Game Twenty Five: Top Two In The East

In what is said to be a tough and busy week for the Bruins, they got off to the right start on Monday night. Boston defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 3-1. Going into the game, Pittsburgh and Boston were number one and number two in the Eastern Conference respectively. With the win, the B's move within one point of the Pens for the top spot in the East.

Jordan Caron and Steven Kampfer both returned to the Bruins for Monday's game. They were sent down to Providence over the weekend in order to get some more playing time. Both were healthy scratches in this game anyway.

The first period was chippy, especially between the first-line centers (David Krejci and Sidney Crosby). The period was controlled more so by Pittsburgh as they seemed to get more shots on Tim Thomas.

In the second period, the Bruins turned their game around. Gregory Campbell and Benoit Pouliot each scored for Boston. They also had several other chances to put more pressure on Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The story of the second period, however, was all about the B's penalty kill.

Boston had to defend and kill off two different five-on-three power plays by Pittsburgh. During that time, Thomas made seven huge stops. Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg came up big by clearing the puck in potentially costly situations.

Tyler Seguin scored his 13th goal of the season on a power play in the third period. Seguin's 13 goals and 25 points leads the Bruins. Our old friend Matt Cooke added a goal for the Pens. More physical play occurred in the final 20 minutes. Daniel Paille put a good hit on Evgeni Malkin which started a little scrum. Joe Vitale charged into Thomas and that triggered Campbell to drop the gloves with him. This game had everything a hockey fan wants to see on any given night.

The B's have now won 14 out of their last 15 games. They will be back in action Tuesday night in Winnipeg against the Jets.

Gold Star: Tim Thomas (44 saves on 45 shots, 1 goal allowed, .978 save percentage)...The only goal that he allowed was not his fault as it resulted from a turnover. Clutch. Nothing more to say.

Black Star: Chris Kelly...He really surprised me by his play in this game. It looked like Rich Peverley had more control of the third line in this game rather than Kelly.