Saturday afternoon was the rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks. No big deal right? Well, not so much.
This was hyped as everything but a normal game. It is a horrid habit by the media, but they had every right to build it up as a showdown.
The antics that Vancouver pulled in that nationally televised series disgraced their franchise just a little bit. The Aaron Rome hit on Nathan Horton. The "biting incident" between Alex Burrows and Patrice Bergeron. The "pumping" of Tim Thomas' tires. The Jannik Hanson crotch shot on Adam McQuaid. For your information, that was just to name a few.
The Bruins would not see all of the faces that they encountered last June in this game. Rome was out with a broken thumb and Boston College graduate Cory Schneider got the start in goal over Roberto Luongo, which was a surprise move by Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault. Luongo had won three out of his last five starts. However, he was lit up in the Stanley Cup Finals by the B's.
Tim Thomas started in goal for Boston. Brad Marchand made his return to the lineup after missing Thursday's game with flu-like symptoms.
Just four minutes into the game, fans saw gloves and sticks on the ice. Shawn Thornton slashed Burrows as he was exiting the ice, causing Burrows to respond. Thornton went back after Burrows and was met by six Canucks. Both teams were in the middle of a line change so that is the reason for the odd man situation.
Maxim Lapierre jumped in and starting throwing cheap shots like the tough guy that he is (sarcastic tone). Milan Lucic came off the bench during the scrum and that led to him receiving a game misconduct. If you watched the replay, Henrik Sedin (one of the six Canucks involved with Thornton) left the ice before Lucic came off the bench so the game misconduct was necessary. The call was later rescinded after the game. Horton and Gregory Campbell had two separate fights in the opening period.
When the Bruins were skating five-on-five (eight minutes or so), all they were really doing was playing dump and chase throwing hits along the way. Vancouver responded by capitalizing on a five-on-three power play. Ryan Kesler put the Canucks on the board first after putting a deflected shot behind Thomas. Marchand tied the game after a great pass from Tyler Seguin.
The Vancouver defense played very sloppy in the second period. There were three different occasions when the Bruins had a breakaway with the goaltender. Daniel Paille even got interfered with during one of them and was allowed a penalty shot, which was eventually saved by Schneider.
Boston began to settle in and started playing their game. Rich Peverley put the B's on top at 7:12 of the second period. The goal came after Benoit Pouliot realized an icing was waived off and pursued the puck to get it to Peverley. The Canucks grabbed two power play goals toward the end of the period to take the lead back. Burrows and H. Sedin had the tallies.
Vancouver had a continued five minute power play into the third period due to the major clipping penalty called against Marchand. He hit Sami Salo low at the knees and it appeared that Salo was injured on the play. Cody Hodgson put another power play goal past Thomas during the remaining penalty time.
David Krejci brought the B's back within one but they failed to capitalize on a late six-on-four man advantage. Boston dropped this game by a score of 4-3.
Throughout the game the referees were kicking people out of the face-off dot left and right. The refs had nothing to do with this loss though. Over 100 penalty minutes between the two teams. The Bruins will have to go forward with suspensions likely coming their way.
The B's will be back in action Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets at the TD Garden.
Gold Star: Nathan Horton...What a physical and aggressive game he played in this one.
Black Star: Tim Thomas...Four goals is four goals even if they are on the power play.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Game Thirty Seven: Bruins Put Out The Flames
Just one day removed from a stomping of the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins were back in action Thursday night at the TD Garden. They played host to the Calgary Flames, a team that Boston will only see once this season.
Fans might remember the last time that the B's took on the Flames during the 2010-11 season. They knocked off Calgary in the middle of a six-game road trip in which they went 6-0-0. The only other time that a Bruins team has gone 6-0-0 on a road trip was during the 1971-72 season. What do those two teams have in common? Both teams won a Stanley Cup.
