in either the U.S. (tonight and Tuesday, VERSUS) or Canada (Saturday, CBC).

 

Caps Lineup & GameDay Notes

• as per Tarik @ CapsInsider:

Forwards

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin
Laich-Morrison-Knuble
Laing-Steckel-Clark
Kane-Gordon-Bradley

Defense
Morrisonn-Green
Poti-Jurcina
Erskine-Pothier

Goaltenders
Theodore
Varlamov

Lineup Notes

• Now, I realize I said that Boudreau is likely to give with the “safe” option in Theo, yet Gabby has surprised us before and it has yielded positive results for the Caps. That said, Bruce has still maintained that Jose is the starter and for that reason and that reason alone, it will be Jose Theodore opening in goal for the Capitals this evening.

• The Caps are healthy apart from Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr, both of which won’t be out of the lineup long as they are recovering from injuries and should join the team within in the next 4 weeks.

• Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and Alex Semin are all in top shape, having recovered from their respective injuries, bumps and bruises from last season, and are raring to go.

• Nicklas Backstrom is awesome.

• Mike Knuble is going to be a force on the top line and is going to make that top trio even harder to contain. Expect him to get in Thomas’ face quite abit tonight.

• Brendan Morrison appears to be fully healed from all of the injuries that prevented him from playing to the best of his capabilities over the last few seasons. If he can stay healthy and return to form, he is going to be an excellent compliment to super-sniper Alex Semin and yeo-man Brooks Laich.

• Although Quintan Laing wasn’t slated to play on the 3rd line with David Steckel and Chris Clark, he will bring 110% energy to that line and will pester the likes of Marc Savard, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron mercilessly.

• Michael Nylander remains on the outside looking in(and a healthy scratch) and will continue to watch and wait as Caps GM George McPhee seeks to find a suitable home for the banished centerman.

The Opposition

Here is what the Bruins lineup should look like tonight:

Forwards

Milan Lucic- Marc Savard- Marco Sturm
Blake Wheeler- David Krejci- Michael Ryder
Mark Recchi- Patrice Bergeron- Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton- Steve Begin- Byron Bitz

Defense

Zdeno Chara- Derek Morris
Andrew Ference- Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart- Matt Hunwick

Goaltenders

Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask

- As per Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe.

• It is interesting to note that David Krejci is going to be seeing his first game action this evening after taking all of the pre-season to recover from summer-time surgery. I expect that this is going to be a tentative move and that Krejci will not get too much ice-time. I would expect that Patrice Bergeron will likely step into the 2nd line role if, and likely when, Claude Julien determines that Krejci begins to fall behind by a step.
• The Bruins have a few new faces in town in Morris and Begin, while the return of Marco Sturm should help ease the loss of Phil Kessel to the Maple Leafs.
• These two teams finished 1 – 2 in the Eastern Conference last season and every game they played felt like a true playoff battle. It may be tough for both squads to gear into playoff form for the season opener, but there is no doubt that this will be an exceedingly exciting game between two of the top teams in the NHL.

• Washington took 3 out of the 4 games last season, but never by a wide margin and always while fighting off a rugged Bruins squad.

I have also written a GameDay Feature for Versus, which you can check out HERE.

steven.hindle@hotmail.com