Game 70 Recap: BRUINS 0 PENS 3 A WELL-BALANCED PILE OF CRAP

Goddamn, that was awful. Good thing the 1970 team reception was cool.

the best part of the game was the thornton/cooke fight and even that was pretty mediocre at best.

I don't want to relive that, so no recap.

GO BRUINS!

Game 70: Bruins vs. Penguins: FRED STANFIELD PARTY

This isn't a game preview because this game has been talked about for the last since-savard-had-to-sit-in-a-dark-quiet-room and I frankly am going to just sit back and enjoy the ride if possible.

This night is supposed to honor the 1970 cup team.

Dammit, I intend to do that. First of all, because you all know how much I love the numbers:
Here's the link to the Hockey-reference page, check it out.

Of interest first is the goaltending. In the regular season, the duties were split pretty evenly, 41/37 between Johnston and Cheevers. They didn't count shots in those days, but Cheevers' GAA was better than Johnston's:
And then Cheevers gets almost all the starts for the playoffs. Johnston has 1 start, 60 minutes, 4 goals against, and no wins. Like the Red Wings' Hasek in 2008. Cheevers was lights out, giving up just as many losses as one-game Johnston and riding a 2.23 GAA to 12 wins and the cup.I'm sure the scoring does something interesting too, like for example the top scorers on the team change between the regular season:
And the playoffs:
Espo and Orr switch, as do McKenzie and Bucyk. Number 5 on both lists, behind 3 hall-of-famers and some schlub named John McKenzie was Fred Stanfield, who most people probably wouldn't know on the street (especially 40 years later, but whatever.) Here's a quick write-up about Fred from excellent hockey history blogger, Joe Pelletier:

"It's true we move the puck around pretty well," said Stanfield when describing his line's play. "I can make soft passes or hard ones. With guys who can go like Chief and Pie, I throw it to them real hard. They can reach them, and it gives them more time to make the play. We keep the passes off the ice and that's to our advantage because the puck doesn't get blocked by anybody's stick that way."

More here on Fred Stanfield.

It was a hell of a team, I tell you what. Here's the page on the Bruins website detailing the full list of attendees, past and present. Thanks to a generous gift (thanks mom!) I'm lucky enough to go. Hell yeah.

Here's the story in some famous and less-famous pictures:

I think it'll be at least a year if not 2 from now before we're anywhere close to this type of elation again, but I'm a pessimist.

Interesting note: Despite being one of the worse original six teams through most of the league's history, the Bruins are still in the top 5 of all-time stanley cups, and only behind habs, Toronto, and Detroit of the original six.

Suck our tailpipe, Chicago and New York.

The funny thing is one of the least popular men in Boston is named after one of the (at one time) most popular men. A man who answered "a blond and a steak" to "what's your favorite pre-game meal." A man who set up The Goal. A man named Derek Sanderson. And a man named after him, Derek Sanderson Jeter.

Fuck the Yankees, too.

Now, on to some shitty things. This man:is Colin Campbell,
who thinks that Intent to Injure isn't a penalty in itself, but can only be tacked on to other penalties.

Now, I'm not telling you to do something stupid and get arrested, but I am saying that

Colin Campbell will be in the building tonight.

That's right, in the building.

So stay calm and don't get yourself arrested, but boo the shit out of his ugly mug if he shows up on the jumbotron. He's doing a great job of "but my hands are tied, I can't POSSIBLY do anything about this hit since it's the same as the Richards one from last year that I fucked up and didn't suspend Richards for because he's a star" and turning Ovechkin into the next Pronger.

Whatever.

Stats!

GO BRUINS!

Game 19 Preview: Bruins at Pens UH OH BORSCHTETTIOS

Game 19
7:30 PM, November 14, 2009
NESN, 98.5 FM
vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (12-7-0)

Thomas in net, I'd assume Fleury will be too.

Superstar (Malkin) coming back from injury? Check.
Team having scoring problems? Check.
Recently shut out the other team? Check.

I've got a bad feeling about this...

GO BRUINS!

Game 16 and 17 Recaps THIS BLOG IS UNDER REVIEW

I didn't see game 16 because I had a friend's band's show, but that's never stopped me from recapping before.

The Bruins took heart from actually scoring in the previous game (a week ago as I type this) and went, well....

WIN!

(7-7-2)

p.s. I have an irrational hate for Jason Pominville. I don't know why, but I don't know why I should stop. Pominville, Population: Douchebag.

