flames 3 - bruins 2

The Bruins completed their Western road swing with an unfortunate loss against the Flames in Calgary.

The one-goal difference suggests a much closer game than the Bruins actually produced. The second period was dominated by the Flames, outshooting the Bruins 20 - 9, and Boston was lucky to come out in one piece, quite frankly.

A long streak of penalties also stacked the cards against the B's, especially given the team's anemic penalty-kill (am I the only one seeing this? Where are the 'busy sticks'? Where's the puck pressure and shifting umbrella?), and the team apparently was ripped by coaches in the second intermission.

Alas, it was not enough to elevate the Bruins to a win.

On the positive side, Blake Wheeler continues to impress, and Tim Thomas, while not registering a third-straight shut out, was still his outstanding self, giving the Bruins a chance to win in the game when they only competed in fits and starts.

The Bruins play Dallas on Saturday. Let's hope for more effort.

bruins 1 - canucks 0

For the second straight night, Tim Thomas posted a shutout - a feat that has not been accomplished since Andy Moog in the early 90s (and really, any comparison to Moog is a compliment to a Bruins keeper).

Thomas shut the door on the Canucks, stopping 30 shots, often making saves that nobody could have expected him to make.

Michael Ryder potted the game's only goal, on a nice shot while cruising through the high-slot. As you may have noticed, I like it when (ex-Hab) Ryder does well, because it really seems to aggravate the Habs fans I'm surrounded by.

The win brings the Bruins to 5-2-3, and affords them a day of rest before taking on the streaky Flames in Calgary on Thursday. That could be a tough game for the B's, as Calgary (when playing well) combines speed, grit and scoring with crazy goaltending.

Also of note in last night's game - Milan Lucic was presented with another Memorial Cup ring from his time as Captain (and MVP) of the Vancouver Giants. His original ring was stolen from his parent's house.

buins 1 - oilers 0

The Bruins continued their western road trip last night with a stop in Edmonton. I must admit that I couldn't get coverage of the game, so I had to rely on watching highlights, after I got home from my own time on the ice. This would have started around 1am, but man...

What highlights there were!

From all accounts, the Bruins relied heavily on the unorthodox awesomeness of Tim Thomas. He and (Oiler Goalie) Dwayne Roloson got into a goalie duel that was finally broken by a Dennis Wideman wrist-shot in overtime.

It's great to see a class character like Thomas get the shutout win, and from the footage I saw, great to see the Bruins returning to a fast-paced, strong puck pressure game. Thomas saw 27 shots, but for the most part, his defenders did a good job of clearing away errant rebounds, or tying up the extra man, allowing Thomas to cover up.

Also of note, it was very cool to see the Oil rocking those vintage sweaters (and Roloson sporting what, I think, is a Grant Fuhr-esque mask), especially against the Bruins "new" old uniforms.

The black, white and gold continue their road trip tonight against the Canucks.
Let's hope for 2 more points.

bruins 5 - thrashers 4

In a complete reversal from their previous two games, tonight the Bruins spotted their opponents a two-goal lead and then had to claw their way back.

Milan Lucic registered his first career shutout in a monster of a game, helping the Bruins break their three-game losing streak.

Manny Fernandez got his second win for the Black, White and Gold - his first at home - and Michael Ryder continued his point-per-game pace.

Petteri Nokelainen played tonight, after being a healthy scratch against the Leafs.

Despite my earlier post about partially measuring the team via their wins-losses against the Thrashers, the jury is still out on this club. The penalty kill still seems to be a major liability.

bruins versus thrashers tonight

Well, the Bruins will have an opportunity to make up for some lacklustre performances of late, playing against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight. We'll see which team shows up.

Despite best efforts, I don't have stats immediately in front of me (see image), but I know that the B's have usually had trouble with the Thrashers, going back to the Thornton-Samsonov-Murray, 100-plus-points days. Why, I have no idea.

But I knew the Bruins were on the right path last year when I saw them beating Atlanta. We'll see what happens tonight.

leafs 4 - bruins 2

As far as I am concerned, if a Bruins player hits someone so hard they go right through the glass and several fans in the surrounding area get injured - as Milan Lucic did to Mike Van Ryn last night - then the Bruins deserve to win that game.

Alas, hockey does not work that way.

Nor does it work in such a way that a team can under-perform, consistently scramble in the defensive zone, be beaten to open pucks, peel-off before being hit, and expect to win.

Last night, the Bruins again blew a two-goal lead to lose against the "lowly" Maple Leafs. The Leafs and Bruins now have identical records, but the teams do not seem to mirror each other in work effort. The Leafs outworked the Bruins on nearly every shift, getting better as the game went by.

In last night's game I was most struck by how passive the Bruins seemed. Largely the same team from last year, who doggedly checked the opposition in all three zones, creating opportunities by causing mistakes, last night's Bruins were instead handed their own game by the new-look Leafs - a team expected to miss the playoffs for a (record-setting) fourth straight year.

It was not pretty. And the recurring theme of blowing leads in the third period is an ominous sign as this team struggles for points and chemistry.

My only hope is that Coach Julien spends a significant amount of practice time in the coming days working on the Bruins anemic penalty kill, given that they could not stop the parade to the penalty box.

Hopefully last night's soft effort was an aberration, and the team will correct the path they are on.

season starts without me

The season's getting underway, but I'm taking a vacation! See you on the other side. Let's go B's.