The Flames are a tough team that will always battle their opponent hard. They have a stud in Jarome Iginla who came into the game looking for his 500th career goal. In order to get that illusive tally, he would have had to do it against Tuukka Rask who started in goal for the Black and Gold.
Brad Marchand was scratched from the lineup due to flu-like symptoms. Benoit Pouliot took his place on the second line and Zach Hamill played on the third line in Pouliot's usual spot.
We should not be surprised by something like this anymore, but the Bruins dominated the opening period. Tyler Seguin scored his 16th goal of the season just 1:14 into the game. Milan Lucic put the B's up 2-0 after the puck took a ridiculous bounce off of Olli Jokinen and past Flames goaltender Leland Irving. David Krejci added a power play goal later in the period to extend his point streak to seven games.
The Bruins made the Flames play chase all around the ice in the opening period because they controlled most of the puck possession. There was not that many fast rushes up ice. Instead, Boston took their time and brought the puck up ice at a slower pace. That strategy worked out quite well I would say.
In the second period, Calgary got more shots on Rask as the Bruins defense played somewhat loose. As far as the offense, they picked up right where they left off. Nathan Horton scored a pair and Patrice Bergeron and Chris Kelly scored a goal each. Zdeno Chara recorded his 300th career assist on Horton's first goal.
Miikka Kiprusoff replaced Irving in the Calgary net after the Bruins netted their sixth goal of the game.
Both teams just looked for the game to be over once the third period came along. The Flames had a power play but that only led to a short-handed goal by Daniel Paille. Bergeron added another goal for his second of the game.
The Bruins went on to win this game by a score of 9-0. Rask stopped all 25 shots he faced for his 11th career shutout. Twelve Bruins players finished with at least one point. Five of them had three point nights (Seguin, Horton, Bergeron, Krejci, Pouliot).
Getting the win in this game was a great way to kick off a four-game homestand. The Bruins next game will be this Saturday afternoon when they take on the Vancouver Canucks in a much anticipated showdown.
Gold Star: Patrice Bergeron (2 goals, 1 assist, plus-3 rating, 2 shots on goal, 76.5% face-offs won)...He earned this one for sure.
Black Star: Shawn Thornton...It looked like he took a couple of shifts off in this game.
Fans might remember the last time that the B's took on the Flames during the 2010-11 season. They knocked off Calgary in the middle of a six-game road trip in which they went 6-0-0. The only other time that a Bruins team has gone 6-0-0 on a road trip was during the 1971-72 season. What do those two teams have in common? Both teams won a Stanley Cup.
The Flames are a tough team that will always battle their opponent hard. They have a stud in Jarome Iginla who came into the game looking for his 500th career goal. In order to get that illusive tally, he would have had to do it against Tuukka Rask who started in goal for the Black and Gold.
Brad Marchand was scratched from the lineup due to flu-like symptoms. Benoit Pouliot took his place on the second line and Zach Hamill played on the third line in Pouliot's usual spot.
We should not be surprised by something like this anymore, but the Bruins dominated the opening period. Tyler Seguin scored his 16th goal of the season just 1:14 into the game. Milan Lucic put the B's up 2-0 after the puck took a ridiculous bounce off of Olli Jokinen and past Flames goaltender Leland Irving. David Krejci added a power play goal later in the period to extend his point streak to seven games.
The Bruins made the Flames play chase all around the ice in the opening period because they controlled most of the puck possession. There was not that many fast rushes up ice. Instead, Boston took their time and brought the puck up ice at a slower pace. That strategy worked out quite well I would say.
In the second period, Calgary got more shots on Rask as the Bruins defense played somewhat loose. As far as the offense, they picked up right where they left off. Nathan Horton scored a pair and Patrice Bergeron and Chris Kelly scored a goal each. Zdeno Chara recorded his 300th career assist on Horton's first goal.
Miikka Kiprusoff replaced Irving in the Calgary net after the Bruins netted their sixth goal of the game.
