bruins 2 - thrashers 1

Manny Fernandez got the start against the Thrashers last night, and once again, the goaltender kept the Black, White and Gold in the game.

The Bruins were largely outpaced for most of the match, and probably didn't deserve the win. It was one of those games where the goalie kept making miracles happen, and / or the Thrasher forwards had weird bounces or unlucky deflectiions spoil their chances to pot a few. In short, the game could have gone either way.

In these sorts of games, I always think about what the result would be if the B's were playing a more formidable foe. For instance, would a Shark or Red Wing forward have capitalized on chances that a Thrasher forward missed?

The argument is moot, of course, given that the Bruins have beaten the Red Wings this season and have yet to play the Sharks, and also that the Bruins may slightly change their game against the Sharks when they finally play them (and let's hope it is in the Finals).

For last night's game, the Bruins saw goals scored by Phil Kessel (perhaps beginning his next 18-game point streak?) and the winner deflected home by Michael Ryder on a pass from David Krejci.

As an aside to all those Canadiens fans who gave me grief about the Bruins signing Michael Ryder in the off-season to a $4 million contract, or to any of the Bruins faithful who felt that Glen Murray would have done a comparable job if he was retained through this year, I point out one statistic: Ryder now leads the league in game-winning goals with 7 tallies, and more importantly, he's a Plus 15.

Not that you can break down a team by their statistics, but a few others jump out at me about this Bruins squad.

They currently retain the top Four of Five leaders in Plus / Minus (Savard, Wideman, Wheeler, Krejci) and with Lucic and Kessel, the Bruins have 6 Plus / Minus leaders in the Top Ten.

The Bruins also boast both goalies in the League's Top Five for goals-against-average.

Final statistic to ponder on this Sunday afternoon: The Bruins come through December with their second consecutive 11-win month.

So much for the December skid that I've been predicting since September. I am very pleased to be wrong.