Bruins Nation

Even though the game was closer then it seems, a loss is still a loss. I guess this fits in the category of a third period letdown, but it wasn't like the usual letdowns. The Bruins continued skating hard and well in third period, the best team in the east though managed to get more pucks in the net.

Before I begin, I would like to give some props to the lady who sang the national anthems in Buffalo. She sang both the Canadian and USA national anthems without an organ or any other instrument in the background.

In the first period, the Sabres, with their nice new jerseys, came out firing, playing with an all out offensive strategy. The Bruins played excellent defense though. Ten minutes in, Phil Kessel intecepted the puck in the Sabres' zone, and had a short breakaway. He shot the puck five-hole, right in between Miller's legs, and scored. Two minutes later on a Sabres' power play, A buffalo drive went wide of the net. That's when Briere passed the puck right in front of the net. The puck bounced off of Chara and then was tipped in by Vanek, tying the game. Two minutes later, A shot from the middle of the Bruins zone was deflected into the Bruins net. Thomas was screened by a sea of players and had no chance at the puck, and the Sabres had the lead.

Later in the period, with under two minutes left, Chara had the puck on a 4 on 3 power play in the Sabres' zone (Chara was offsides, but no refs saw) when he passed it to Glen Murray who scored, tying the game. Amazingly though, with five seconds left, A drive that was deflected in the Bruins zone got by Thomas, and the period ended with the Sabres on top 3-2.

Nothing much happened in the second. 56 seconds into the third period, Marc Savard passed across the ice to Phil Kessel in the Buffalo zone, Kessel then scored his second goal of the game when he one-timed it in, tying the game at 3.

Things started going downhill though. Buffalo started getting more scoring opportunities. Tim Thomas started coming up with some huge saves, but that wasn't enough. Ten minutes in, A drive off of Marco Sturm's shoulder managed to get into the net, giving the Sabres the lead. Then five minutes after that, Afinogenov, by himself, got around the Bruins defense, deked in front of Thomas, and scored. An empty net goal with under a minute left sealed the deal, and the Bruins lost 6-3.

One Last Note: Last night was Phil Kessel's first multi-goal game in his NHL career.