Then the Penguins (well, half of them anyhow) came to play on Tuesday, but the Bruins came to play even more. Hunwick scored even if the ref didn't believe it, and then that funny bounce was ridiculous. Here's a chatlog with friend of the blog Greg Nation about the game since I don't have time to write my usual stuff:

11:19 AM Greg: i was very impressed by whittman's and bitz's performance

last night

11:20 AM and of course, Tim Thomas wins the Tim Thomas award for last night

incredible goaltending

me: whitfield

Greg: hell fleury had some ridiculous saves too, but not enough

whitfield, yes, sorry

me: yeah, I hear that

11:21 AM most scary penguin when on the ice? Probably Staal

11:22 AM Greg: yeah we shut down crosby

11:24 AM me: Chara owned

we blocked so many damn shots

10-2 shots after the first

11:25 AM Greg: yeah our D did block a lot of shots

11:26 AM Morris had a huge game defensively, Wideman had that sick one-on-one where he deftly used his stick to break up the attack

11:27 AM me: Wideman also tripped over the blue-line right before that

he has breakdowns but when he's good he's pretty damn good

11:29 AM Greg: yeah, i thought we played pretty well

it was such a fast paced game, very fun to watch

me: you bet

Greg: and that crazy bounce that sent the puck off the post when thomas was out of net

then the diving thomas save to knock it out

me: that was INSANE

yeah

11:30 AM Greg: he has such a strong stick arm, people take shots with two hands on the stick and he just whaps their stick and puck out of the way with his one hand

like the recent habs game with 'big whiffer'

he just stopped the shot and shoved the puck back out with his stick hand

11:31 AM me: Thomas owns

3-0
WIN

(8-7-2)

GO BRUINS!

Game 1? Preview: Penguins at Bruins EASY-READER EDITION

Stanley Cup Champs?More like Shitsburgh Shameguins.

That said, this was cool:

UPDATE:
Ference has done this too, a couple times with the empty net. Ference and Crosby fought, once. I think that makes that a goalie fight. Disagree? Leave it in the comments (or yell from your seat, whatever)

Krejci's back, Ryder is back (skipped practice yesterday), Derek Morris is a gametime decision and if he doesn't play we'll see Boychuk. I'm extremely busy so you haven't seen much from me.

The game's on Versus tonight, so if you have DirecTV now's a great time to get center ice for free.

Deal with it.

GO BRUINS!

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009 Stanley Cup Champions...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As y'all know by now (and I hope you were watching, ridiculously good game) the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup last night.

Wow. Great season, y'all. The draft is in a couple weeks, and awards, and free agency frenzy day, and...

Well, what I'm saying is even though it's nice out, hockey isn't totally dead. I'll put my take on updates here as need be, but likely won't be doing a daily thing until it makes sense again. So I urge you to subscribe to a feed over on the left there, or to the emails. I don't spam or anything, and you don't have to keep coming back and hoping there's something new all the time.

The saying goes, "there's always next year."
Next year starts today.
GO BRUINS!

Game 7

The sun has risen.

Before it rises again, the Stanley Cup will rise above the heads of the national champions of the NHL 08-09 season.

A little inspiration for the pens fans in the audience. I'm only mildly ashamed to admit that shit like this gets me a little choked up.

From SLaBD.

You want stats? Here.

8PM. NBC. Go Pens.

Pens Win 2, tie series

2 Interviews, that is.

Malkin:


Talbot: (look at his eyes!)

I know these are a little old, but they're hilarious. Go pens.

Krejci re-signed, and that is awesome.
Kessel for 4.25 cap hit for 4 years? 5 years?
Almost definitely a pipe dream.
I am not Chiarelli, I am not a GM, I'll leave that to him.

Last Versus broadcast of the year. Hoping for 2 more pens wins on NBC before mid-june.

GO BRUINS!

Finals Start Tomorrow!

(Link to video)
I am so excited for this.

Also, happy birthday to me. One year ago today, I became a Bruins season ticket holder. It has been an awesome year, and I look forward to next year. For now, I just get to sit back and watch the two teams who managed to battle to the finals go at it. Go Pens.

Next year...
GO BRUINS!

FINALS START SATURDAY

Well, the finals start Saturday at 8pm. Pens vs. Wings, rematch of last year. Crosby touched the cup. I like it.

We here at Hockey Blog Adventure would just like to offer this little ditty:

LETS GO PENS!

