The Bruins were able to claw their way back into their matinee against the Rangers this afternoon, having come from 3-1 to tie it up in the third period, but alas, they could not hold off the Ranger offense, and lost 4-3.Manny Fernandez got the start, and from the highlights, looked confused on at least two of the Ranger goals (one of which he put into his own net). This brings his current losing streak to 5 games, after having posted a 10-1 record for a good part of the season.
Coach Julien was told of Fernandez accepting blame for today's loss and had the following to say in his defense:
''He's hard on himself, that's the way he is....if everyone is (as) hard on themselves like that, and then they go out to correct, we'll be okay.''
Yesterday's match-up between the Bruins and Blackhawks had the Bruins up 4-1 before Chicago mounted a comeback, bringing the game to 4-3 before Alexsson's empty net goal sealed the deal for the B's. Tim Thomas registered the win, and was especially heroic in the final 6 minutes of the match.
Mark Recchi (seen above in the danger zone) scored his first two goals as a Bruin in yesterday's game (and looked great doing it), whereas ex-Maple Leaf Nik Antropov scored for the Rangers in today's match, showing the impact of the trade deadline in concrete results.
The Bruins actually played better over the last two games than they have played lately, but neither game resulted in wins I would call confident. The B's are still unable to play a full 60 minutes of their uptempo style of attack, and whenever they take their foot off the gas, their opponents gain the upper hand.
With the current rush from New Jersey and Washington, I think the Bruins will be hard-pressed to maintain their current first-place in the East position; however, this is a situation where I am sure every Bruin would be comfortable with just entering the playoffs on a competitive streak, putting wins together with a consistent effort.
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