Bruins Nation

Alex Auld was fantastic. The Bruins defense rebounded back from the humiliation that occured the night before and really shut down Olli Jokinen and the rest of the Panthers offense. Meanwhile the Bruins offense did a great job putting the puck on net. The problem, however, was that Craig Anderson never blinked. The Bruins put 40 shots on net, yet could not get one in the net.

After three scoreless, yet very intense periods, the Bruins and Panthers went into overtime. Just 22 seconds into the overtime, Nathan Horton scored and the Panthers won.

I can't really think of more to write. This was a very intense game that was very uneventful.

I'm not going to waste too much of my time writing about this game. It was awful. Tim Thomas and the entire Bruins defense were not ready to take on the very bad Washington Capitals. The Caps have two good players, Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. The two of them, with some help from other teammates, destroyed the Bruins.

The Bruins gave up 6 first period goals. Three of them were scored by number 8, Alexander Ovechkin, who will most likely win MVP. After Ovechkin scored his first goal, Zdeno Chara dropped the gloves with Washington tough guy Donald Brashear. Chara got in some nice punches but Brashear just hugged Chara and the two fell to the ice.

In the second period, Wideman scored 36 seconds in, but that and a goal late in the same period by Marco Sturm was all the Bruins could muster.

Alex Auld and Tim Thomas were both pulled and then put back in during this game. Sometimes 10-2 games happen, but not to teams that are awake. The Bruins need to shake this one off and just play their style hockey. The Bruins need to shut down their opponents in the nuetral zone and make sure that forwards like Ovechkin don't sneak in behind them for easy goals.

DAMMIT!!! What the hell is wrong with the Bruins when they play Montreal. It's pitiful. Worst of all was the play of Zdeno Chara. Chara blew his coverage during three of Montreal's four goals in the Habs' 4-2 win. He wasn't ready mentally for a montral-Boston game. Hopefully he can shape up for the rematch on Saturday.

...because it is the ugliest and just all around worst city in Canada. (and FYI, everyone outside of Montreal, and some in Montreal, agree with me)

I'm about to head off to the Garden to watch the Bruins take on the Habs. Tim Thomas will start and Zdeno Chara is a game time decision. I am one of the very lucky hockey fans who bought tickets to all four Habs-Bruins games in Boston. I'm psyched, and already shaking in anticipation. I love this rivalry. The defensive lines are unknown because Chara may or may not play, here are the offensive lines:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Krejci-Kobasew
Lucic-Metropolit-kessel
Reich-Nokelainen-Thornton

I'll catch up with the game summaries soon. Go Bruins!!!

They are tied with Mexico. The United States is by far the best.

The Boston Bruins will play the Ottawa Senators tonight in Ottawa. Alex Auld will start. auld has been playing great lately and Tim Thomas is on a cold streak. Chara remains out of the lineup while Aaron Ward comes back from a foot/ankle injury.

The expected lines from Fluto Shinzawa:

Sturm-Savard-Kobasew
Axelsson-Metropolit-Kessel
Lucic-Krejci-Murray
Schaefer-Sobotka-Thornton

Stuart-Wideman
Ference-Ward
Lashoff-Hnidy

I'll eventually post the game summaries that I am missing. In the meantime, Go Bruins!

I know that I'm already four games behind in the game summaries, but I'm afraid I'm about to fall five games behind. I strogly doubt that I will be able to post until after the bruins play the Rangers. The Bruins did, however, get back to their winning ways against Washington. Hopefully momentum will fly with the team into New York city and into Madison Square Garden.

Go Bruins!

I'm still here. Sorry I haven't been posting but I haven't had much time to myself. I've watched all the games and I know exactly what I want to write, I just need some time so I can sit at my computer and type it all out. That being said, I'm heading to the Garden now to catch the Bruins-Leafs game. Go Bruins!


Update: Alright, so the hockey gods did not want the Bruins to win 7 in a row. The Bruins suffered their worst loss of the season at the hands of the Washington Capitals 10-2. The Bruins get to comeback to the Garden Tuesday night, when they'll try to redeem themselves against Florida.

Tonight the Bruins go for their seventh straight win when they play the Washington Capitals in DC. Tim Thomas will start in net for the Bruins, he won the NHL's second star of the week award for going 3-0-0. Meanwhile we will most likely see newly acquired goalie Christobol Huet for the Capitals. Huet was traded from Montreal to Washington at the trade deadline. The NHL's leading goal-scorer, Alexander Ovechkin, will also be in the lineup for Washington. Despite having Ovechkin, the Capitals are having a tough season and this should be an easy win for the Bruins.

