Bruins Win Two - Retain Final Playoff Spot

At this point in the season, it's a cliche to say that every win is a big one. But for the Bruins, last night's win over Atlanta, and Sunday afternoon's win over the Rangers, have huge implications for the Bruins' playoff chances.

Not only were the B's able to claim 4 very valuable points (keeping them solidly in 8th, and only one point out of 6th place), they were also able to beat the two teams immediately behind them in the standings.

What alarms me a little is that the scoring is coming from guys like Begin and Satan, instead of Wheeler and Krejci (in Krejci's defense, he's played far better lately). However, given the lack of scoring punch due to the absence of Savard (and Ka$h-Grab Kessel), I guess the B's should take scoring from wherever they can get it. Hell, if Thomas thinks he can pot a couple, put him in the lineup.

The Bruins' next game is against the Lightning on Thursday night. The Lightning obviously have nothing to play for - not even pride - but are still capable of putting pucks in the net. The Bruins need to keep the pressure on every team they play if they expect to make this year's "second season" (which starts in less than a month!).

Bruins Shut Out Thrashers

Last night's 4-0 win over the Thrashers was an example of the Bruins playing at the top of their game.

Despite some successes this season, and sporting a respectable record, the Bruins have played precious few games with maximum effort from start-to-finish, instead relying on spectacular goaltending or an offensive outburst to get the win. Sometimes that win doesn't come, naturally.

However, last night's match against the Thrashers saw the Bruins hitting, forechecking and battling for pucks, and the win came as a result. It's good to see, but there's also a problem emerging.

Tuukka Rask got the start in nets, improving to 10-3-2 with a 1.85 GAA, which is outstanding for such a young goalie. Especially one with a Jedi name.

The problem, of course, is that Rask may be out-playing Tim Thomas, who deserves time to find his game given everything he's given to the Bruins, and his record in previous years.

However, as the season progresses, it's also hard to not see Thomas' 10-9-5 record with a 2.42 GAA as vastly below his capacity. How that impacts the Bruins as they make the stretch drive through the Olympics and toward the playoffs is the big question.

Thomas will get the start on Friday at Fenway for the Outdoor Classic, and the USA Olympic Team roster will be announced shortly thereafter (which Thomas is hoping to be a part of), so we may soon see Thomas' game improving simply because he is motivated by these events (and spurred forward by an up-and-coming backup).

Needless to say, the Bruins' streaky play this season cannot be laid at Thomas' feet, but if the team still requires a goalie that can win games they don't deserve to win, then Rask may be asked to shoulder a heavier load.

What that means to the team as a whole is uncertain. But here's hoping that Thomas finds his game soon, and that the B's have access to two goalies playing lights-out hockey as the season heads for home.

The Bruins next play Friday afternoon, outdoor, against the Flyers.

All You Need Is Looch - Bruins Beat Thrashers

The Bruins would celebrate the return of Milan Lucic (out several games with a broken finger) with a win over the Thrashers, last night in Atlanta.

And while "Looch" didn't figure prominently on the game sheet, his arrival, and the immanent return of Marc Savard, offer some promise that help is on the way for a Bruins team that has struggled to maintain its .500-or-better standing.

However, this is a Bruins club that needs some help: their powerplay is ranked last in the league, and they've developed a disturbing habit of gaining a lead in the final minutes of the 3rd period, only to surrender it again in the final moments of the game. It happened against Pittsburgh (with 0.3 seconds on the clock) and it happened last night against Atlanta, who called a timeout and then scored with the extra attacker with 47 seconds left.

The Bruins' eventual win in the shootout is great - great! - but should not cover this troubling trend of coughing up sure wins in the final moments.

Last season, the B's had a far better record at this point in the season, but they spent half the year only playing hard in the 2nd and 3rd periods, often going into the first intermission down a couple of goals. They created pressure on themselves and then had to fight back to win games. For a while this worked great, but as other teams found their footing around Christmas, the Bruins began losing games by the margins they'd surrendered in the 1st period. I fear this year's end-of-game breakdowns may have a similar, negative, effect on the Bruins' season.

If the B's are able to find a way to close out these games when they've gained late-leads, they'll be in far stronger shape down the line (and into the playoffs) when close games matter most.

This trend of letting teams back into games can have disastrous results (just ask the Devils, after their playoff series against the Hurricanes last year), and needs to be high on the list of issues to address for the Bruins.

Hopefully, this important lesson was learned last night, when a loss was narrowly averted by Patrice Bergeron's unbelievable shootout move, and gets carried by the Bruins into tonight's game against the Sabres.

