WE WANT BITZ! WE WANT BITZ! WE WANT BITZ!

BYRON BITZ IS BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMAN
Granted, he's a Vancouver Canuck now, but he's back in the league and playing on a line that befits his talent: with the Sedins.  They need a sniper who can hit and he needs at least a second-line center to expose his talents.  Well expose they did last night.  Check this out right here:
The man in the back said everyone attack
Henrik lateral drop-passed it to Byron Bitz:

BYRON BITZ
BYYYYYYYYRON BITZ

He said Boy I'm gonna show em
I can do more than throw em
and Henrik scores off a pass from Byron Bitz

BYYYYYYYYYRON BITZ!
BYYYYYYYYYRON BITZ!
BYYYYYYYYYRON BITZ!

YEEEEEEEEEEEAH
YEEEEEEEEEEEAH
YEAH YEAH YEAH

(this post also appears on Stanley Cup of Chowder)

Game 70: Bruins @ Smashville ST. PATRICE BERGERON-CLEARY

Nashville fans gonna complain and say Shea Weber is a better defenseman than Zdeno Chara but I don't see him breaking hardest-shot records or winning the Norris, so hmph.

Pekka Rinne is also first loser on the save percent leaderboard this year, and has been hot as .931 goaltending can be, so pretty much assume he's a brick wall. Thomas has a .938 in the Bruins' last 10 games. Rask weighs in at only .929 aka "still amazing." If it's not a goalie duel tonight then something funny is in the air and I don't mean leprechauns or green beer.

Patrick Hornqvist is trying to pass Andy Brickley as highest-scoring last-overall pick of all time. He's got 92 points in 175 games. Brickley had 222 points in 385 games as a defenseman. Brickley's got a better career pace but Hornqvist might play more games. He had a great year last year but has tapered off. We'll see whether he gets another 130+ points.

On the whole I think the Preds are a pretty cool team.

Marchand's probably suspended but I'm not sure yet since the NHL is taking it's sweet time with the hearing.

Stats!

Yeah, you could say I'm worried.

Don't expect to see a lot (if any) powerplay time for the Bruins tonight.

GO BRUINS!

Game 8 Recap: BRUINS 3 PREDS 2 YESSSSSSSSSSS

There's a saying or general feeling in sports where if you want to perform well you can't get too high or too low. Well as a fan that would be good for one's mental health or whatever but screw it.

THE BRUINS WON YAYYYYY

(ok, it was a little ugly but whatever)

Despite having a very different lineup and roster, the Bruins managed to pull a win out against the Nashville Predators, who...continue their losing streak to 6 games now. Hell, even the islanders won last night. Chuck Kobasew got put out on the starting lineup of overtime with Mikko Koivu last night, and the Wild ended up winning that game too!

Let's review:

Derek Morris takes some crap penalty. The Bruins technically killed it off but a couple seconds later they give up an even strength goal.

0-1

You're all "oh shit" and also "who the hell is Jerrod Smithson" but whatever. The play is pretty back and forth and the Bruins only get 5 shots on goal in the period.

Second Period

We get a faceoff and then they're foolish enough to give Ryder just a little bit of time and space in front of the net. 16 seconds into the period, we're all tied up. Pretty snipe, too.

GOAL!
1-1

Brad Marchand gets his first NHL point, an assist. Way to go, kiddo! Next up we get a Too Many Men penalty - not as bad as the Habs 7-on-5 mishap, but still a penalty. Basically a poorly-timed pass that went right past our bench at the wrong second. Ryder sits in the box for two minutes, but the Bruins remember how to kill penalties today. And good thing, too, because pretty soon after the penalty is up the only guy in the building with a championship banner in the rafters pots one.

1-2

Of course Colin Wilson is going to score in front of his hometown crowd. Jerk.

Well after that things start to get a little rough but eventually Bergeron and Ryder get into the zone and Bergeron tucks in Chara's rebound.

GOAL!
2-2

Then immediately afterwards (like, off the next faceoff pretty much) Mark Stuart gets called for interference. FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THE NIGHT THE BRUINS KILL A PENALTY. Bet it all on black tonight, something good is going on. Some more shoving goes on but whatever.

Third Period.

Early on in the Period the Bruins go on their first powerplay of the night. No SHG against, no SOG. At all. None recorded. Whatever, the Bruins go on another powerplay and the same shit happens.

Seriously, Dan Ellis didn't need to make a Short-handed or powerplay save all night. blergh.

So after all that, Shea Weber checks a ref and loses the puck. Paille scoops it up, centers to Begin. Begin buries it.

GOAL!
3-2

Here's a note on Paille from a Buffalo fan. The Bruins hold on to the lead for the rest of the night. However, things got really tense at about 1:30 left when Ellis headed to the bench. The Preds kept up enough pressure to stop an empty netter, and called a timeout with 30 seconds to go. At this point if you looked up to the upper level you could see Cam Neely standing. Awesome. If the game went on about 5 seconds longer the Preds might have tied it up, but the green light came on before a red one did.

GAME.
WIN!
Record: 4-4-0
Home Record: 3-3-0
Streak: 1 Win
Not too shabby against one of the worst teams in the league right now.
GO BRUINS!

