Well we've recently played some teams from Canada so there's been a lot of talk about the USA USA USA chant these days. Today is of course the return of half the Bruins' American players this year - Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart. Since the trade, Blake's taken off, currently tied for scoring through the last ten ATL games. No word on whether he started hitting.
The Bruins magic number (to clinch the division) is
Oh and the upside of that leafs game was Brad Marchand stealing the puck and burying it behind Reimer...for his 5th Shorty of the season. He's having a huge year, I hope we can afford re-signing him and Kaberle. No time to worry about that now, though. Here's the goal, it ruled:
Game 39 7:00 PM, December 30th NESN, 98.5 FM v. Atlanta Thrashers
Well this was going to be a celebration of Don Cherry but he's not coming tonight so nevermind. Who is coming? The Thrashers are coming. If the Bruins hadn't put up 3 goals in 1:08 last wednesday we might have lost to them, so here's hoping Ondrej is in net for Atlanta again tonight. (he is!) Here's how the teams match up, stats-wise: Congratulations to Chara, Sturm, Krejci, and Bergeron for making their respective Olympic teams. Team USA will be announced right after the Winter Classic.
Well that was certainly something. The Bruins are 6-0-0 when leading by 2 at some point in the game, as well as 5-0 -0 when leading after the second period.
The Bruins are 3-3 in the shootout. It's not as bad as you think. Sure, they've only scored 4 goals total on the shootout, but that just means we have killer goaltending. For now, I'm not sure what Thomas was out with but it's apparently an undisclosed lower body injury or something. I missed the first period, so I only know what twitter told me about that.
And now, onto Evan's favorite part, the RECAP! WOOOOOOOOOO
Game starts off and pretty early on Marco scores a goal. I'm still getting updates from twitter. My favorite is probably this one:Yeah.
Anyways they won the game even though TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKK had to face kovalchuk in the shootout.
Wheeler had a great move but lost the puck going the wrong direction and instead of trickling between the goalie's pads like last year it went past the goalpost. So close.
Whatever, Bergeron owns.
And they play buffalo tonight. No preview, crazy day at work. Deal with it, I have to.
Game 21 November 19, 2001 7:00 PM ET NESN, 98.5 FM at Atlanta Thrashers (10-6-1)
So the big news for this game is that Savard and Lucic are both off of the LTIR list and Lucic flew down to join the team. Lucic is expected to play tonight, Savard should start Monday. Good news! Maybe we'll actually get over .500 right now. Or maybe we'll have two lottery picks for the draft (in which case DRAFT PARTY).
Pavelec in net, Thomas was off first but Tuukka was right behind. We'll see if we get a euro-goalie duel or if Thomas v. Kovalchuk rules the day. Either way, look out for Kovy and Peverly and whoever else is on the te-AFINOGENOV? WHAT?
Well that's a surprise. If this were 10 years ago, this whole preview would be afinogenov v. recchi (I think...who knows?) but it's not, and well who knows. blah blah blah powerplay still sucks blah blah blah.
Pre-game, the second season of the Instigators is on at 6pm. You better believe I'll be checking in until I want to play modern warfare 2 instead.
Also, it wouldn't be an Atlanta game preview without one of these pictures:
Looks like Lil' Jon has won more Playoff games than the Thrashers. (BURN)
Stats!
Would you look at all that orange going the wrong way? Woof.
Well, the Bruins got all the way to 10 wins in a row only to drop the last 2 games. They haven't looked as good as before and they're definitely playing better teams than before. I have a feeling it might get worse before it gets better. Here's what happened in the last 10 games:
Game 31: Bruins 8, TOR 5: David Krejci gets his first NHL Hat Trick, Wideman cracks glass, Toskala is pulled and then replaced. Each Toronto goalie gives up 4 goals. Kessel Streak: 16 games.
Game 32: Bruins 4 CAR 2: Bruins look like crap the whole night, still double-up on the Canes thanks to an empty netter. Patrice Bergeron gets another concussion, this time while hitting a guy. Terrible. Kessel Streak: 17 games
Game 33: Bruins 6 STL 3: It's a battle of the Mannys, but Wheeler steals the show in the first 5 minutes, scoring a short-handed goal for a possible goal of the year. In the first period, 2 penalties each have a SHG and a PPG. Martin St. Pierre gets an assist in his first game with the Bs. Kessel Streak: 18 games.
