Bruins Nation

The Player of the week is Petr Kalus

Petr Kalus wins this award for scoring his first career NHL goal. Other player highlights include Thomas winning the 7th player award, and Bergeron scoring a goal and a shootout goal. Other then that, not much good came out of this week as the Bruins went 1-2-1, beating the Ottawa Senators, while losing twice to Pittsburgh, and losing in a shootout to the New York Rangers.

Also, next week's player of the week is going to come on Sunday, not Friday, because the season ends next Saturday.

This game was a lot more fun to watch then the usual Bruins losses as of late. It was still a loss though. What started out as a great high scoring first period, led to a relatively dull second and third for the Bruins. The Bochenski-Kessel-Tenkrat line played great. They had the two goals and probably ten other really close scoring opportunitites. Thomas also didn't play great. That's odd because he had just won the 7th palyer award, but a couple of the Penguin goals were bad goals to give up.

Very early in the first period, Andrew Ference's shot from the point hit off the goalie, and Bochenski put the rebound in the goal. Minutes later though, a hard shot from the middle of the ice in the Bruins zone went by Thomas, tying the game. Then later in the period, Colby Armstrong's backhand shot went over the glove of Thomas and into the net, giving Pitt the 2-1 lead. Kessel answered with a goal a minute later though. He made a beautiful play behind the net. He skated with the puck behind the net, then came around and shot the puck in the air to the middle of the goal, it looked like a Pitt player eventually was what cause the puck to go in, but it was Kessel's great play that led to the goal. The only problem though was that 30 seconds later, the Penguins put one under TT's legs and the penguins took a 3-2 lead.

Nothing much happened in the second period and the third. The play was intense but the scoring that everyone thought would continue did not. Evgeni Malkin and his dream one line (with Crosby) added a goal late in the third and the Penguins won 4-2.

The Bruins play tomorrow at one against the Atlanta Thrashers. This is the second to last game at the garden, so if you can go, do go! Next Saturday's game against Ottawa (the last one at the garden) is probably already sold out.

Also, as I have mentioned before, congratulations to Tim Thomas for winning the Bruins seventh player award for the second consecutive year!

Jack Edwards just awarded Bruins star goalie Tim Thomas with the 7th player award for the second consecutive year. Though I thought the award would go to Murray or Savard, I actually did vote for Tim Thomas, so that's pretty cool. Usually I wouldn't want the award to go to the same guy for two years in a row, however Tim Thomas really does deserve it. Maybe next year someone other than a goalie will win the award. (If you remember, Andrew Raycroft won three years ago.) Go Bruins!

Finally, the losing streak is over!

The Boston Bruins were a little sloppy in the beginning of the first period and the beginning of the second period, but they were solid the rest of the game. This wasn't just any game either, it was against a stacked Ottawa Senators team. A team that is Canadian, and a division rival.

Dany Heatley scored within a minute of the game, from Jason Spezza and Chris Phillips. (That is what I meant when I said "stacked team". Heatley - Spezza - Phillips) Bergeron tied it up on the power play a little later from Bochenski.

The Bruins gave up another goal early in the second period at the very end of a Senators power play. The Bruins didn't let it phase them though. They played hard and just a couple minutes later, Petr Kalus score dhis first NHL goal of his career with a shot in front of the net. Seconds later, Zdeno Chara's long fast drive from the point went in and the Bruins had a 3-2 lead. A hard fought third period by the Bruins defense and Joey Macdonald gave the Bruins the win. Joey Macdonald and Ray Emery both had fantastic games making great saves. By the way, for the record, if I could choose any goalie to play for the Boston Bruins, it would be Ray Emery. His fight while smiling is legendary.

The Bruins play the Penguins tonight at 7. The game is at the garden, where they will be announcing the 7th player award. (I'm thinking it's Marc Savard or Glen Murray. However because of fan voting, it could easily go to Bergeron, Sturm, or Chara)

Wow, absolutely crushed. I know we can't make the playoffs, but boys, don't throw away the season. Sidney Crosby scored two goals against us. He'd been shut down during the other two games this season, but not Sunday. Tim Thomas and the Bruins penalty kill gave up three power play goals in the first period. Joey Macdonald replaced Thomas in the second and the Bruins took a step backwards by allowing a shorthanded goal. The Bruins so far have allowed 18 SH goals this season, which is by far the highest (Pitt is in 2nd to last with 13). Crosby's second goal was in the third period, giving the Penguins the insurmountable 5-0 lead.

