Bruins Nation

All the guys on NESN were caught up in the no-wins-in-uniondale-since-december-22-2000 story, and it is a great story, but it doesn't emphasize the Bruins domination. The Boston Bruins went into New York and beat up on a New York team. These days it's tough to beat anyone at their home, let alone crush them. For example, the Bruins have two regualtion losses at the garden this season. One was a one-goal loss to Philly (the Bergeron game) and one was a 2-1 loss to Montreal. Had the Islanders not been able to score a very lucky power play goal with under two minutes left, it would have been a 3-0 win and TT's first shutout of the season.

This season has been marked not with streakiness (like last season), but with consistent hockey the entire game. Monday night was a perfect example, one goal each period, all by different lines. 13:03 into the first period on the power play, Savard dished the puck to Murray, who skated a bit and then let off a nice shot to give the Bruins a lead. Savard now has a ten game point streak (longest active in NHL). If Murray can stay healthy this season, the Murray-Savard pair will be one of the most productive in the NHL. Those two, on the power play and next to Axelsson during normal 5v5, just create plays!

Late in the second period, the Islanders had the puck in their own zone when Petteri Nokelainen intercepted a pass, skated down the ice, deked out Rick Dipietro, and scored! It was a superb play. The Bruins took a 3-0 lead when late in the 3rd, Peter Schaefer's back hand pass from behind the net to Kobasew in front of the net landed, giving Kobasew the easy shot. With 1:51 remaining in the game, a lucky won timer on the PP gave the Islanders something to make their fans cheer.

Don't look now, but with this win the Bruins are currently 5th in the eastern conference, only 4 points behind the struggling Ottawa Senators in the Northeast division standings. Also, both Denis Wideman and Zdeno Chara played over 29 minutes!