Game 34: Bruins 2 NJD 0: Kessel's streak ends but Thomas makes a BEAUTIFUL save on Elias to get a shutout and Lucic scores in his 8th game. Krejci pots the empty netter. This is the first time the Bruins have won more than 5 in a row all season.
Game 35: Bruins 3 CAR 2: Blake Wheeler scored 2 goals in less than 5 minuts for the millionth time. A Savard pass leads to the game-winner.
Game 36: Bruins 2 ATL 1: The Bruins finish a season sweep of the Thrashers. This time it's krejci passing to Ryder that causes the game-winner.
Game 37: Bruins 5 PIT 2: The highlight of this game is a 4-on-3 Bruins powerplay with Savard and Krecji up front. They get into the offensive zone, and prove the Greater Crisp Passing Theory of hockey.
Game 38: Bruins 4 PIT 2: 10 in a row. The Bruins continue to beat the slumping pens, scoring an empty netter to finish this one off. Vladimir Sobotka stands up Jordan Staal at the blue line.
Game 39: Bruins 2 BUF 4: The winning streak ends. The Buffalo defense was fantastic, the Bruins couldn't get anything going, except a Shawn Thornton goal.
Game 40: Bruins 0 MIN 1: Minnesota grinds out a 1-0 win on the strength of a Marek Zidlicky power play slap shot. The Wild are undefeated in Boston over 5 games here. Dammit.
Since leering at Scarlett Johansson while she sleeps can’t really be considered a profession, yes. Game 40: Wild Road Tripper from Hitting the Post
3) You travel to many Wild away games, and have home season tickets. Is that awesome or totally awesome?
WRT: With the number of Wild games I see in person (50 this season alone) I have somewhat of a feeling of how players and the rest of the teams' travelling party feels like. For them, it's a real grind. Thank God, they get to fly charter. The rest of us are stuck with commercial flights, a lot of which are late and/or cancelled. Say what you will, but the NHL really needs to rethink how it schedules games. To ask anyone to play hockey in Southern California (or Florida) one night and in sub-zero Minnesota (or, Ottawa) 48 hours later is asking a lot. It's good and it's bad for me (and my wife) as our schedule is set so far in advance we normally get cheap air fares (cheaper after Southwest begins serving Minneapolis-St. Paul, March 6) but then we have very little flexibility to change our minds after we commit to a game. I know the B's don't have that much of a problem with it, but out here we are really screwed.
I hate mascots. In fact, everyone above the age of 5 does. They're stupid, cartoonish creations that detract from the seriousness of the sport. But, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Boston Massacre Roller Derby's mascot, which appears to be a drunk guy in a lobster suit with a rifle.
Watch your back, Minnesota.
Best Goal:
Blake Wheeler, 4:59 into Game 33 vs. St. Louis. This is shorthanded, mind:
Best Save:
Tim Thomas, second period of Game 34 in New Jersey. Elias has a wide open net and Thomas is sprawled out from a save on Parise. SAVE. So huge.
Best Hit: Vladimir Sobotka on Jordan Staal. Sobotka is tiny, Staal is huge.
Well, football's over. Pats fans, hop on the Bruins Bandwagon. There's plenty of room. Let's take a look at the most recent game. Whoops, I'm a little hungover so I'll be mailing this in, too.
End of the first period, Atlanta Scores. You're watching the Jets lose.
Beginning of second, Wideman-Savard-Kessel. Goal.
1-1. The Jets are still losing.
6 minutes to go in the game. defense chips it up to Blake Wheeler. Wheeler feeds it to Krejci. Krejci sends it through the middle of the zone to Ryder on the doorstep. Ryder does what he was born to do. GOAL.
2-1. Jets lose. Jags never had a chance.
But that season's over. Krejci's is not. And what a pretty pass by him.
GAME.
