In the late 80s, I hated the Buffalo Sabres.When the Bruins were unrolling a team with top stars that would reach the Finals in 1987-1988 and again in 1990-91, they seemed to always be losing to the Sabres during the season.
And while the Bruins ended up vaulting over the Sabres in both the playoff rounds for the seasons mentioned above, I still grew to use the Sabres as a barometer of how good the Bruins really were. The Sabres provided a guage of whether the Bruins were "the real deal" or not (I still do this the Bruins play the Thrashers or Canadiens).
And though the game has changed and the Sabres are no longer a specific measurement of Bruins success for me, last night's 3-1 win was significant for showing what the Bruins are capable of:
- With the win, the Bruins pulled themselves into a tie with Buffalo for 1st place in the Eastern Conference;
- The Bruins improve to 7-3-3, and have won 3 straight at home;
- Manny Fernandez got the start and proved himself to be a more-than-reliable 1a or 1b keeper in tandem with Tim Thomas;
- Chuck Kobasew returned to the Bruins lineup, after missing every game since the opener with a broken leg. He immediately made an impact, registering a goal and an assist.
The Bruins have, over the course of their most recent run, been competitive in every game and been fun to watch. Given how effort has brought the wins for this team, I just hope that the effort continues.
The Bruins play Chicago on Wednesday.
The image above is of PJ Axelson and Manny Fernandez, photo by Lisa Hornak.
2 comments:
That's funny, 'cause my wife told me that when every time she went to see the Bruins at the Garden, she almost always ended up watching them against Buffalo...
maybe the schedule was slanted in those days.
like how the ice was always slanted for the oilers.
but yeah, it really seemed like every game was against the sabres or (shudder) the habs in those days.
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