Bruins Nation

This game looked like it was going to be a disaster. I can't pin point what it was besides just poor defense that led to the Penguins having a 4-0 second period lead. And Tim Thomas, who is back after missing a bunch of games with a groin injury, looked a little cold in the shootout. But the great comeback and the shootout was not what everyone was talking about after this game. Everyone was talking about Sidney Crosby, who recorded a Gordie Howe Hat-trick (goal, assist, and a fight). Crosby and Ference dropped the gloves, which I'll describe later in the post.

One minute into the game, the Bruins gave up the puck with some very sloppy defense, and Evgeni Malkin came up with it. Malkin put the moves on Thomas and scored. A little later, Sidney Crosby managed ot neak one by Tim Thomas's pad to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Some more sloppy defense led to Pittsburgh intercepting a pass in the Bruins zone. Once again Evgeni Malkin came up with the puck and rocketed a shot by TT. Then all the fun happened.

Right after the Penguins went up by three, Zdeno Chara and Georges Laraque got into a fight. They both got in a punch before Chara tackled Laraque. Both were penalized with a delay of game penalty. As soon as the two stepped out of the box, they placed (not dropped) their gloves onto the ice and started another fight. Laraque came in with the first punch and missed, Chara returned a punch right to the face. Then Laraque (who's very strong if you didn't know) tackled Chara to the ice. I'd call it an overall draw. They gave fighting majors after the second one even though it was weaker then the first. So the first period ended with the Penguins up 3-0. But early in the first, things really heated up when Ference and Crosby went at it. It wasn't a great fight but it was just two guys you never expected to see a fight with. (a true lightweight match-up) So both of them got in some good punches, Ference had a little more then Crosby land so I'm giving him the win, however, Crosby did leave Ference a bit bloodied.

The scoring continued for the Pens in the middle of the second. During 4 on 4 hockey, Christensen redirected in a drive to give the Penguins what seemed to be an insurmountable 4-0 lead. Not for the Bruins though. With 4 minutes left in the period on the power play, Sturm redirectd a drive from Ference to put the Bruins on the board. Then with 2 minutes left in the period, while shorthanded, Jeremy Reich won a faceoff and sent the puck to Axelsson who fired a shot into the net.

In the third period, the Bruins came within one when Andrew Ference's drive got a little help trickling into the net by Petteri Nokelainen. So it's 4-3 Penguins. With 3 minutes left in the game, Marco Sturm on the power play near the corner passed it to center ice where Wideman wwas just waiting to wind up a shot. Well his shot went in and the game was tied at 4!!!

The highlights ended there as Christensen and Letang both managed to score in the shootout while Sturm and Kessel got nothing. A real good point though! Which puts the Bruins at 40 points. 40 points in 34 games is a strong start!