Although the Bruins have dropped three in a row, they needed to get their identity back tonight against the New York Islanders, who are 21-29-4 (27th in the NHL). The Islanders have won four games in a row coming in, so they needed to put some ice on their streak of fire. The Bruins are still shopping around for a new defenseman, but that was not their only focus.
Late last night, the B's traded for Chris Kelly of the Ottawa Senators. The 30-year old center has 12 goals and 11 assists so far this season. This is a solid veteran who will provide some depth at the center position. He will debut tommorrow night against his now former team, the Senators.
Tuukka Rask took the start for the Bruins tonight as maybe it seems that Tim Thomas is starting to show fatigue in the past few games. Mark Stuart was a healthy scratch once again. It was reported that the Chicago Blackhawks are interested in Stuart. With the healthy scratches piling up, that deal just might end up happening.
Blake Wheeler got things started less than two minutes in by putting the Bruins on top 1-0. Mark Recchi scored his 11th of the season to put the Bruins up 2-0. It was Recchi's 13th point in 13 games. The Bruins went into the first intermission by a score of 3-0 when Gregory Campbell added a goal. The Bruins out-shot the Islanders 15-4 in the period. That was a dominating first 20 minutes by the Bruins or a terrible first period by the Islanders. Either way, the B's will take it.
The second period featured an explosion of goals. Both teams combined for 5 goals and 33 shots on net. David Kerjci (9th of the season), Tyler Seguin (10th of the season), and Milan Lucic (24th of the season) were the scorers for Boston. John Tavares and Josh Bailey were the goal scorers for New York. A quick random fact:Tavares was the number 1 overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
The Bruins worked on a plethora of game tactics that several people were questioning during the second period. We witnessed goal scoring, solid goal tending, a power play goal, and a penalty kill. Also, the third line (Seguin, Wheeler, Ryder) is finally stepping up and contributing to round out the Bruins solid offensive attack.
The third period was a relatively conservative one. Tavares scored his second of the night for the Islanders and that was the only goal of the period. The Bruins get the much needed two points as they win 6-3. An overall great night for the Bruins as 12 players had at least one point. Tuukka Rask made some great stops down the stretch. This will give them momentum heading into Ottawa where they will meet their new teammate in Chris Kelly.
Gold Star: David Krejci (1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots on goal)
Black Star: Adam McQuaid...yes you took the bate in the first period fight and finished with a -1 for the night. Not a strong game by any means.
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