Zubrus & Devils Drop Bruins; Garden Takes Shots At Yankees, Lack Proper Dipping Sauces

The Bruins have yet to win consecutive games this season; They’ve also failed to lose two in a row this season.

Tonight in the Hub, the Bruins and Devils took to the ice and the feeling among the crowd was that they could either be witnessing two varying degrees of extreme.

One being that the Bruins would light up Yann Danis, a rather inexperienced netminder. Whereas the other thought being that the Devils, coached by Jacques Lemaire, would keep this game close in typical Lemaire-fashion.

Unfortunately for Boston fans, it was the latter.

Nearing the end of the first period, the Devils broke out on a two on one as Nicklas Bergfors and David Clarkson led the rush up ice against B’s defensemen Andrew Ference. As Bruin toughguy Shawn Thornton chased after Bergfors, the Devils 1st round pick from the 2005 was able to fire away a shot B’s netminder Tim Thomas initially stopped but let slip through his legs as David Clarkson banged it home for his third goal of the season.

For Bergfors, it marked his fourth assist and sixth point in 11 games. You’ve come a long way since your days with the Lowell Devils, Nicklas.

As the teams headed to the dressing room at the conclusion of the first period, the Devils had a 1-0 advantage and the teams were near dead even in the shots on goal department with 12 for Boston and 13 for New Jersey.

A fun thing to note, during the intermission they had the kids from the “Mini 1-on-1″ tournament come out and show off their skills for the fans. Oliver Wahlstrom, the kid who performed an absolute circus act of a goal that gained notoriety through the internet and became a YouTube sensation attempted the same move again and failed, sending the puck sailing over the net.

In the second period, the Devils and Bruins went through a defensive struggle for nearly the entire period as the physicality picked up as the two teams fought and clawed for every possession. The high moment of the evening was without question when 6’4″ Andrew Peters tried to intimidate 5’11″ Andrew Ference by fake launching himself at him twice after a whistle but when Ference responded with a cross-check to the shoulders, Peters acted as if he got hit with a brick, clenching his face in hopes of drawing a call. Truly a pathetic display by someone considered to be a tough customer.

The Bruins lone goal of the night came from none other than alternate captain Patrice Bergeron, who continues to impress. Bergeron, sporting a new Thornton-like handlebar moustache, was set up with an absolutely beautiful no-look feed from Marco Sturm in front of the Devils net, Patrice wasted no time putting the puck in the top shelf of Danis’ net to knot the game up at one.

After two, the Devils and B’s were knotted up at one.

It was more of the same from the B’s in the third period as they had many chances, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Nearing the end of the third, the B’s were seemingly prepping for an overtime when Danius Zubrus stuck a sloppy through the five-hole of Tim Thomas, killing the Bruins momentum and inevitably their chance for a point in a fourth straight game.

While tonight wasn’t pretty from an offensive standpoint, the effort put forth tonight by the Boston Bruins forwards was something to behold.

Often questioned for his size, Vladimir Sobotka played extremely well, arguably his best throughout his short stint with the club so far this season. He was throwing his body around at all ends of the ice, including a big hit on Devils toughguy David Clarkson. Also, the Boston fourth line continues to be the most tenacious trio of players in black and gold to play against as they simply grind out every second of every shift.

* While the Bruins were unable to leave tonight’s game with a win, many laughs were shared at the expense of the New York Yankees. In typical Garden fashion, during the trivia segment of the evening, the Jumbotron asked the question “Who Won The 2000 World Series” and give the following as three choices

1. New York Mets

2. New York Yankees

3. I don’t remember

Mets was eliminated first of the board, and the answer was in fact not the Yankees, but a simple, “I don’t remember”. The crowd erupted in Yankee-hating love. The cameramen throughout the Garden also didn’t make sure Yankees fans in the arena left unscathed as during off-play the camera zoomed in on a man draped in Yankees garb. Keeping the focus on him, the crowd booed thoroughly. During the same off-play, a fan decked out in a Phillies jersey and hat was shown and was cheered by nearly everyone in the building.

Dumb Quote of the Night

Tonight, there is no dumb quote. However, there is a dumb snackstand operations manager. As I got my Buffalo Chicken Fingers and fries tonight, I asked the incredibly polite (no sarcasm, seriously) cashier for some bleu cheese, she replied that they simply haven’t gotten any since the pre-season. I laughed it off and asked for some ranch dipping sauce, essentially the same thing, right? She gave me the same answer. What sort of arena charges eight dollars for some delicious buffalo chicken but fails to provide their customers with the proper dipping sauces for ultimate enjoyment? Shame on you Garden, shame on you.

What’s Next?

The Bruins will have Friday off before hosting the Edmonton Oilers in a Halloween matinee at the TD Garden. The Oilers are coming off a 6-5 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings and are led by Dustin Penner and his 19 points in 13 games this season. Will the Oilers have the ‘Bulin Wall in net or give him a game off following a 40 save performance on Thursday?

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Ty