Both teams just looked for the game to be over once the third period came along. The Flames had a power play but that only led to a short-handed goal by Daniel Paille. Bergeron added another goal for his second of the game.
The Bruins went on to win this game by a score of 9-0. Rask stopped all 25 shots he faced for his 11th career shutout. Twelve Bruins players finished with at least one point. Five of them had three point nights (Seguin, Horton, Bergeron, Krejci, Pouliot).
Getting the win in this game was a great way to kick off a four-game homestand. The Bruins next game will be this Saturday afternoon when they take on the Vancouver Canucks in a much anticipated showdown.
Gold Star: Patrice Bergeron (2 goals, 1 assist, plus-3 rating, 2 shots on goal, 76.5% face-offs won)...He earned this one for sure.
Black Star: Shawn Thornton...It looked like he took a couple of shifts off in this game.
Tim Thomas Voted Into All-Star Game
Tim Thomas was just informed Thursday morning that he was voted into this year's NHL All-Star Game as the starting goaltender. Thus far, Thomas has posted a 17-6-0 record with a 1.90 goals against average and a .940 save percentage. This is a well-deserved honor giving the stats he has posted.
Thomas was one of six players to be informed that they have made the All-Star Game roster. Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman and captain Dion Phaneuf also made the roster. The other four players are all members of the Ottawa Senators.
Milan Michalek leads the team with 19 goals and has been a big surprise for the Sens. Erik Karlsson leads the team with a whopping 32 assists. These two players have earned the right to make the top six in voting. However, veterans Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson are somewhat skeptical to me.
Spezza does have 40 points and Aldredsson has returned this season very strong after missing much of last season due to injury. But keep in mind that the game is in Ottawa and the fan voting may have something to due with it.
The four Ottawa players are great athletes, especially Michalek and Karlsson. Do I think that Spezza and Alfredsson deserve to make the top six over players like Pavel Datsyuk or Mikko Koivu? Not at all.
Thomas was one of six players to be informed that they have made the All-Star Game roster. Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman and captain Dion Phaneuf also made the roster. The other four players are all members of the Ottawa Senators.
Milan Michalek leads the team with 19 goals and has been a big surprise for the Sens. Erik Karlsson leads the team with a whopping 32 assists. These two players have earned the right to make the top six in voting. However, veterans Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson are somewhat skeptical to me.
Spezza does have 40 points and Aldredsson has returned this season very strong after missing much of last season due to injury. But keep in mind that the game is in Ottawa and the fan voting may have something to due with it.
The four Ottawa players are great athletes, especially Michalek and Karlsson. Do I think that Spezza and Alfredsson deserve to make the top six over players like Pavel Datsyuk or Mikko Koivu? Not at all.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Game Thirty Six: B's Open Up 2012 With Win Over Devils
The Bruins opened up this very tough week in the schedule with a game Wednesday night against the New Jersey Devils. Boston routed New Jersey by a score of 6-1. Boston (51 points) now pulls within one point of the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers (52 points).
The Devils got on the board first when David Clarkson scored a power play goal set up by Zack Parise. The two ran a break-away after the Bruins got caught playing a little too far up ice when they were supposed to be conservatively killing a penalty. Tim Thomas looked like that he could have stopped the shot as well.
The B's went on to beat Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur for six unanswered goals. Patrice Bergeron scored two beauties, one of them was unassisted. David Krejci had a goal and assisted another to Nathan Horton. Yes, Horton got credit for the goal, but it was the perfect pass from Krejci that set it up. It was such a good pass that even I could have scored Horton's goal.
Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton also contributed to the score sheet with a goal each. Dennis Seidenberg and Milan Lucic each recorded two assists. Thomas made 30 saves on 31 shots.
The Bruins were in complete control of this one. They played very tight defense which forced New Jersey to commit 17 turnovers. They also controlled the face-off dot, winning more than half of the draws (30-12). Boston played consistent throughout the entire game and that is something that needs to be done all the time. Getting off to slow starts will not always work out.
