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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Game 2: Bruins lose to Wild 4-3, are 1-1-0

Just a real frustrating game. The Bruins looked pretty solid, especially in the third period. The real problem was the inconsistency of Manny Fernandez. He made some great saves, however, three of the four Minnesota goals were ones Fernandez should have had. Maybe I'm being too hard on a guy who's been injured and hasn't gotten his groove back, but he is eating up too much cap space, especially considering all star Tim Thomas is on the team for a quarter of the price.

Meanwhile, Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, and PJ Axelsson continued to play very well together. Savard had two goals, both of them assisted by his linemates. The offense as a whole played very well. Minnesota's defense was up to the challenge, but clearly overwhelmed in the third period, when the Bruins really took it to the Wild.

In the first period, Phil Kessel got things started when he sent a shot into the net. His goal came seconds after Bergeron hit the post. Kessel's shot was beautiful.

Minnesota, however, scored 4 straight goals. One power play goal in the first period, and three goals in the second period. The first two should have been saved by Fernandez. The third one was due to poor defense, and the final one was a goal that Fernandez should have on a good day, but it too was due to a defensive letdown that the shot was even taken.

The third period started with the Bruins down 4-1. The Bruins really started pushing the attack, but Backstrom was not letting anything by. In the middle of the period, the Bruins finally got the break they were looking for when Ryder fed the puck to Savard, who shot the puck into the net. Then with under two minutes left, Savard scooped up a puck from Ryder and got the puck past Backstrom. The Bruins had some opportunities in the next minute, but couldn't convert. The Bruins lost 4-3.

Although frustrating, this game showed me something important. The 2008-2009 Bruins are not going down without a fight.

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