Dave Lewis was mad about the Bruins play in Sunday's game as well. He gave the Bruins a hell of a practice yesterday. The Bruins didn't even use a puck, they just sprinted throughout the practice. Dave Lewis came pretty close to saying that these guys don't even deserve to wear the spoked B.

Anyway, the Bruins take on the Ottawa Senators tonight (Tuesday night) at 7:30.

Though better then Thursday's meltdown against Montreal, another third period comeback led to a Bruins loss.

Dave Lewis went with some new guys in the lineup. Joey MacDonald started, as did new guy from Providence Ben Walter.

The first period was pretty boring, the Bruins had some good offense though. In the second period the only real intersting thing was when Shean Donovan stole the puck and then found Savard, who gave the Bruins their only goal. In the third period the Bruins were playing great, Macdonald was doing a hell of a job, but with 1:40 left in the game, Pock scored and the game went into OT.

OT was a lot of fun, especially when the Bruins went on a power play. Both teams had good quality scoring chances but couldn't convert. The game went into a shootout.

NYR: Michael Nylander's shot got by Macdonald
B: Patrice Bergeron went five hole and scored
NYR: Macdonald managed to stop Matt Cullen
B: Marco Sturm's shot was saved
NYR Jaromir Jagr's shot went under (more like through) Macdonald
B: Phil Kessel tried his usual deke left go right but he couldn't fake out Lundqvist and the Rangers won.

Joey Macdonald did great in the game, but he sucked in the shootout. All three NYR shots would have been easily saved by Thomas.

First, Peter Chiarelli announced that the Bruins have recalled Petr Kalus and Mark Stuart from Providence and have re-assigned Ben Walter. I understand the Kalus for Walter trade but why bring up Stuart. We already have seven (Allen, Alberts, Chara, Ward, Ferrence, York, and Wideman) defensemen rotating in the lineup.

Also here is what happened today in the NCAA tournament.
UMASS beat Clarkson 1-0 in OT. UMASS pulled off a huge upset.
Notre Dame beat some southern Alabama school I've never heard of 3-2.
Maine beat up St. Cloud 4-1.
And Michigan State beat BU 5-1.

Not a good day bracket-wise. I lost two frozen four teams (BU and Clarkson, I had BU in the finals)

The player of the week is Zdeno Chara.

This past week was a terrible one for the Bruins. The men wearing the spoked B went 0-3-0, losing a combined 14-3. Though some players had decent games (I.E. Phil Kessel in Thursday's game) I'm giving the player of the week to Zdeno Chara. That is because he came from the Ottawa Senators and was used to the playoffs. It's tough to go from a winning team to a losing team. Zdeno Chara has always been there for the Bruins, he leads the league in mintes-per-game, and has been the captain of this very streaky team. So now, this blog honors him for his hard work throughout the season.

When you don't play in the third period, you don't win. That's what the Bruins have been doing the entire season, and now they won't be making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Though not mathematically out, I'm willing to throw in the towel at this point.

The Bruins scored three good goals in the first two periods. One on a nice play by Kessel, the other when Bochenski found Sturm next to Halak, and the last one when Kessel's shot was tipped in by Mark Mowers. Things were going great. Then sheer lack of effort, mental toughness, and emotion led to dumb penalties, which in turn gave Montreal (#1 PP in NHL) plenty of scoring chances which they capitalized on.

Though I am willing to say that this isn't the year we capture the cup, I don't want the Bruins to finish in 13th. I say we play hard the rest nine games, and maybe finish in tenth. It wouldn't surprise me if Lewis and Chiarelli decide to play Toivonen or experiment with young talent.

Next game is Saturday at 1:00 at the garden against the New York Rangers.

The 2007 NCAA hockey tournament starts this Friday. Teams from New England include UNH, Maine, BC, BU, and UMass. You can find the President's picks here.

I encourage people to comment on who they think will win the tournament.

In case you are too lazy to click the link. I have BC beating BU in the finals. My frozen four are Clarkson, BU, BC, and Minnesota.

10-0 or 9-1 will still get the Bruins into the playoffs, but I can't see any other scenario doing it for the Bruins. Last night was huge! The Bruins needed to beat the Canadiens and they didn't. Though they can get their revenge tomorrow night, last night was brutal. Montreal just looked more skilled than Boston did. The effort was even for both sides, but Montreal's defensive plays, and Montreal's shoits and scoring opportunities were much better. It truly was a 1-0 blowout. The heroics of Tim Thomas were all that let this game be close. The closest the Bruins got to scoring was a long shot that hit off the post in the third period. That's it. Meanwhile Montreal had numerous breakaways and open net shots that luckily didn't go in.