Game 8 Preview: Bruins vs. Nashville INSERT SEXUAL PREDATOR JOKE HERE

Game 8
7 PM ET October 21st
NESN, 98.5 Sports Hub
vs. Nashville Predators (2-4-1)

Well, if you haven't gone over a cliff or into a toaster-laden bathtub or done the hangman's jig by now then I guess it's about time for a hockey game. If you haven't heard, Savard is out 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. If you want to go break something, I'll wait. Try not to let it be another Bruin.

...
...
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Anyhow now that you're back there is in fact a game on tonight. The preds kinda suck, but are looking for that breakout game that a shaken-up Bruins squad might give them. Then again, maybe the rookies will pull through. I have no idea.

See you at the game.
Don't jump off the Zakim afterwards.
GO BRUINS!

Game 57 Recap: BRUINS 2 PREDATORS 2 SO LOSS DAMN YOU DAVID LEGWAND

Yup, that's now 4 in a row.  That's a year-long high.  In fact, the Bruins are the only team in the Northeast that hasn't won their last game.  The only other team in the Eastern conference top-8 that lost their last game is the Rangers, and they (Rangers) are 3-5-2 over their last 10.

The Bruins are 5-2-3 in their last 10.  It's not quite freefall, but it's close and I think that's the worst last 10 they've had all season.  This is the midseason slump that tests any team.  This is where the Bruins have the option to stand up and prove that they really are as good as they've been playing most of the season, or to show that they're frauds, this year's 07-08 Ottawa Senators.  The big names they're missing at this point are Ryder, Sturm, and Kobasew.  We really need them back.  Calling up Sobotka and Bitz has been good.  Personally, I'd like to see St. Pierre and more skill players come up so the Bruins can score more goals.  Throwing big bodies around can only go so far.

Speaking of Kobasew, hello to reader Kelly, who I met at an afterparty for a friend's band.

Anyhow, onto the game.  Due to the valentine's day thing and a couple of friends bands playing shows, I couldn't watch the whole game.  But here's what I gathered out of it.

In the first periods, the Bruins extended their scoreless streak to a full 6 periods, from after the first in the San Jose game through the whole devils game and the first period of the game against the predators.  Getting points from western conference teams is kinda important in the eastern conference race.  Looking at the top teams in the west, the Bruins are actually 3rd vs. the west, going 7-4-2.  The two teams doing better vs. the west are the Habs (8-3-1) and the Sabres (8-6-1), in terms of total points for.  

Oh, and David Legwand scores a goal.

0-1.  Whatever.

Second Period, and the first ten minutes have a lot of nashville penalties, giving the Bruins the opportunity to go 0-for-4, bringing their total to...2-for-35?  I think that's actually how bad it's gotten.  Come back soon, everyone.

David "what the hell kind of name is" Legwand puts in a short-hander. 

0-2.  Disgusting.

Luckily, Blake Wheeler knows that the best way to react to being scored on is to turn it around and answer with your own goal.  You have to watch some crap ad because you missed the game first.  Whatever.  David Krejci tries for a one-timer off Sobotka from between the hashmarks, but the blade of his shoddily-constructed stick just falls right off.  The Bruins pay over $400,000 a year for sticks because of things like this.  Blake wheeler picks up the rebound and backhands it over YoungStars teammate Pikka Rinne for the Bruins first goal in 138:31 of play.

1-2.  You now have an argument for that guy who said he still doesn't "believe in" Blake Wheeler, whatever that means.

The rest of the second doesn't show up in the highlights.

In the third, the Preds and Bs were back and forth or maybe they just danced around the neutral zone.  Looks like Boston took two penalties in the first half.

Then the Captain decided that dammit, if nobody else was going to work the front of the net, somebody had to.  Chara in front of your net = goal-time.  With less than 2 minutes to go, Chara ties it up.  He gets checked right afterwards, too.

2-2.  Still a chance.  Let them get a penalty in OT, and let's do this thing.

Hnidy gets a penalty one minute in.  Well, crap.

Shootout time.

Wheeler scores on the first attempt, then a couple of saves and misses later...

Yup, David Legwand scores both shootout goals for the Predators.

Game

Shootout Loss.

Nice tie, guys, now get out there against Carolina on Tuesday and win something.  Dammit.  Don't be so scared of your 40th win.

vs: NSH: 0-0-1

Record: 39-10-8 (L 4)

Away: 20-6-4 (L 4)

L10: 5-2-3

February: 3-2-2

GO BRUINS!

Game 57 Preview: Bruins @ Nashville HOCKEY LOVE NIGHT IN NASHVILLE

Feb 14, 2009 8:00 PM ET

TV: NESN

Radio: WBZ 1030 AM

@ Nashville Predators (26-26-3)

Notes:

• Apparently, Preds games were voted "Best place for a first date" in 2008 by...somebody.
  
• I'm off to play hockey in Maine for the day, which will in fact be my first time playing hockey, ever.  Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped.
  
• The Bruins have lost 3 in a row, Nashville won their last.  If the Bruins want it, they can take it.  No matter WHAT Rinne says.
  
• 2 for 31.
• Here's an ad for the Predators with Taylor Swift, who is apparently a country musician.
  

Other Previews:

Still mailing it in.  Sorry, fellow bloggers.

Stats:

GO BRUINS!