bruins 6 - senators 4

The Bruins came out of the gates last night like a team that deserves to be in first place overall, however, by the end of the second period, they looked like a team merely hoping to stave off a third consecutive loss.

The first ten minutes of the match were absolutely dominated by the Bruins - they potted two goals in four minutes and controlled the play in the Senators zone by forechecking like mad, hitting anything that moved, and wearing down the Senators defense. They created chances and looked like a team playing with purpose.

But the Senators, to their credit, then began to play more like the team they seem to be on paper, using their speed and puck control to open up the play, and the Sens were able to tie it up at 2-all.

The second period shifted radically for the Bruins - for while they started the game in firm control, the momentum had clearly changed in the Senators' favour - mostly after a very even fight between Chris Neil and Shawn Thornton. Despite an equal number of jabs and hooks from each pugilist, the Senators really seemed to get a spark from the fight, and the Bruins continued to look sluggish. If not for some great saves from Manny Fernandez, the Bruins would have left the second period in a deficit. As it happened, they were able to get out of it locked at 3 goals apiece.

However, despite some tense moments in the third period, the B's were far more in control of their play. The sloppy passes, giveaways and choppy clearing attempts, while not as crisp and exact, more closely resembled the first period's play, and the Bruins were able to create a bit of distance between themselves and the Senators, going up 5-3.

But even then, the Bruins could not maintain their composure. The Senators kept buzzing around the net, and scored another goal with 30-ish seconds remaining. The Bruins potted an empty-net goal, but they would have looked stronger in the win had they not taken their foot off the gas.

Coach Julien offered the following after the game:
"I guess the win itself was important. The way we won it wasn’t so good. I think we’ve got a lot of things here that are challenging us. We’ve talked about some of them the other day. We certainly have some of our better players that are really struggling, finding their groove again. With the amount of injuries you have and some of your better players not playing as well as you’re used to seeing them certainly makes for a struggle."

Julien continued, "I thought our first six minutes or so of the game, the first half of the first [period] was pretty good and I thought after the fight [Thornton vs. Neil], Thornie [Thornton] stood in there and did a great job for us. Where I was disappointed is that we didn’t respond, (and) they did. That’s something that was disappointing and they kind of took the rest of the period over and came into the second and [there were] a lot of bad mistakes. If you look at the [turnover by Dennis] Wideman [that led to a Senators] goal; just forcing plays and turning pucks over. And tonight our fourth line struggled at times and gave up two goals that they should have been able to prevent. Those kinds of things put together made for a struggle."

The Bruins, it would appear, while retaining first in the League, are not yet out of the woods.

The B's next game is Saturday afternoon, at home, against the Hurricanes.