Bruins Nation

This one hurts. It was kind of like the Patriots game on Sunday against the Colts. The Pats played like crap but still somehow made the game close, then on the last drive Brady threw an interception and the Pats lost by a touchdown. Last night, the Bruins played like crap throughout the game, somehow made it close, then down by one goal they let in an empty net goal to seal the deal for Toronto.

Anyway I would say the one thing that killed us was puck handling. It would seem that every time a Bruins player got the puck, he would skate 15 feet down the ice and then all of a sudden a Maple Leafs player would have it. They didn't count as giveaways but the Bruins really did give away too many pucks.

In The first period the Maple Leafs scored three goals. It didn't put me in a good mood. Tim Thomas scored three goals on ten shots. Meanwhile the Bruins had 19 shots that Andrew Raycroft (yes, the now Maple Leafs goalie) stopped.

In the second period Brian Finley replaced Tim Thomas, and quickly gave up a Maple Leafs goal. Then a minute later Marco Sturm scored to make the game 4-1. Then Finley gave up another goal a minute later. With the game 5-1 Marc Savard added to his point streak by scoring a goal making the game 5-2 at the end of the 2nd period.

Towards the end of the second period Andrew Raycroft went down with a groin injury and was replaced by Toronto's backup. So to start the final period both teams had thier backup goalies in.

In the third period P.J. Axelsson got the rebound off of a Paul Mara shot on the powerplay and put the puck in the net. Then later in the period on the powerplay again, Wayne Primeau scored making the game 5-4.

With about a minute left in the game Brian Finley skated off the ice giving the Bruins an extra attacker. Then with about 25 seconds left Zdeno Chara had the puck and was knocked down, a clear interference penalty, but the refs didn't call it. The Maple Leafs then got the puck shot it down the ice and into the unprotected Bruins goal. Final score: Maple Leafs 6, Bruins 4.

Last night was Brian Finley's first NHL appearence as a Boston Bruin. It's sort of ironic, the Bruins send Toivenen to Providence and then the very next game Tim Thomas sucked. Also Brad Stuart came back from injury and played twenty minutes last night, ending the game with a -2 (Stuart was on for a first period Maple Leafs goal and a second period Maple Leafs goal).

One last thing. Last night's attendance was around 14,000 at the garden. That's pathetic! This is Boston, the hub of hockey. So nation, start going to the games, I want the garden sold out every game.