The Bruins are back in action Thursday night back at home when they welcome in the Calgary Flames.
Gold Star: David Krejci (1 goal, 1 assist, plus-1 rating, 2 shots on goal, 76.5% face-offs won).
Black Star: Benoit Pouliot...He came up small against a team that he has had success against in the past. Taking a 10 minute misconduct penalty did not help his case either.
The Devils got on the board first when David Clarkson scored a power play goal set up by Zack Parise. The two ran a break-away after the Bruins got caught playing a little too far up ice when they were supposed to be conservatively killing a penalty. Tim Thomas looked like that he could have stopped the shot as well.
The B's went on to beat Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur for six unanswered goals. Patrice Bergeron scored two beauties, one of them was unassisted. David Krejci had a goal and assisted another to Nathan Horton. Yes, Horton got credit for the goal, but it was the perfect pass from Krejci that set it up. It was such a good pass that even I could have scored Horton's goal.
Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton also contributed to the score sheet with a goal each. Dennis Seidenberg and Milan Lucic each recorded two assists. Thomas made 30 saves on 31 shots.
The Bruins were in complete control of this one. They played very tight defense which forced New Jersey to commit 17 turnovers. They also controlled the face-off dot, winning more than half of the draws (30-12). Boston played consistent throughout the entire game and that is something that needs to be done all the time. Getting off to slow starts will not always work out.
The Bruins are back in action Thursday night back at home when they welcome in the Calgary Flames.
Gold Star: David Krejci (1 goal, 1 assist, plus-1 rating, 2 shots on goal, 76.5% face-offs won).
Black Star: Benoit Pouliot...He came up small against a team that he has had success against in the past. Taking a 10 minute misconduct penalty did not help his case either.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Game Thirty Five: Ryder Helps Stars Rise Over Bruins
The Dallas Stars ended the seven-game win streak of the Bruins on Saturday night as they knocked off the B's by a score of 4-2. Former Bruin Michael Ryder picked up a goal against his old team in this game.
The Stars beat Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas four times in the opening period, two of the goals coming as a result of the power play. The four goals allowed by Thomas is the most he has allowed in a single game this season. In relevance to the power play goals, the Stars made some great passes and worked the puck around the front of the net waiting for the right shot.
Even though Dallas loves to draw opponents into penalties, they still need to capitalize on the man advantage and they did in this game.
Tyler Seguin scored Boston's first goal at 11:39 of the first period. Seguin still leads the B's in points with 31. Milan Lucic scored Boston's second goal just 1:08 into the third period. David Krejci had an assist on both goals. Loui Eriksson, Trevor Daley, and Tom Wandell had the other tallies for the Stars.
In a game that the media built up and expected way too much from, the action was still fast and physical. The puck was constantly moving and nothing really slowed the game down. Dallas outplayed Boston in this game. Plain and simple. They end the year 2011 with a tough road loss.
Boston will be back in action on Wednesday night when they head to New Jersey to take on the Devils.
Gold Star: David Krejci (2 assists, plus-1 rating).
Black Star: Shawn Thornton...The fourth line logged some extra shifts in this game. However, Thornton looked lost out there to the point where he was a liability to the team.
The Stars beat Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas four times in the opening period, two of the goals coming as a result of the power play. The four goals allowed by Thomas is the most he has allowed in a single game this season. In relevance to the power play goals, the Stars made some great passes and worked the puck around the front of the net waiting for the right shot.
Even though Dallas loves to draw opponents into penalties, they still need to capitalize on the man advantage and they did in this game.
Tyler Seguin scored Boston's first goal at 11:39 of the first period. Seguin still leads the B's in points with 31. Milan Lucic scored Boston's second goal just 1:08 into the third period. David Krejci had an assist on both goals. Loui Eriksson, Trevor Daley, and Tom Wandell had the other tallies for the Stars.