According to Fluto Shinzawa's post (linked to in the last paragraph), Chuck Kobasew and Phil Kessel have switched lines. This brings more speed to the second line. Kobasew, however, is certainly not slow. He's a great skater and I don't think this swith will make that much of a difference. Here are the expected lines:

Axelsson-Savard-Murray
Sturm-Metropolit-Kessel
Lucic-Krejci-Kobasew
Reich-Sobotka-Thornton

Chara-Wideman
Ference-Ward
Stuart-Hnidy

Thomas

With a win tonight, the Bruins could surpass their win total (35) from last season.

Before I go, I'd just like to say that the Ordway family is in the prayers of Bruins Nation. Glen Ordway, host of WEEI's The Big Show, is having some health problems with his family.

Six game win streak! I though this game would be another blow-out. It wasn't, but I'm still happy. The Bruins played much better than the Thrashers did. It was clear throughout the game that the Bruins were the better team. The Bruins just had an odd game-plan. It looked like their strategy was to shoot from the outside as often as possible. The Bruins, however, kept missing the net. They were shooting too high, and it really limited the Bruins scoring chances. the defense was strong though. Despite the lack of scoring opportunities, Tim Thomas and the Bruins defense made sure a Marion Hossa-less hockey team would not win the game.

6:06 into the first period, the Bruins took the lead when Marc Savard fed the puck to Glen Murray in front of the net. Murray then backhanded the puck in. 35 seconds later the lead was lost. The referee made a horrible call saying that Ilya Kovalchuck deserved a penalty shot. Kovalchuck clearly dove forward for no reason. Anyway, Kovalchuck put a beautiful shot past Thomas. Nobody scored again until alte in the second period when a hit on Ference cause a two-on-one breakaway. Jim slater scored and the Thrashers had the lead.

The Bruins continued to look like the better team in the third period. Playing better finally paid off when David krejci was able to lift a puck over Johan Hedburg while Krejci was falling to the ice. The game was tied and heading into Overtime.

the goalies stole the show in OT. Tim Thomas and Johan Hedburg made tremendous saves to keep the game tied. In the shootout, Tim Thomas saved three quality shots from Kozlov, Christensen, and Kovalchuck. Meanwhile Phil Kessel was able to get the puck past Hedburg (on a broken play) and win the game for the Bruins.

The next four Bruins games are the Capitals, Panthers, Maple Leafs, and Capitals again. All three are non-playoff teams. The Bruins could have a ten game winning streak come this time next week!

Watch the whole thing! Lucic is the toughest 19 year old in the world!

I take back what I said before, this was the Bruins' best game of the season. This was the Penguins first game with Marion Hossa, and the Bruins were not phased. The Bruins keep getting better and better, and they proved why they are a threat in the Eastern Conference in front of a sold-out Garden crowd. The 4th place Pittsburgh Penguins flew into Boston, riding their hot streak and big deadline deal, expecting a win. The Bruins, however, handed them a beating they won't soon forget.

In the middle of the first period, the Bruins took the lead when Chuck Kobasew's shot was tipped in by Marco Sturm. Marco Sturm struck again two minutes later. Glen Metropolit on transition fed the puck to Sturm in the neutral zone. Sturm then skated up along the side and put a beautiful shot on net. The puck sailed by Ty Conklin, and the Bruins had a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins scored twice in the second period as well. 2:21 into the period, Zdeno Chara's drive into traffic went in. It might have tipped a defenseman. Either way, Pittsburgh immediately pulled out Conklin and replaced him with Marc-Andre Fleury. This change did not revitalize the Penguins at all. Late in the period, Marc Savard did a great job getting to the puck in the offensive zone and tipping it back to Shawn Thornton. Thornton passed the puck to Axelsson, who was in front of the net and easily tipped it in.

The Bruins concentrated on defense in the third period. Despite the 4-0 lead, the Bruins continued to play strong and really out-muscled Pitt. Pascal Dupuis got his first goals as a Penguin late in the third, but that was all Pittsburgh could do. Tim Thomas had 27 saves. A few minutes after the goal, Milan Lucic and Jarko Ruutu dropped the gloves in what was one of the longest fights I have ever seen. Lucic and Ruutu fought until they could no longer move their arms. Lucic was the clear winner, and celebrated with the Boston crowd after. The Bruins punched the Penguins in the throat one more time when Mark Stuart's drvie deflected off David Krejci's skate and went in.

The Bruins won 5-1 and are 6-0-1 in their last seven games (5 game win streak). Zdeno Chara has 6 goals in his last 6 games. The Bruins do not look as if they are going to lose anytime soon.