The Habs lone goal was scored late in the second period when Latendresse beat Aaron Ward and shot a wrist shot past Thomas. During the game, everyone knew that goal was going to happen. For the five minutes prior to the goal, Montreal was loading on the shots on Thomas. Timmy had some fantastic saves, but he is human.

As I said before, the Bruins can have their revenge tomorrow at the garden against the Canadiens.

Sorry this is a little late. Lucky for me, I missed this game. The Bruins played their worst game of the season, and I know Dave Lewis was angry.

7-0 to New York is unnacceptable. The Rangers scored on their first 4 power plays. They scored six goals in the second period. Three fights (2 by Reich and one by Kobasew) couldn't spark the Bruins to do anything. Thomas started, was replaced by Macdonald, and then went in for Macdonald.

I'm short for time so here is the bostonbruins.com game summary.

I have not given up faith in the Bruins yet. They play Montreal tonight at 7. The playoff dream is still alive!

I wish everyone in Bruins Nation a happy St. Patrick's Day. Now lets get down to business.

The Bruins play the Rangers tonight in New York. This should be great. This is basically a must win for both teams.

BC beat BU 6-2 yesterday. It's funny how every year it seems like BU wins the beanpot and BC wins the hockey East tournament.

UNH beat Umass 3-2 in double overtime. The UNH goalie happens to be drafted by the Bruins.

Also I am dead last in my NCAA pool. I am no college basketball expert. I have UCLA winning it all just because their team name is the Bruins.

The player of the week is Phil Kessel Marc Savard*.

The Player of the week was originally Phil Kessel, however Tommy D commented about Marc Savard's 7 assists last week and I decided he was right, so I admitted my fallibility, and changed who the player of the week (Oh yeah, sorry Phil Kessel). Anyway this past week the Bruins went 2-1, with both the Bruins and opponents scoring 10-10 (shootout goals do not count, yesterday's game was 3-3). This past week wasn't the greatest. This next week should be good though. Saturday in New York, Tuesday in Montreal, Thursday here against Montreal, then Saturday here against NYR.

What started out being the Chris Clark show, turned out to be a hell of a game at the garden last night. Chris Clark had the natural hat-trick in all three types of play. He scored 5 on 5, on the power play, and shorthanded.

After the three Clark goals, and a fight between Alberts and Bradley, the Bruins started mounting their comeback. With a few minutes left in the second period, Sturm netted a power play goal from Bergeron and Savard, putting the Bruins within two to start the third period.

In the third period, the Bruins started on a 5 on 3 power play. Thirty seconds in, Sturms pass across the crease allowed Bochenski to easily put in the puck. Then a minute later, still on the power play, Savard found Bergeron who put the puck in high just inside the post and the game was tied. Both teams played very passively until Overtime. In the overtime Washington was doing well until a penalty call gave the Bruins a man advantage. Then the Bruins put on the offense but Kolzig made some great saves and the game went into a shootout.

W: Alexander Semin started the shootou and was stopped by Thomas
B: Marco Sturm's shot was stuffed by Kolzig, he did a good deke but should have put the puck in the air.
W: Brooks Laich was stopped by Thomas
B: Patrice Bergeron's shot went through Kolzig's legs
W: Alexander Ovechkin made Thomas look terrible
B: Phil Kessel completely beat Kolzig on a beautiful fake and the Bruins won the game.

Some notes from the game: The Joshua tree just sang U2 songs, they were okay. I would have though that more than 15000 people would show up though. Also there was a great tribute to Jeff Hayes, a former Sandwich high school hockey player who tragically lost his battle with cancer.

The Bruins are hanging onto their playoff dreams still. Five points out with twelve games to go. Next is a home and home series with the Rangers, with a home and home series with Montreal in between the two games. This next week should be good. It's do or die from here on in.

Ben Walter is also coming to the garden today. He is an emergency call-up from Providence. That means Shean Donovan won't be playing.

A U2 coverband, the joshua tree, will be playing at the garden tonight. That and green hats are being given away, so I can't wait to go to the garden.

Though the above is very cool, I'm really going to the garden to see the Bruins beat up on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals!

Sorry this is a little late.

The Bruins needed a huge win, and they got just that! A 6-3 win over the 2nd best team in the west, Detroit. Dave Lewis had a game plan and he stuck to it. He decided not to play aggressively, but rather stay back, play cautious Defense, and prepare to make plays on offense, and it worked. This was a good win for Dave Lewis, who was a coach for Detroit since 1988 before coming to Boston. It was also a good win for Tim Thomas, who is from Flint Michigan and got to show off his skills to his family and friends in Detroit.

