Game 53: Lost Their "Mo-Joe"

In the late 1990s and the early 2000s, Bruins fans witnessed the emergence of Joe Thornton, an incredible young center who was capable of carrying a top line and having the potential to build a team around. Unfortunately, professional sports is a business and we had to let him go.

The San Jose Sharks visited the TD Garden for an afternoon game today, the same team that Joe Thornton was traded to. It's always a pleasure when he comes to the Garden because a lot of the Boston fans still have respect for him, as well they should.

Prior to the game, it was announced that Daniel Paille will be suspended four games for that questionable hit he delivered in the second period of the Dallas Stars game. Therefore, center Zach Hamill was called up from Providence to fill in the 20 man game time roster. He leads the Providence Bruins (AHL) in assists with 25 in 44 games.

This can only signify one thing: Claude Julien has no confidence in the rookie Tyler Seguin. Paille is a winger and I thought for sure he would call up Jordan Caron, who began the season in Boston and played very well. But once David Krejci healed from his concussion, he was sent back down to the AHL. Replacing Paille with Caron, a winger with a winger, would have been the logical choice. Instead you have Seguin and Blake Wheeler playing out of position and a 22 year old rookie centering a line in his first game.

The Bruins did not show up to play today. They only had 26 shots on goal. That is not a high number considering some goalies have 35+ shots targeted their way. However, the defense stood their ground. The B's didn't let up a full strength goal the whole game. They ended up losing 2-0. The first goal was a power play goal scored by Logan Couture, who will most likely win Rookie of the Year. The second was an empty net goal. Tim Thomas finished with 16 saves on 17 shots.

Gold Star= Zdeno Chara (4 shots on goal, 4 hits, 25:32 time on ice with 28 shifts)
David Krejci= You are such a talented player, but keep it simple. Too much passing can get you in trouble, just like the power-play goal the Sharks scored on a break-away from your bad pass. Shoot the puck!