Game 33: So Much For "Black & Gold" Hockey, Huh?

After coming off of back-to-back days off and a hard-fought game with the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins were back on the ice Saturday afternoon.

The B's will be spending their Easter weekend doing what they do best: playing Black and Gold hockey. Their first game of the weekend was against the Philadelphia Flyers. After this matinee game, the Bruins will only have one more regular season afternoon game. 

This game was huge for the B's since they were coming off of a demoralizing week both on and off the ice. They just missed out on acquiring Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames. The Pittsburgh Penguins swept in and stole him from underneath the Bruins. Boston made a very good offer compared to Pittsburgh. The Bruins offered Matt Bartkowski, Alex Khokhlachev, and a 1st-round draft pick while the Pens offered two college prospects.

The Bruins clearly made the stronger push. The bottom line is that Iginla did not want to come here. He wants to win in Pittsburgh. There is nothing more to it. Now, lets see what the Bruins do in response. A good way to start would be getting a victory against the Flyers.

Tuukka Rask was back in goal for the Bruins in this game. Also, Johnny Boychuk made his return to the lineup. 

There have been some sluggish games played by the Bruins over the years. This was one of the worst games that this team has played in a long time. There was no physical play and no emotion at all.

The Flyers recorded a goal in each of the three periods to seal the 3-1 victory. Mike Knuble, Matt Read, and Ruslan Fedotenko had the tallies for the Black and Orange. The lone bright spot for Boston was Nathan Horton recording his 10th goal of the season. Rask finished with 19 saves.

The Bruins will be back on the ice Sunday night when they travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres. 

Gold Star: Nathan Horton (1 goal)...After this game, this is only picking the best of the worst.

Black Star: Johnny Boychuk...He did not pick the right game to make his return. He kept getting beat along the boards and he was cheating up ice all game long.