WIN!
vs. ATL: 4-0-0 (Season Series Sweep!) Record: 27-5-4 (W8) Away: 14-4-3 (W5) L10: 9-1-0 December: 11-1-0 GO BRUINS!
Dec 28, 2008 5 PM ET TV: NESN Radio: WBZ @ Atlanta Thrashers (12-19-4)
Notes:
This is the last time the Bruins play the Thrashers this season. The Bruins are 3-0-0 against them this season.
There's a little matter of the end of the NFL regular season. We'll know how the pats did in their game by the time the puck drops in Atlanta.
Early games are weird.
I'm totally mailing this one in. The Bruins should not do the same.
Previous Games:
Game 8: Bruins win 5-4 at home, Lucic gets a hat trick.
Game 29: Bruins win 7-3, there are 4 fights. Bruins chase backup backup goalie Pavelec on 3 goals in 4 shots, including a Chara wraparound goal.
Game 30: Bruins win 4-2 and Chara gets 17 minutes in the Penalty Box for sticking up for Kessel. After the Game, Coach Claude says he thought it was a good decision.
Other Previews: <------Click those----- NESN First Shift: "Manny Fernandez (11-2-1, 2.09) vs. Johan Hedberg (6-7-2, 3.56)"
Game 21: Bruins 2 Habs 2 SO WIN. Roy's number is finally retired by the Habs, the Bruins come in and win right in front of all of those fans. Blake Wheeler gets the only goal in the shootout, and gets a No Habs No letter from Sens Army Blog.
Game 22: Bruins 2 BUF 3 Loss. In the 18 Buffalo-Boston games, the home team has won. This one was played in Buffalo. Derek Roy shot one in off a Bruins stick. Despite trying to get it going in the third, they just couldn't put it in.
Game 23: Bruins 7 NYI 2 WIN. Black Friday in the new Third Jerseys brought a blowout against the league-basement Islanders. The 7th goal in this game was super-pretty.
Game 24: Bruins 4 DET 1 WIN. Detroit comes to Boston to try to pick up a win. Luckily, the Bruins aren't scared of the reigning stanley cup champs. After 12 minutes without a shot, Blake Wheeler buries it behind Osgood on the first shot of the game. They go on to win.
Game 25: Bruins 3 TBL 1 WIN. Lecavelier-to-Martin St. Louis starts the scoring about a minute in, but Thomas starts taking the game seriously and the Bruins come back to win, 3-1 with an empty netter.
Game 26: Bruins 4 FLA 0 WIN. Manny Fernandez pitches a shutout. The Florida Coach after the game: "We could have been out there for three days and still not scored."
Game 27: Bruins 5 TBL 3 WIN. This was the game that the Bruins got up 3-0 in the first 10 minutes, then stopped playing altogether. P.J. Axelsson's Empty netter made this score look less scary than it was to watch.
Game 28: Bruins 1 WAS 3 Loss. Proving that the Bruins can't win them all, Washington continues a home winning streak against the Bruins. Ovechkin got the empty-netter. It was a pretty hard-fought game. I can't wait until Washington comes to Boston.
Game 29: Bruins 7 ATL 3 WIN. 14 Players have points in this mega team effort. 4 fights make this quite the game as the first of the home-and-home series.
Game 30: Bruins 4 ATL 2 WIN. The Bruins pick up where they left off in Atlanta, and 6'7" Thrashers defenseman Valabik has to answer to Chara after picking on Kessel. Valabik is star-struck and throws no punches. How do you fight your idol? Chara doesn't even knock him down. Sort of a sad fight, in a way. That said, back off of Kessel or one of our bruisers will Crush you. By Bruisers, I mean Lucic, Chara, Thornton, or Savard. Savard? Yeah, check his PIMs for the season.
Stats/On-Pace Projections:
Best goal of the last 10 games:
Maybe this one's just fresh in my mind, but Michael Ryder's second goal against atlanta on Saturday was pretty dominant:
It was his 10th of the season. L10 Record: 8-2-0 Overall record: 21-5-4 GO BRUINS!
Well, that was a fun game. Football's a-coming, so let's get this recap party started.
