Games 24 and 25 Recaps: BRUINS 1 WILD 1 BRUINS 1 DEVILS 1 SHOOTOUT WIN AND SHOOTOUT LOSS HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Well, on the whole that was pretty alright. The Bruins won, the Bruins got 3 out of 4 points, and the wild got a point out of it and then went on to get Chuck Kobasew a hat trick the next game, against the Avalanche. Baller.

Bergeron actually figured into neither of the regulation goals by the bruins. On the score-sheet, at least. Marc Savard figured into both. Savard had two secondary assists. Both games went to shootout, and the Wild put Chuck Kobasew out as the 4th shooter after Krejci scored a beauty of a goal.

Against the devils, well....not so hot. Brodeur played well as usual, and hey! Even set a record for most minutes by an NHL goalie during the game. Roy was better, but we weren't playing Roy in the middle of the day Friday.

All in all pretty good on the whole, and the Bruins are on the hottest streak they've had all year...woof.

Oh and Steve Lepore of Puck the Media has a devils logo in his twitter avatar on top of another devils logo. (hi steve!)

GO BRUINS!

Game 15 Recap: BRUINS 1 HABS 1 SO LOSS AT LEAST WE SCORED DAMMIT

Yup, we lost. To the habs. At home. First meeting of the year. Woof. It was a pretty even game - Thomas has been playing well but the Bruins couldn't score worth shit. They made Carey look like some kind of NHL goalie, which is exactly the OPPOSITE of what we want to happen.

Regardless... Montreal scored in the first and the Bruins continued to play well defensively throughout the period, but couldn't get any pucks past Caaaaaaaaaareeeeeeeeeeey
0-1.

Second period blah blah blah continue shutout against streak something something 1929 blah blah blah.

Oh and this:

Gionta whiffed on it. Incidentally there was a habs fan behind me yelling "go big wiffa! hey big wiffa!" for most of the night.

With a little over a minute to go, Thomas is pulled and Chara goes to the net. He stands in front, and uses his mass to gravitationally pull all the defenders and goalie to him, so when the point shot gets a side rebound, Patrice just has to pop it in. And we go to overtime!

1-1.

blah blah blah shootout blah blah blah bruins can't score

1-2.
Loss.

Damn.

Well, at least they scored, I guess.

GO BRUINS!

Game 9 Recap: BRUINS 4 FLYERS 3 DID YOU KNOW THERE'S A WINTER CLASSIC THIS WINTER AT FENWAY PARK BROUGHT TO YOU BY BRIDGESTONE AT FENWAY?

So, here's how busy I was yesterday. This is as far as my game preview got:

Game 9 Preview: Bruins @ Philadelphia
Game 9
7 PM ET Oct. 22nd, 2009

Terrible, right? Agreed. Moving on. The bruins took 3 out of 4 points from the back-to-back on the strength of a lot of Tuukka saves and stuff. Yeesh, I don't think this is going to work out. Here's the nhl.tv highlight vid, I'm lazy and busy:

DEREK MORRIS
MARK RECCHI
STEVE BEGIN
3-3.
Claude Giroux makes a dirty dirty move to win the shootout.

3-4.

Shootout Loss.
4-4-1
Still .500 technically.
I'll take it.
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 46 Recap: BRUINS 4 BLUES 4 SO LOSS SOMETIMES YOUVE JUST GOTTA SAY WTF

Vomit.

First period, first 5 minutes. You notice that Wheeler's taken Axelsson's spot on the top line. Why mess with a good thing?

1-0. Oh, I suppose.

3 minutes later, Brad Winchester ties it up for St. Louis.
1-1. The Bruins are looking wicked flat, and I don't like it.

And all of a sudden, there are no Mannys in net. Legace probably hurt himself somehow.

Second Period, 7 minutes in, and the Bruins are down, thanks to Mr. McClement.
1-2. Thanks for nothing.

That about ends it for the second. Score entering the third: 1-2, St. Louis on top.

With less than 5 minutes to go in the 3rd, the score is the same. In your mind, you're going "c'mon, not to the blues. Not to the blues. not to the blues. You can do it, Bruins."

Luckily, the Blues decide to take two penalties in a row, and the Bruins have less than a minute of 5-on-3 to work with. Luckily, they've got Krejci, Ryder, Savard, Chara, and Wideman out there. If those 5 can't score 5-on-3, we're...

2-2. We can find out what a world without that would look like later, I suppose.

Bruins keep the Powerplay, and see the opportunity to turn it all around. They end up in their own zone, and then go rushing in. Wideman leads the charge, and bounces it off of Mason's chest. Ryder flies through the zone, trying to get it but misses. Luckily, P.J. is there.

3-2. Can we stop whining about Axelsson, now? It's not like he hasn't scored clutch goals. I think people are just reminded of how crappy the bruins used to be just by his presence. Or their scared of his hair. Either way, the Bruins are back on top and the world is wonderful again.

30 seconds after that, and there's a faceoff in the offensive zone (icing, I believe). Krejci steps up to the center dot. He gets it out just enough for Axelsson to get it back to Chara, who lets fly. It gets through 8 players, 3 beer lines, and one St. Louis Blues goalie. Nice screen job, everybody.

4-2. You're thinking, "3 minutes left, just gotta get the empty netter now).

But then SOMEBODY takes a penalty for the Bruins. David Perron decides to capitalize on it from the point. Dink dink
4-3. You're thinking, ok, 1:20 to go, let's just keep it in the offensive zone for the rest of the game, please?

You know how this story ends. Here it is in full youtube glory:

Toronto calls it a goal, but the replay we saw at the garden showed the stick never getting below the crossbar. Any time they want to set up special cameras for that, I'm for it.
4-4. 0.8 seconds to go.
You're wishing they still served beer, because you could use one right about now.