Because seriously, who wants another red wings cup? Let someone else get it for a change. Granted the pens have won twice more recently than the Real Black And Gold, but what can you do now?

On a side note, Fuck Scott Walker and I hope he cried when his little bitch team got swept. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Back to the finals talk: There are two pens fan blogs that I read on a near-daily basis (i.e. they are in my google reader). They are thepensblog and Puck Huffers. One is written by a bunch of dudes, the other by a bunch of chicks.* They're both hilarious and definitely worth a read. Puck Huffers claim to fame is creating the Staal Drinking Game. thepensblog, well...what haven't they done?

*"chicks" may not be the preferred nomenclature, please email me or something and I'll switch it to broads or gals or whichever you'd like.

Other stuff:

• R.I.P. Pete Zezel. He was 44. I didn't know him, as a player or otherwise, but 44? Damn. Seems to have been pretty universally loved and possibly the man who played too well so they need to put those L brackets onto the faceoff dots.
• blah blah Crosby touched the trophy and Zetterberg didn't.
• Lidstrom is hurt, this could be the difference. Oh yeah, Datsyuk too.
• Malkin and Crosby have been pretty dominant so far.
• Everyone on the Bruins got hurt, had surgery, but you know that.
• For your daily dose of Cornelius saying random crap about hockey and other stuff, follow me on twitter: @HBAdventure. Fun stuff.
  
• The Bruins will be playing...
  

sigh...

Development camp starts in July, Training camp in September, preseason late september, season early october, first home game should be late october due to Circus.

Keep your chin up, go pens, and of course...

GO BRUINS!

Game 71 Recap: BRUINS 4 PENS 6 THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO OOG

Well, that sucked.  Both the game and the fact that I was sick all day Sunday.  Anyhow, let's look at the game, because that's what we round these parts.

50 Seconds into the game, Bill Guerin.

0-1.  Damn, well that was fa-

Recchi says hello to his old team.

GOAL!

1-1.  16 seconds after the first goal.  Nice job, old man.

9 minutes later.  Bruins move it around the offensive zone, Wheeler passes to kessel while falling over, Kessel puts it in.

GOAL!

2-1.  Yay Kessel!  31 goals on the season.  That ties the most by a Bruin since the lockout (Bergeron in 05-06)

About 5 minutes later, the Bruins give up a powerplay, Chris Kunitz.

2-2.  All tied up after 1.

Halfway through the second, the Bruins give up another powerplay.  Brought to you by SuperCuts!  Wheeler and Krejci move up.  Krejci steals it, gives it to Wheeler, who pounds it past the goalie.

GOAL!

3-2.  Things are looking up in the steel city.

Gonchar (almost Kunitz)

3-3.

Kunitz

3-4.  Hats come raining down.  Suckers.

Bruins go on the Powerplay in the third and, well...Michael Ryder has an unreal shot.  Just simply unreal.  Watch this goal video.  You will not be dissapointed.  He doesn't even touch the bar, it's just perfectly placed in the top corner.  Perfectly.

GOAL!

4-4.  All tied up in the third, the Bruins are still in it...

Sykora

4-5.

Thomas goes to the bench.  Nesn now has one of those little "goalie-to-bench" PIP things.  I dig it.

So does Jordan Staal.

4-6.

Game.

Loss.

Bruins still haven't won on the road in a month.

vs. PIT: 2-1-1 (Season Series over)

Record: 45-17-9 (L 1)

Away: 21-11-4 (L 5)

L10: 4-5-1

March: 3-5-0

GO BRUINS!

Game 71 Preview: Bruins @ Pittsburgh NHL SUPERSTARS

Aw, screw this, I'm heading to the St. Patrick's day Parade.  I'm not even going to try to put together a preview and stats and all that.

3 pm.  NESN.  Mellon Arena.  Be there or be square.

Malkin scares me.  The Bruins haven't been doing well in the second game of back-to-backs.  Oh well.

L10: Games 31-40: 8-2-0

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.
  

5 Questions with the enemy Review:

Game 34: Puck Daddy

Bonus question: Is your job the best ever?

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.

Game 40: Greg Nation, friend of the Blog.

Which Boston-area mascot is the best?

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.

Record: 29-7-4
L10: 8-2-0
GO BRUINS!

Game 38 Recap: BRUINS 4 PENS 2 TOP OF THE LEAGUE

San Jose still has a game in hand, but they did lose to the Wild.