NOTE TO NHL.TV: I am not going to get XM radio, ever, now that you're making me watch a 30 second ad for almost every 10 second clip. Seriously, c'mon. That's just crappy planning. Maybe for the longer clips it makes some amount of sense, but really? For a 10 second highlight I have to watch the SAME commercial at twice the volume of the clip?
Phil Kessel entered this game with an active 14-game point streak. I was wondering if that would continue. Luckily, Mr. Kessel wanted it to. Krejci pokes it to Lucic, Lucic to Krejci. Krejci puts a beautiful pass from the wall accross the slot to Kessel. Kessel shoots, but hedberg gets it. Gets it right back to Kessel. Kessel takes advantage of Hedberg being down, moves it to the other side of Slater, and GOAL.
1-0. You're screaming about the 15-game point streak.
Playing defense, Krejci gets the puck at the Bruins blue line. Wheeler starts moving in the right direct, gets the pass from Krejci. Wheeler skates it into the zone with Ryder on the wing. Wheeler goes right, realizes he's dragging the d, and drop-passes to Ryder. Ryder goes left, skates around Hainsey, and backhands one in. GOAL.
2-0. Ryder's 9th of the season.
With less than a minute to go, Oystrick proves the dump and chase tactic works. He gets the puck at the top of the circle. Five-hole. 2-1.
Not much happens for most of the second. Then Valabik runs Kessel. Let me rephrase that. The 6'7", 240-pound Slovakian Boris Valabik was roughing up 6'0", 180-pound Bruins Leading Goal-Scorer Phil Kessel. He gets called for that, but Zdeno Chara decides it's time to teach a lesson to his buddy. Here's hockeyfights.com's video:
Their coverage is here. How do you fight your idol? Chara gets 17 minutes of penalties for it, Valabik gets 5 for fighting, 2 for roughing.
A couple minutes later, Vyacheslav Kozlov takes a hooking penalty. Atlanta doesn't get to touch the puck during the powerplay, though. Savard gets the faceoff to Lucic-Hunwick-Wideman-Kessel-Hunwick-Wideman-net. The announcer has just barely enough time to introduce the powerplay before the GOAL.
3-1. Wonderful Puck Movement.
3rd period, 15 minutes in and Michael Ryder shows us some skill. Krejci gives it to him and goes to the bench. While his linemates are getting back to the Bench, Ryder looks like he's going to lazily skate it in to give them time. Then after crossing the blue line, he sees he can get past Hainsey. He puts it in gear and skates around hainsey. Then he puts the puck between Oystrick's skates to himself WHILE deking out Hedberg. He's got net for days on the other side of Oystrick. GOAL.
4-1. 10th of the season for Ryder, he had 14 total last year. 5 minutes to go. Looks pretty good.
Marty Reasoner makes up for a penalty earlier by dinging one in off the post from the point. 4-2.
Bruins shut down the Thrashers for the rest of the game, even though they pull the goalie with like 2 minutes to go and Ryder scores the empty net with -0.01 seconds in the game. One person throws a hat, because it didn't really count.
Game.
WIN!
Record: 21-5-4 (Streak: W2) Home: 11-1-1 (Streak: W11) L10: 8-2-0 vs. ATL: 3-0-0 December: 5-1-0 GO BRUINS!
They've played twice before. Once was last night. Here are the recaps:
Game 8: 5-4 Win. Lucic scores his first career hat trick.
Game 29: 7-3 Win. Lucic gets a Gordie Howe hat trick, Chara scores on a wraparound. 14 Bruins have points in that game, Kessel has his 14th game in a row with points.
A lot of the same stuff applies from yesterday, but with last night's game added and it's a Bruins home game.
The Bruins have a few streaks on the line tonight. Kessel's scored points in the last 14, the Bruins have won the last 10 at home.
I expect Atlanta to come out strong. I'm not sure whose plane took off first, but they both had to fly for a few hours up to Boston after the game last night. Atlanta is coming off a tough loss, I wouldn't be surprised if Kovalchuk, Kozlov, etc get going early. If they don't, I expect Bouldon, Thornton, etc etc will be hugging it out again.
That picture up there was the only one I could find of Chara's wraparound goal. C'mon, NHL photographers, help me out here.