Overtime ends in a tie.

The Bruins are out of practice on the shootout. And lose.

Dammit.

vs. STL: 1-0-1
Record: 33-8-5 (L1)
Home: 17-3-2 (L1)
L10: 6-3-1
January: 5-3-1
GO BRUINS!

Game 17 Recap: BRUINS 2 RANGERS 2 SO LOSS

Crap.  8 minutes to go, and we were looking good.

Lundqvist was playing well again - I didn't realize just how good he was until I saw him play in person last night.  There's a reason they call him "King Henry," and it's not his appreciation for shakespeare.  It'll be fun when he comes to the Gahden.

I went to this game with a couple friends, we had a great time.  New York fans are broken down into two groups:

Talkative folks who will let you respond, and talkative folks that won't.  And that one guy who thought it was important enough not to aim so he could jaw at me in the bathroom.  Whatever.

Roszival is hated enough at MSG that they boo him when he touches the puck.  It's really weird.  I bet he likes away games.

Anyhow, recap time:

First period.

NYR goes up 5-1 in shots, Kobasew fights Mara, and then the period ends, 11-6 in shots.  Lundqvist makes some sick stops, so does Thomas.  Very back-and-forth play.  Not much happened.

Second Period.

We move it around a bit, still nothing.

This game will end 0-0 SO.  

BUT WAIT!  Lucic forechecks in the corner, Bruins move it around off Lundqvist, bounces out to Chara, who blasts one through.  Goal.

1-0.

Chara takes a hooking penalty.  30 seconds in, Wideman strikes.  Short-Handed Goal.

2-0.  "King" henrik isn't looking so good now.  the 2 goals allowed are against defensemen.

The rest of the second is me jawing with the guy behind me.  Whatever.

Third period is painful.  I enter it worried.  10 minutes in, it looks like I'm just over-worrying.

6:05 to go.  Nigel Dawes buries it.

2-1.

Bruins keep playing solid, but are giving up too many shots.  Timmy's an all-star caliber player, but if he is an inch out of position and they're just shelling him, one is bound to go in.

We're down to one minute to go.  Lundqvist goes running for the bench.  Markus Naslund takes a pass from Vancouver and the building explodes with 53 seconds to go.

2-2.

crap.

Little more skating around, OT time.  Bruins won't be gaining as much on the trip as I'd hoped.  5 minutes of 4-on-4 and we're back exactly where we don't want to be.

Shootout.

Shootout
1	NYR	Nigel Dawes unsuccessful attempt versus Tim Thomas
2	BOS	Blake Wheeler unsuccessful attempt versus Henrik Lundqvist
3	NYR	Nikolai Zherdev unsuccessful attempt versus Tim Thomas
4	BOS	Phil Kessel unsuccessful attempt versus Henrik Lundqvist
5	NYR	Fredrik Sjostrom unsuccessful attempt versus Tim Thomas
6	BOS	P.J. Axelsson unsuccessful attempt versus Henrik Lundqvist
7	NYR	Chris Drury successful attempt versus Tim Thomas

Crap.  Ok, who does Julien send out?  Oh, ok. Bergeron.  Let's see how that goes.

Crap.

Final score 2-2 SO LOSS.

Takeaways:

• Shorthander by Wideman!  Big Money Wides is earning it.
• Chara with the first goal is pretty huge, too.
• We let this one get away from us.  The game isn't over until it's over, as we learned here.
• Taking points away from other arenas is a good thing.
• We've been too busy playing the northwest and the original six to play many atlantic teams.  Currently, we've lost both games against the atlantic division in the shootout.  Vomit.
• Bruins PK has significantly improved.  We went 6-for-6 last night, bringing the season average to over 80%.  Bruins have improved from last in the league to 19th in the league.
• If we played solid D through the end of 60 minutes, rather than 50, I'd be writing a hahahaha road win blog last night from my friend's couch rather than a more sober crap one from the bus.

Big ups to the Bolt Bus for the wifi.

2-2 SO LOSS

Record: 10-3-4

L10: 8-1-1

Away Record: 5-2-3

Streak: L1

GO BRUINS!

Game 6 Recap: Boston 2, Buffalo 2, SO LOSS

I missed most of the first period because I had to stay late at work, so I didn't see Wideman's goal from the blue line until there was a minute for replays.  Some observations from what I saw:

• Kessel scores his 6th goal in 6 games AND the only goal that the Sabres have let up on the PK.  Washington got a 7 minute powerplay and got 3 shots/no goals.
• Crash the net.
• Mark Stuart didn't play excellently.  He took a bad penalty.  I guess that's why they didn't call him for the player introductions.  (Yes, I DO plan on riding this all season long)
• Another Shootout, another loss.  Nice tie.  In my mind, the way the shootout is supposed to work is that there's a tie, but one team needs to leave with a "win" so they do the shootout dance.
• Despite their 2-1-3 record, they're looking really good out there.  We've come away with points in a bunch of games, but we're giving up points to Montreal, Buffalo, etc.
• Versus is not NESN.  However, during the Red Sox in 2 that I flipped to during commercial breaks, there was at least one time where it flashed "NESN, Home of the Bruins" on the screen.  It made me chuckle.
• We can't be doing the Win one, lose two dance all season long, even if we are getting one point from 3/4 of our losses.  Points-wise, it's like we've won 3 games and gotten one tie over 6 games.  3-2-1 isn't terrible, but the Bruins are playing well enough right now that they should be getting better results.
• Ryan Miller stole this game.  THEIF!

Record: 2-1-3

GO BRUINS!