Well, that was fun. You can check out the gnashing of teeth over at The Pensblog.

Let's get recapping.

3 minutes in, Dustin Jeffrey scores his first NHL goal from the top of the circle.
0-1. Uh oh, is this the game where they break all those streaks?

1 minute later, the Ryder-Wheeler-Krejci line enters the zone. They pass it around seemingly effortlessly, and get Krejci the puck in front of the net. He deflects it in. GOAL.

1-1. Holy crap that was pretty. Even the pens announcer thought so.

Then the Bruins end up on a Power Play. P.J. Axelsson is out there. %90 of Bruins fans are all "What the heck is P.J. doing on the - " GOAL!

2-1. That's what he's doing on the powerplay. You're wrong again, Milbury.

Second Period.

The Lucic-Kobasew-Yelle line skates it into the zone. Kobasew centers it to Lucic and Yelle. Yelle trips over a guy, Lucic shoots. GOAL

3-1. You're still thinking the Pens could come back.

In the third, Malkin and Fedotenko define "pretty redirect play."
3-2. You're even more worried about a comeback.

Then Jordan Staal gets stood up on the blue line by tiny little Vladimir Sobotka.

Jack Edwards talks about the height and weight difference.

With a minute left, you can tell Sabourin is trying to get to the bench. But the Bruins keep it in the offensive zone for about 30 seconds. Finally the pens get it out, and the net empties. Savard gets the puck and ices the puck...into the goal.

4-2. 2 seconds left. You're not worried about a comeback anymore.

Game.

WIN!

Record: 29-5-4 (W10)
Home: 14-1-1 (W14)
L10: 10-0-0
January: 1-0-0
GO BRUINS!

Game 38 Preview: Bruins vs. Pittsburgh OMG WINTER CLASSIC 2

Jan 1 2009 7:00 PM ET

TV: NESN

Radio: WBZ

vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 

Notes:

• Check the preview and recap from the last game.
  
• Ference is skating, could be back soon.
  
• Thomas in net.
• One of these days the Pens are going to start playing better.  Might be today.
• Winter Classic was awesome.

Other Previews:

<----------------------

Stats:

GO BRUINS!

Game 37 Recap: BRUINS 5 PENS 2 NINE IN A ROW

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1983!

Nine in a row.  The Pens are not an easy team to beat.  Let's take a look at what happened:

First Period:

Chara mangled Malkin.  No Call.  Odd, but I'll take it.  There should be video on Youtube, but I haven't found it.

Then 17 minutes into the 1st, the Pens finally get a good scoring chance by bouncing it twice off Timmy's pads and then scoring it back door.  Quite the trick. 

0-1.  You're reassuring yourself that the bruins have been at least playing well and it's early.

Second Period:

Powerplay.  Axelsson on the #1 PP.  While all of the whiners out there are saying "What's he doing on the PP?????? OH NO NOT AXELSSON"  Per-Johan threads the puck through the whole Pens PK unit to Chara, who deflects it behind fleury from next to the net.

1-1.  You're marvelling at how Chara's been getting away with pinching up on defense.

Then there's a 4 on 4 as Talbot gets Kessel into a shoving match.  Then Malkin takes a penalty.  What's this?  Oh, it's just Savard and Krejci on the same line in the 4-on-3.  You don't really need me to tell you that there was a beautiful pass through 18 players that set up the perfect goal.

2-1.  You're hoping that's the default 4-on-3 unit.  Also, listen closely to the audio after the goal.  Hehehe

Then Pascal "Milt Shmidt in The Rocket" Dupuis ties it up on an unforced turnover.

2-2.  Oh crap they tied it up.  The Bruins are not out of the woods yet.

But they don't want another 75-minute hard practice in their immediate future.  They also don't want to lose.

A minute and a half later, Savard and Kessel are in the zone.  Kessel shoots, but Fleury lets it bounce off.  Savard wills it onto Kessel's stick.  Kessel sees net.  Kessel scores.

3-2.  Kessel scores again.

Third Period:

A little over 5 minutes in, Pens go on the powerplay.  Martin "Justin" St. Pierre picks up a Crosby pass in the defensive zone.  He passes it up to Savard, who then gets it into the zone.  The Bruins have a 3-on-1 rush, short-handed.  Savard gives it to Martin "Justin" St. Pierre.  St. Pierre shows us what 63 inches of carbon hockey stick can do.

4-2.  First Bruins goal by Martin "Justin" St. Pierre.  Way to go, announcer-man.