Because "playing a 60-minute-game" may be a hockey cliche, but it is a lesser cliche than another Bruins team that is really good, but yet still not good enough.

bruins 2 - thrashers 1

Manny Fernandez got the start against the Thrashers last night, and once again, the goaltender kept the Black, White and Gold in the game.

The Bruins were largely outpaced for most of the match, and probably didn't deserve the win. It was one of those games where the goalie kept making miracles happen, and / or the Thrasher forwards had weird bounces or unlucky deflectiions spoil their chances to pot a few. In short, the game could have gone either way.

In these sorts of games, I always think about what the result would be if the B's were playing a more formidable foe. For instance, would a Shark or Red Wing forward have capitalized on chances that a Thrasher forward missed?

The argument is moot, of course, given that the Bruins have beaten the Red Wings this season and have yet to play the Sharks, and also that the Bruins may slightly change their game against the Sharks when they finally play them (and let's hope it is in the Finals).

For last night's game, the Bruins saw goals scored by Phil Kessel (perhaps beginning his next 18-game point streak?) and the winner deflected home by Michael Ryder on a pass from David Krejci.

As an aside to all those Canadiens fans who gave me grief about the Bruins signing Michael Ryder in the off-season to a $4 million contract, or to any of the Bruins faithful who felt that Glen Murray would have done a comparable job if he was retained through this year, I point out one statistic: Ryder now leads the league in game-winning goals with 7 tallies, and more importantly, he's a Plus 15.

Not that you can break down a team by their statistics, but a few others jump out at me about this Bruins squad.

They currently retain the top Four of Five leaders in Plus / Minus (Savard, Wideman, Wheeler, Krejci) and with Lucic and Kessel, the Bruins have 6 Plus / Minus leaders in the Top Ten.

The Bruins also boast both goalies in the League's Top Five for goals-against-average.

Final statistic to ponder on this Sunday afternoon: The Bruins come through December with their second consecutive 11-win month.

So much for the December skid that I've been predicting since September. I am very pleased to be wrong.

bruins 4 - thrashers 2

The Bruins completed their home-and-home stand against the Thrashers last night, in front of a surprising loud and populous TD Banknorth Centre.

Michael Ryder had two goals and Phil Kessel extended his league-best point streak to 15 games in the victory.

Manny Fernandez got the start (winning his 8th straight and improving to 9-2-1) as the Bruins enjoyed their 11th consecutive home win.

Phil Kessel's emergence as a bona fide offensive threat has begun to get the attention of the sports media as well as the opposition. While it's good to see Kessel get the credit he deserves, there's a down side as well: Thrashers defender Boris Valabik got his stick into Kessel's face, cross-checking and highsticking the young sniper. Zdeno Chara rushed to Kessel's defense, scrapping with Valabik and drawing 17 minutes in penalties.
It seems to me that Kessel's emergence has happened directly after being benched by Claude Julien in last year's playoffs. After riding the pine for two games, he's played with more grit and determination in every game.

After the game, Coach Julien had this to say of Kessel's emergence

And the key word is that it’s always been about confidence. But right now he’s got the confidence in the offensive zone and creating some good scoring chances. And he’s doing a great job at scoring goals. You know, the way he’s scoring them and tonight was one of those (nights). He took a shot and the rebound came right back at him and he shot again. He stood there and got rewarded for it. He’s been hot with the stick and definitely something that we’ve been looking for, for a long time -- somebody who can be a threat every night.

The Bruins do not play again until Thursday, earning some well-deserved rest.

bruins 7 - thrashers 3

Long time readers of Black-White-and-Gold will know that I use the Thrashers as a sort of litmus test for how the Bruins are actually playing. Traditionally a middling team (at the best of times) Atlanta still holds the upper hand, as the Bruins were still 1-4-0 in their previous 5 meetings against the Thrashers (the single win coming early this year).

Last night's game opened a home-and-home series (continuing tonight) and the Bruins came out flying, scoring 4 times on their first 5 shots. Zdeno Chara opened the scoring with a ridiculous wrap-around (the advantage of being 6'9"), and later had a fight in a strong performance.

Phil Kessel, despite being run into the glass from behind by Joey Crabb (leading to a two-, five- and game misconduct penalties), extended his point-streak to 14 games with a goal and two assists. This kind of production helps the Bruins, but more importantly, helps me in my hockey pool. Which I know readers will care about.

Mark Stuart had two-goals from the back-end and Michael Ryder potted an amazing top-shelf snap shot, while Tim Thomas held the Bruins in the game despite the dangers of offensive threats like Ilya Kovalchuk and Vyecheslav Koslov.

On the worrying side of things, Aaron Ward returned from injury, only to leave the game in the first period. Petteri Nokelainen also left the game in the first, and also did not return.

The Bruins complete the home-and-home series tonight, in Boston.

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.