Tonight, the Bruins played three solid periods of hockey, set the pace of the game for the most part, and earned the home win.It was very satisfying, if you're a B's fan.
Regular readers (all fifteen of you or whatever) will know that I am a huge fan of an uptempo forecheck coupled with rub-out defense, and that I think the Sabres are a 'barometer' team for the Bruins - a way to assess how the B's are really playing.
So this series has been entertaining for me, with a lot of body contact and speedy finesse, basically making the skilled guys operate in a maelstrom. The Bruins have been the better team for 2.5 of the games, but could have lost all three, really.
Tonight's hero, of course, is Mark Recchi, who set up the winning goal by solidly body-checking the Sabres defenseman away from the puck, and feeding a great pass out to Patrice Bergeron in the high slot. Every shift that guy earns his paycheck and defies his age.
But the real story in this series has been the goaltending. Ryan Miller and Tuukka Rask are playing phenomenally and covering areas of the net that would have seemed impossible 20 years ago. Post to post craziness. Toe kick-out shoulder shrug rebound saves. The works.
Wednesday's game will obviously be huge and the Bruins should expect a far more combative Sabres team.
Of Note: in Saturday's 5-3 win, Recchi became the third oldest player to score an NHL playoff goal; when the Bruins win Game 3 of a playoff series they've gone on to win 70% of the time.
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