Wideman cleans up with a slap shot from the point.

5-2.  10 minutes to go, you've seen less likely comebacks happen.

10 minutes I could've been playing more Rock Band.

GAME.

WIN!

• The Penguins called a players-only meeting after this game.  It seems like stuff like that always happens after a team plays the Bruins.
  
• The Bruins are 11-2-0 in November, 12-1-0 in December for 23-3-0 in the last 2 months, or 26 games.
• The 5 game road trip nets the Bruins 10 points, all in regulation.
• The Bruins lead the league in Goals for per Game and Goal against per game.  This makes me chuckle.
• Seriously?  JUSTIN St. Pierre?  I don't care if his name is Les Glorieux du Montreal St. Pierre, if he's scoring short-handers for the Bruins.

Record: (W9)

Away: 15-4-3 (W6)

December: 12-1-0

L10: 9-1-0

GO BRUINS!

Game 37 Preview: Bruins @ Pittsburgh HOME AND NEW YEAR'S EVE AND HOME

Dec 30, 2008 7:30 PM ET

TV: NESN

Radio: WBZ

@ Pittsburgh Penguins (19-13-4)

Notes:

• There's a story in the Pittsburgh Gazette about Ryan Whitney watching the Bruins while he's been hurt.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder is in the HHR Iron Ref Finals. Go vote for Evan!
• Also vote for Jack Edwards in the ongoing Puck the Media Tournament of Announcers.
• Michael Ryder has 7 GWG, leading the league. That's half of his goals so far this year. It's also half of his goals for all of last year. Can he play for anyone other than Claude? We may never know.
• Hal Gill has been out for the Pens, he'll be back tonight.  With 7 defensemen, rookie sensation Goligoski is expected to Brent Burns a little.
• The Penguins are in a bit of a slump right now. I expect them to try to use the Bruins as a bounce-back springboard.
  
• The Pens, Wild, Flames, and Rangers all have winning records against the Bruins so far.  The Bruins play all but the flames at home in January.
• The Bruins had a hard practice yesterday, because they haven't been playing that well but still luckily are still beating the weaker teams they've been playing recently.
• Thomas in net.  Lashoff a likely scratch.  Chara-Ward is backed up by Wideman-Hunwick.  I like the Bruins defense.  
• Ference is skating again, patrice is still getting headaches, but isn't on the IR just yet.
• The NYTimes Slap Shot blog has 2009 all figured out.

Previous Games:
Game 5: Bruins lose 1-1 to Pens in shootout in Home Opener.

5 Questions with the enemy:

This Preview, we have the PensBlog Staff, from The Pens Blog. I like their style, and they are always an entertaining read. Heck, they even had jerseys printed up. If not for them, this blog would have less style. Let's see what they have to say:

1) Who has impressed you so far?

Malkin, Malkin, Malkin, Malkin

2) Will the Penguins play in another outdoor game?

As much as we want to say yes, it won' be for awhile. Other fans should get to enjoy their teams.

3) Favorite false rumor about the Pens?

Gaborik to the Pens. Ain't happening.

4) What's your favorite PensBlog photoshop of all time?

Oh god, so many to pick from. Almost impossible.

5) Predictions for the home-and-home series?

The Bruins are the beast of the east. Should be a great barometer for the Pens. We think the Bruins success has been inflated, but that is not saying they aren't a great team. Huge test.

Once again, that's the fine staff at The Pens Blog. Check them out if you haven't before!

Other Previews:

• ThePensBlog: Hasn't done their gameday post yet.  Unless the one from 2am last night is it, but I doubt it.
  
• Double A Hockey:  "If only Patrice were not out with a concussion. His good looks rival even Crosby's and could tip things in the Bruins favor."
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Bobby Orr fight video.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder: Should be focusing on how to spend his (presumed) Iron Ref winnings, but instead gives us a solid preview.
• The Bear Cave: "One difference between October and now is that Marc-Andre Fleury might be in line for his first start against the Bruins since the 2006-07 season."
• NESN First Shift: "Tim Thomas (11-2-1, 2.09) vs. Marc-Andre Fleury (11-6-2, 2.86)"
• boston.com Thumbnails
• bruins.nhl.com: Preview | GameDay | Game Notes (pdf)

Stats:

8-game winning streak on the line. Krejci has scored in every game.

GO BRUINS!