Other Previews:
Double A Hockey: "Is Mark Stuart a Ninja? Because I never really notice him until all of a sudden he's in front of the goal and scores."
NESN First Shift: "Manny Fernandez (8-2-1, 2.08) vs. Johan Hedberg (5-5-2, 3.68)"
Well, the Bruins got off to quite the start of the game, and didn't let up nearly as badly as they did in the Tampa Bay game. In fact, this game was awesome. Let's remember, shall we?
1st Period, 3 minutes in. Jack and Andy are talking about how Colin Stuart and Mark Stuart are brothers and their dad flew in to watch. Colin could sit with him, he's a scratch. Hnidy taps it out of the Bruins corner, Krejci picks it up. He cruises down the right side, with wheeler on the left and Stuart down the middle. They just sort of float there for a minute, like bicycles without riders. Then Krejci sees 3 inches of space. Threads the needle. Stuart one-time/deflects it in.
1-0. You're still getting some beers at the corner store.
About a minute later, the Bruins are working it around the zone. Nokes to Hunwick to Wideman, who sends it around the Thrashers boards. Hunwick picks it up, moves it to Nokes. Nokelainen shoots from the point. Yelle with the alley-oop.
2-0. You're just starting to make yourself some dinner, but that's awesome.
This next one is...something else. Something wonderful. Something that only comes around once in a great while. Off a faceoff, Lucic-Kessel-Stuart-Kessel-Chara. Chara skates it around the back of the net. HOLD UP. CHARA skates it in behind Pavelec. He keeps going, and gets a wraparound goal. "How big are you?" "Really Big."
3-0. Goalie Change. Let's look at the shots he's faced at this point, from the nhl.com play-by-play:
That's right. 5 shots. And one was blocked. I thought those didn't count as saves by the goalie. And yet, nhl.com is saying that he made 2 saves. Oh well. Pavelec skated right off the ice into the Boston.com bruins blog SIN BIN:
SIN BIN: Ondrej Pavelec (one save on four first-period shots). "It was one of those games where I wouldn't have stopped a beachball," said Pavelec, who came back in for 17:28 of playing time in the third period. "If I want to play in the NHL, I have to be better than that."
You can do it, Ondrej. I believe in you. Just not tonight (and if you don't mind starting tomorrow, that would be great. Thanks.)
With Hedberg in, it must mean the party's over, right? Andy Brickley is obviously worried about it. Colby Armstrong's in-game mic gets called for hooking, he goes to the bench. Right off the faceoff, Savard to Bergeron. Bergeron gives it to Ryder. Ryder listens to Andy Brickley say "those guys need to be better players and more consistant." Ryder dings it of the post. "Bar and in," as they say. Seriously, watch this one with Audio.
4-0. Ryder just scored his 4th GWG.
Just so they're not totally embarassed, Kovalchuk gets it to the net for a Todd White tip-in before the end of the first.
4-1.
The only thing that happened in the second period was Joseph Crabb boarding Phil Kessel at 17:40 into the period. He got a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. The Bruins don't manage to do anything on the first half of the powerplay, but then the third period starts.
Phil Kessel was really slow to shake off the hit, but he had time to rest. Hunwick-Wideman-Kobasew-Kessel-Net. Solid goal by a solid player, that.
5-1. 1:25 to go on the PP. Nothing happens.
Ilya Kovalchuk scores a couple minutes later.
5-2.
Lucic and Kessel end up on a fast break. They skate down. Lucic tries to center to Kessel. Lucic-Atlanta D-Man-Net. GOAL.
6-2.
Then Blake Wheeler forechecks like crazy, ends up getting the puck to Krejci. Krejci gives it to Mark Stuart at the top of the slot (I think).
7-2. Mark Stuart with the bookend goals. Can his dad come to every game?
Today is the 75th anniversary of the end of Ace Bailey's career. Eddie Shore doesn't like to talk about it. One more elite defenseman in the Bruins past.
