Not only has the injury bug demolished the depth on the blue line, but the flu bug has taken affect as well. Adam McQuaid suffered a broken wrist during Tuesday night's game and will be sidelined 6-8 weeks. Also, Dougie Hamilton has come down with the flu. The Bruins just cannot seem to get fully healthy.
Well, this was the perfect weekend for the team to get some motivation and dig deep to pull out a couple of victories. First off, the B's traveled to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets.
This was an emotional game because of the recent news that has surfaced in Columbus--former Bruin Nathan Horton may never play again due to a degenerative back injury that will require surgery. As fate would have it, Horton has never suited up against Boston since signing with the Blue Jackets (various injuries or conflicting schedules). Regardless, the Jackets are always a handful for the B's, especially on home ice.
Since Brad Marchand did not make the trip, both Alexander Khokhlachev (such an awesome name to say) and Zach Trotman were recalled from Providence to join the team. Niklas Svedberg made his return between the pipes for this one as well.
Koko (as the B's like to call him) was reunited with Seth Griffith on the top line, shades of their days down in Providence. He got the insertion after David Krejci was a late scratch, and he made the most of his opportunity. He ended up giving the Bruins the full two points after seven rounds of shootout hockey.
Leading up to that epic conclusion, Boston showed some resiliency by coming back from an early two-goal deficit. Defensively, both teams played okay. However, the goaltenders let some relatively easy pucks slide past the crease. In an intense, physical, and entertaining road game, the Bruins came out on top despite being heavily undermanned.
On Saturday night, the Bruins returned home to take on an already-waiting Montreal Canadiens squad. Why was this one emotional? ....... Self-explanatory.....
With Tuukka Rask back in net for the Black and Gold and no Chris Kelly, that was not enough to shake the demons. Montreal defeated Boston for its third-straight victory in the season series. The Bruins dominated the game and got great scoring chances, but two breakdowns when they were outnumbered haunted them on this night.
The Bruins will play their next game on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Gold Star (combined): Dennis Seidenberg.....He was the best defensive option for the Bruins over the weekend. He buckled down when needed and helped out his goaltender when he could.
Black Star (combined): Kevan Miller.....He made his return to the lineup for the weekend, but it will take some time for him to get his full game back.
Press Release
Press Release
Game Twenty-One Box Score
Game Twenty-Two Box Score
No comments:
Post a Comment