Five minutes into the game Reich and Bootland got into a fight and it immediately sparked the Bruins. Six seconds later, Marco Sturm's shot near the faceoff went in and the Bruins had the early lead. The Wings had some fight in the first period though, as they scored two goals in under a minute to retake the lead. Their first goal was on a blown defensive coverage and the second one was when the Wings had a power play and an open shooting lane led to a long drive going in the net.

The second period was all Bruins! Seven seconds in on a power play, Savard found Sturm who tied up the game. Then a little later, Petr Tenkrats rocket blast went into the net and the Bruins had the lead.

Early in the third period, Aaron Ward dumped the puck into the Red Wings zone. However the puck took a wierd bounce off the boards and Patrice Bergeron had a wide open empty net shot, which he took advantage of. Then later in the period, on the Power Play, Savard sent the puck to Sturm who managed to get the puck right in front of the net. Chuck Kobasew then put the pcuk home and the Bruins had a three goal lead. Detroit managed to score one more, and a puck bounced off of Kessel into the net, and the Bruins won 6-3.

This was a huge win. As of now though we're 7 points out with 13 games left. Go Bruins!

The Bruins next game is Thursday at home against Washington.

The Bruins yesterday took a huge step backwards with their loss to the last-place Philadelphia Flyers. I'm not giving up on the Bruins playoff chances just yet, but it is going to take a massive win streak. Last night, all the teams that the Bruins wanted to lose, won their games. Montreal won, Florida won, Toronto won, NYI won, and the Rangers lost in OT. It was a bad day for Bruins Nation, that's for sure.

Joey MacDonald got his second start as a Bruin yesterday, and was pretty awful. Two minutes into the first period, Simon Gagne's slap shot went by MacDonald glove side. (Looked a lot like the Brian Rolston goal from Thursday) Then a few minutes later, Recih beat up Reid, and it sparked the Bruins for a little bit. Marc Savard (who has been playing terribly as of late) found Denis Wideman near the facoff dot in the Flyers zone. Wideman's rocket went by Biron and into the net, tying the game.

Philly dominated the second period but luckily no goals were scored. In the third the Flyers scored when Chara fell in the defensive zone. Mike Richards shot the puck got his own rebound and scored, giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Then Scottie Upshall scored shorthanded on a shot that MacDonald should have had. Thomas would have had it any day. An empty net goal sealsed the devastating loss for the Bruins.

There is no time to sulk about this one, the Bruins play Detroit today at 12:30 on NBC. And they are going to have to beat Detroit without Shean Donovan.

The player of the week is Brandon Bochenski.

This week the Bruins went 2-2-0. In those four games the Bruins outscored their opponents 8-6. Of those 8 goals, Brandon Bochenski scored three of them, and that earns him player of the week honors. (In case anyone is wondering, the other five goals were scored by Aaron Ward, Petr Tenkrat, Marco Sturm, Glen Murray, and PJ Axelsson.)

That was quick. Peter Chiarelli announced today that Jeff Hoggan has been recalled from Providence and David Krejci was re-assigned. The move makes perfect sence considering David Krejci was terrible against the Minnesota Wild last night. Hoggan also does have Bruins experience. If you'll recall, he played a lot of games with us towards the beginning of the season.

On a different note, good luck to BC over Miami in today's ACC tournament basketball game. Whether it is basketball or football, I'll always want BC to crush Miami.

On a college hockey note, game one of the hockey east quarterfinals took place last night. UVM beat BU 3-2, BC beat Northeastern 3-0, and UNH beat Providence 4-0. Remember these are best of three game series'.

The refs sucked, the Wild played dirty, and the Bruins were injury plagued. Even so, I'm sure they wish they could have this one back. Once again, the Bruins should have won, but a lack of scoring opportunities in the third period, and some blown plays, led to the Bruins losing one that they needed badly. Lucky for us, Montreal and Toronto lost so we're still only four points out. The problem is that if we play like this, 4 points out will soon look like 14 points out.

Nothing much happened in the first period, both teams managed to do nothing real interesting and the game was tied 0-0 after one. The second period was pretty good, just two poor shifts by the fourth line turned out to be very costly. First, Chistov misplayed a puck in the Bruins zone that led to Brian Rolston zipping one by Thomas. Then David Krejci's man beat him and had a wide open shot on Thomas to score and give the Wild a 2-0 lead.