5 Questions with the Enemy: Today's victim is Maali, from Fire Wagon Hockey. Fire Wagon Hockey is one of many Thrashers blogs, and she is the one who created Thrashers Times, the inspiration for Bruins Daily. Anyhow, let's get down and dirty with the questions:
1) Who has impressed you so far? Timmy Thomas 2) Third Jerseys? i'm not a huge fan. the thrashers one is terrible, i don't like the canes' either, and while detroit's is kinda really cool, fuck detroit. :) i also don't understand why only SOME teams have 3rd jerseys? i mean by that reasoning, shouldn't only SOME teams go to a shootout? extreme example, but i'm nothing if not overly dramatic. that said, i think the sens one is classy, i dig the bruins' one WAY more than the ol' pooh bear from a few years back, and the sabres' old school one is hardcore. the rest just suck. 3) I see you were a Brent Burns fan back in 2007. Me too. What other players around the league do you like? This is a long ass answer. Currently, and we're assuming all players are healthy and playing their best (with the right backup/support); Kari Lehtonen, Marc Savard, Marty Biron, Jason Smith, Anton Volchenkov (seriously, do the Sens have two of the greatest d-men in the game right now or what?!), Alex Semin, Robbie Schremp, Sergei Kostitsyn, Eric Perrin, Dom Moore. I'm sure I forgot someone but that's my list off the top of my head. 4) What's your least-favorite team? Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings are in a pretty hard-fought tie. 5) What are your predictions for the home-and-home? Atlanta's going to get their asses handed to them in Boston AND in Atlanta. That's my prediction. :) I know how this team rolls. It ain't like they're playing the Isles or Tampa. Boston is serious business. And despite Lash having a shitty game the other night, they've actually got D. And O. And the Thrash have basically 2 competent d-men. I should point out at this point that I'm as much a Bruins fan as I am Thrashers. I'm actually MORE of a fan of the B's as an organization, but a fan of Kari Lehtonen for years so I follow his team. You dig? :)
There you have it, folks. Again, that's Maali from Fire Wagon Hockey. Check her out!
Other Previews:
Thrasher Times: Will have all of the thrashers blogs items.
Double A Hockey: "The last time the Bruins lost more than one game in a row was right before they played the Thrashers in October."
The Bear Cave: "One of the more important notes to take away from the first meeting was the success of the power plays. The Thrashers cashed in on three of four attempts, while the Bruins went 2-for-5."
Our first period effort was like watching the last 40 minutes of thursday's game but then Thornton slaps one in from the point. Stephane Yelle and Nokelainen tip it in and get called for too many men...Oh wait, not quite. (too much pensblog? who knows. They're sellouts anyhow.)
The player of the game is Milan Lucic's contact lenses. Ready? 1...
2...
3...
HAT TRICK LUCIC!
First hat trick for the second-year player. Keep those contacts in. HD vs. SD, indeed. I think it's a little early to say he's Espo-esque, but people were saying Neely last year... He's a promising young player, for sure. Other important things from last night's game?
Yelle puts a goal in:
Johan Hedberg played good backup goal. He was really good on not letting up the rebounds. Still, it was a 5-4 game.
There was the switching-sides thing, TD Banknorth Garden ice crew were too busy making sure that the boards were good to keep the faceoff circles in the right spot, apparently. Lame.
No HUGE hits for boston last night, that was taken care of the night before. Lucic went and talked to the kids who got stiches as a result of his mega-hit against Mike Van Ryn, they got some free swag. It was their first game.
On TV: NESN (HD) On the Radio: WBZ 1030 vs. Atlanta Thrashers (2-3-2)
Notes
Kovalchuk's line has 6 of the Thrashers' 18 goals. Phil Kessel has 6 goals for the Bruins.
All 30 teams are playing tonight. Here's your NHL.com scoreboard. The last time this happened, we were coming back from the lockout. They should do this on the first day of the season, and give people the center ice preview on that day.
Our record is starting to look eerily similar to perennially not-so-great teams.
This is the last home game before next Saturday vs. Dallas.
The Bruins still haven't won a game at home. Dammit.
Well we've recently played some teams from Canada so there's been a lot of talk about the USA USA USA chant these days. Today is of course the return of half the Bruins' American players this year - Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart. Since the trade, Blake's taken off, currently tied for scoring through the last ten ATL games. No word on whether he started hitting.
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