Game 5 Recap: Penguins 1, Bruins 1, SO LOSS

(Pictured: Phil Kessel)

Nice tie, guys. Here's the PensBlog take.

Some observations from section 307:

• I made eye contact with Phil Kessel before the game (for a second, as I was walking buy the player's lot entrance, in his side mirror...yeah, I guess I'm a stalker) and then he scored a goal. Coincidence? You decide.
• The free t-shirts at the fan fest were actually pretty stylish. Mine is now more so with the Bucyk signature. Sweet.
• What the heck happened with Crosby and Savard that they got roughing penalties? That was on the opening side of the ice from me. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
• Thornton/Godard was a boring fight, but the whole garden stood up when they started.
• "We want it as bad as you" is not a bad team slogan.
  
• I like the new signs leading into the west entrance of the garden. Michael Ryder: "I want to know what Boston fans are really like" And we want you to start scoring more goals. You scratch our backs, we'll scratch yours. Capiche?
• The ice sculpture of Patrice Bergeron at fanfest was fun, as was the painting of an ice rink.
  
• The opening stuff was pretty fun, with the smoke and such. Mark Stuart's name never got called....TRADE RUMOR TIME! (nah, kidding)
• I was able to get an official roster (there was a pile of them by the ketchup, so I don't know if they meant to give them out or what) for free. This was suggested at the Bruins Season Ticket Holder Town Hall meeting, as one person pointed out that they only buy the program for the roster, and that the book is the same every game (or at least for most of them).
• It was a very physical game overall. Orpik and Lucic got in each other's faces. Does Lucic have some sort of hold on fights from Coach?
• Another shootout, another shootout loss. 2-1-2. "2-3" in non-crazy-world.
• The Bruins powerplay was too fancy, and not results-driven enough. If the fancy stuff worked, I wouldn't mind it. But there were at least two nice juicy rebounds and a bruin just a step behind where he needed to be to put it home. We connect on ONE of those, and this recap is a victory parade instead of a therapy session.
• 3-on-3 is exciting. Losing to Sabourin...not so much.
  
• Savard's shot looked half lazy on the recap below. Maybe it's the Penguins announcer.
  

On a completely unrelated note, why isn't the TD Banknorth Garden in NHL 09? All of the other arenas have the real name around the logo, the Bruins' one is just "Boston Bruins" in some default-looking font. It's annoying.

Replay. Feels weird without NESN announcers.

Record: 2-1-2
GO BRUINS!

Game 5: Penguins @ Bruins HOME OPENER

Oct 20, 2008, 7:00 PM ET
On TV: NESN (HD)
On the Radio: WBZ 1030 (listen)
vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2-1)

Finally, the last home opener in the league rolls around. See you at the game!

Notes:

• Pittsburgh lost the Stanley Cup Finals, Marion Hossa, and Ty Conklin to Detroit since we saw them last.
• Malkin and Crosby were together on the same line last game, they scored a bunch.
• Fernandez started last, plus it's the home opener, so Thomas is the likely starter
  
• There's a Fan Festival outside the garden from 4:30-6:30 before the game. They'll be giving away stuff, and the first 1,000 get some special t-shirt or something.
• Kobasew is still out, P.J. Axelsson didn't play last game and didn't skate this morning. No other injury news that I've seen.
  
• The last time I wore my Chara jersey, it was during the playoffs.  I washed it in the offseason because every season is different (and it needed a wash.)
• I'll be sitting in section 307 (behind the handicapped).

Other Previews:

• Fluto! Boston Lines | Refs
• WickedBruinsFan
• Here we go Bruins is excited for the game.
• HockeyFights.com.
• Stanley Cup of Chowder expects PJ to return and breaks down how these Pens are different than the ones we watched lose to the Red Wings.
• New England Hockey Journal delivers the Home Opener Edition.
• The JumboTron gives us some pump-up videos and then writes about the game.  Savard has 38 goals in 28 games vs. Pittsburgh.
• bruins.nhl.com. Twice.  Lucic is pumped.
• ThePensBlog are a bunch of whiny crybabies, and hurting after Hacksaw signed with another blog in the offseason.   (Nah, they're great, but for tonight they are the enemy.)
  

Stats going into this game:

No Penguins @ Bruins preview would be complete without Crosby fighting Ference:

And in honor of the PensBlog, our end-of-the-post good-luck charm:
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

GO BRUINS!

2008-2009 Penguins Season Preview

EA SPORTS World: 08 09 Penguins Preview