The third period started out with me yelling from the get-go. Two minutes in, Bergeron was called for tripping Mark Parrish. The replay clearly showed Parrish taking a dive, barely touching Bergeron. Parrish ended up getting hurt on his dive and had to leave the game. Now that's karma for you. And you know what, I hope it's a career ending injury. What he did hurts the game of hockey and I hope he never plays again. Anyway, before I start ranting, the Bruins and wild both played very emotional hockey for the rest of the period, including a mini fight between Savard and Demitra. The Bruins managed to muster a goal when Denis Wideman's drive hit off the stick of Bochenski and into the net. But that's all the Bruins had in them and they lost 2-1.

One Last note: Krejci, Chistov, and Reich barely played in the third period. That fourth line of Krejci, Chistov, and Bochenski really played poorly together last night. (Krejci and Chistov were both -2 on the night)

With Glen Murray re-aggravating his groin, the Bruins are going to have to win the next bunch of games without him. Jaci (AKA The Wicked Bruins Fan) has a great post analyzing the Bruins with and without Glen Murray.

Peter Chiarelli announced that the Bruins have recalled David Krejci from Providence as an emergency recall. (Link)

Also, coach Lewis now without Murray is styling a new Power play with Chara obstructing the goalie by just putting himself in front of the net.

The Minnesota Wild are coming to the garden tonight and the Bruins need a win. The lines will most likely look like this:

Axelsson Kessel - Savard - Kobasew
Sturm - Bergeron - Tenkrat
Reich - Mowers - Donovan
Bochenski - Kessel Krejci - Chistov

*Axelsson is out with a broken hand which he had been playing with for a while. The defense pairings are:
Chara - Ward
Ference - Wideman
Alberts - York

Thomas

The Bruins didn't exactly play like champions, but neither did Colorado. These teams were completely even. A terrible referree call gave the Avalanche the win, which sucks because the Bruins need all the points they can get. Nevertheless, not being able to score against the Avalanche is unnacceptable. The Bruins only took 21 shots, they had five power plays any numerous breakaways, but they couldn't get one into the net.

The first two periods were defense dominated. Thomas had some amazing saves, while Budaj had one great one on a Mark Mowers breakaway.

The third period is when the refs screwed the Bruins. Three minutes in, an Avalanche player came into the crease as the puck glided towards the corner of the ice. Then the puck was passed to the blue line to another Avalanche player while the first Avalanche player pushed Thomas to the side. A drive from the point then went into the net and the blind douchebag referees counted it. An empty net goal late in the game gave the Avs a 2-0 lead.

Also, Glen Murray reagravated his groin injury. He is "out indefinitely", and there is "no timetable at all" according to Dave Lewis.

One last Note: Since the 20-6-3 post, the Bruins are 8-4-1. So now to insure a playoff spot, I think the Bruins must go 12-2-2.

First, tonight the Bruins will play the Colorado Avalanche at the TD Banknorth garden. Fluto Shinzawa is reporting that Chuck Kobasew will play for the Bruins for the first time since he was traded here. Also Bobby Allen will play alongside Wideman this evening. So Jason York and Stanislav Chistov will be healthy scratches. Here is what the lines should look like:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Bergeron-Tenkrat
Reich-Mowers-Donovan
Kobasew-Kessel-Bochenski

Chara-Ward
Alberts-Ference
Allen-Wideman

Thomas (who should be ready after Macdonald started on Monday)

Also last night could not have gone worse. The New York Rangers beat the New York Islanders in a shootout. (It was actually a really exciting game, Rick Dipietro was absolutely amazing in net for the Islanders.) That means that not only is NYR two points ahead of us, bumping us to 12th place, but NYI also got a point extending their lead in the playoff race. Bruins Nation needed NYI to beat NYR in regulation and that didn't happen. Hopefully we will have better luck tonight. Bruins Nation tonight wants the Bruins over the Avalanche, the Capitals over the Maple Leafs, and Atlanta over Florida.

Dave Lewis keeps telling the media that games on hand only matter if you win them, well the Bruins won one of them last night. Two huge wins two nights in a row! This time against the Atlantic division leading New Jersey Devils. Not only was this a win, but it was a beating. Our guys were tired from the Montreal game and Tim Thomas didn't even play. That's right, Joey Macdonald got his first start as a Bruin, and he was solid. Even more solid than Macdonald though, was the Bruins defense, who for the second straight night, shut down the opposing offense. They allowed only 6 shots in the first period. (Ward and Chara are playing great together)

Speaking of the defense playing well, Aaron Ward scored the Bruins first goal on a drive from far away, and the Bruins were up 1-0 after one. In the second period, the Devils were on the power play when, 19 seconds into the period, Marco Sturm got the puck and had a breakaway down the ice. Sturm scored on Brodeur, and the Bruins had a 2-0 lead.

In the third period, New Jersey scored 6 minutes in. They scored by just crashing the net. When Gianta's shot was saved by Macdonald, Rupp managed to put the rebound in and New Jersey cut the Bruins lead in half. Then a few minutes later, the young line (Bochenski, Kessel, Chistov) came through again when Bochenski's shot went in, giving the Bruins a two goal lead. Axelsson clinched the game with an empty net goal and the Bruins defeated the Devils 4-1.

The Bruins are now in eleventh place, and in case anyone is wondering, Bruins Nation is rooting for the Islanders over the Rangers tonight.

Behind a sellout crowd, the Boston Bruins defeated the arch-rival Montreal Canadiens last night 3-1. Every Bostonian has to love seeing the Habs go down. And every Bostonian has to love the Habs' fans going home looking like idiots.

Though the garden was sold out, there were way too many Canadiens' fans. Every section had several rows of fans wearing red and white, including the rows directly in front and behind me, and every time we scored, I let 'em know.

Anyway, the game itself was great. The Bruins defense played spectacular, and with Tim Thomas behind them it was impossible for Montreal to score. (Sheldon Souray got lucky in the third, with an assist going to a struggling Sergei Samsonov.) The first period was deadlocked at zero the entire time. Both teams had scoring chances that were swiftly taken away by the two goalies.

In the second, the Bruins took the lead when Petr Tenkrat (who played with Sturm and Bergeron) took a shot from within the blue line that hit off the glove of Halak and went into the net. Then later in the period, a great shot by Brandon Bochenski (who played with Kessel and Chistov) went in the net and the Bruins had a 2-0 lead going into the break.

Towards the beginning of the third period, the Bruins were a little flat and Montreal got lucky as previously mentioned. Glen Murray finally made it known that he's back from the IR by scoring his 28th of the season with 5 minutes left. Murray's goal finally sent the jerk three rows in front of me home to Canada.

Last night's game was great, and the Bruins are right back on the ice tonight against the New Jersey Devils.

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
7:00 PM at the TD Banknorth Garden

I can's wait for this one tonight. This is a playoff game as far as I'm concerned!

Tonight's lineups according to Fluto Shinzawa of the globe are the same as Thursday night's:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Bergeron-Bochenski
Reich-Mowers-Donovan
Chistov-Kessel-Tenkrat

Chara-Ward
Alberts-Ference
Allen-Wideman

Thomas (15th straight start)

The player of the week is Tim Thomas.

51 saves speaks for itself!

I'm not going to lie, the Bruins needed these two points. This game isn't as important as tomorrow night's game, but it was very important. When you play the worst team in the league, you have to win. At least we got one point out of the overtime loss.

Ward and Wideman, both guys we got in the trade, played very well I thought. I really like how Ward will go down to block the puck as often as he does. Also Mark Mowers had two goals, he sure doesn't want Kobasew to take his place.

The Bruins scored under five minutes into the first period when Wideman's perfect pass in the neutral zone to Mowers gave him an open lane. Mowers then shot the puck under the crossbar and in. Then again a few minutes later, Reich's pass to Mowers off a turnover in the neutral zone led to Mowers shooting the puck in stride off the post and in. That goal was Reich's first point as a Bruin, and Mowers' first career multi-goal game. Towards the end of the period, Joni Pitkanen's shot over a diving Ward got by Thomas. Aaron Ward played it perfectly but Pitkanen had a wide open shot.

Philadelphia started off the second period firing. They seemed unstoppable, they were shooting at Thomas like there was no Bruins defense at all. That paid off for Philly and they scored on the power play a few minutes in. Philly then took the lead when on a Bruins power play they scored off of a breakaway. We need to stop giving up short handed goals. A minute later though, Chara in front of the net managed to shove the puck into the net on a 5 on 3 power play. Nothing happened in the third and the game went into OT.

Both teams played a pretty good overtime, but Upshall and the Flyers got very lucky and with under ten seconds left, Upshall scored on Thomas off of a breakaway and philly won.

Tomorrow night's game at home against Montreal is very important, we need to forget about this one and concentrate.

One Last Note: Tim Thomas had 51 saves!