In a game that the media built up and expected way too much from, the action was still fast and physical. The puck was constantly moving and nothing really slowed the game down. Dallas outplayed Boston in this game. Plain and simple. They end the year 2011 with a tough road loss.
Boston will be back in action on Wednesday night when they head to New Jersey to take on the Devils.
Gold Star: David Krejci (2 assists, plus-1 rating).
Black Star: Shawn Thornton...The fourth line logged some extra shifts in this game. However, Thornton looked lost out there to the point where he was a liability to the team.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Game Thirty Four: Bruins Win In Julien's 600th Game
Long breaks from game action is a plus for the players and coaches, especially around the holiday season. Being able to get a few days off to heal nagging injuries is also on the minds of the players. On the other hand, a long break could get a team off of a hot streak.
Breaks can cause someone like myself to get restless about when I can blog again. Besides Brad Marchand receiving the honor of the NHL's First Star of the Week following his three goal, five point performance last Friday night, not much to discuss or write about as a member of the media. It is frustrating sometimes but it happens. Enough about me.
Back to the point of teams riding streaks. The Bruins resumed their schedule Wednesday night after having the last three days off. They took on the Phoenix Coyotes for the first time since the two-game series that opened up the 2010-2011 season over in Prague.
Boston had a six-game win streak coming into the game. Bruins head coach Claude Julien elected to continue riding another streak by starting Tuukka Rask in goal. Rask has posted back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts.
Rich Peverley did not play in this game in order to rest up a lingering injury. He was replaced by Zach Hamill. Jordan Caron was sent back down to Providence (AHL), signifying that the organization sees Hamill as a better fit for this team than Caron.
Judging from what we witnessed in the opening period, one would never have thought that the B's had an extended break. Less than a minute into the game, David Krejci put Boston on the board first by scoring his seventh goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Nathan Horton and Marchand. A great extended shift by Marchand led to the opening for Krejci to shoot the puck.
There was tight play from all four lines in the opening twenty minutes that kept the Coyotes off their game. The only mental breakdown for the Bruins occurred when Ray Whitney skated right past Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk to put the puck past Rask to tie the game. Basically a gimme goal since there was no man power down the center of the ice.
Adam McQuaid put a beating on Raffi Torres after he laid a high elbow to the face of Andrew Ference. McQuaid did receive an instigator penalty and ten minute misconduct, but he left the power forward with a bloody eye and that is something Bruins fans were hoping for. Keep in mind that Torres is a former Vancouver Canuck. Zing.
Anyway, back to the game. Both teams started to experience problems with the ice. Players started to slip and they had a difficult time trying to make accurate passes. Boston and Phoenix battled the sloppy ice to deliver a hard-fought period of hockey.
The only power play of the game belonged to the Coyotes in the second period but Rask and Chara made great plays to keep the puck out of the net. Boychuk skated off the ice in pain during the period after getting hit in the lower body with a slap shot. He did not miss any ice time after the hit, showing no sign of an immediate injury.
After a scoreless third period, both teams headed into overtime with a goal each. The Bruins were lucky to even get to overtime since the Coyotes put heavy pressure on the B's in the closing two minutes of regulation. Rask again came up with some big stops. He finished the game with 21 saves.
Just 58 seconds into the overtime period, Dennis Seidenberg scored on a shot from the top of the point. It deflected off of the stick of Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris and into the goal. Benoit Pouliot and Chris Kelly had the assists. The Bruins won their seventh game in a row by defeating the Coyotes 2-1.
Their next game will be this Saturday night against the Dallas Stars.
Gold Star: Dennis Seidenberg (1 goal, plus-2 rating, 3 shots on goal)...He was on the ice for both goals and he was solid defending the blue line.
Black Star: Gregory Campbell...Although it was a sloppy game, he was not aggressive enough and he was pushed around rather easily in this game.
Breaks can cause someone like myself to get restless about when I can blog again. Besides Brad Marchand receiving the honor of the NHL's First Star of the Week following his three goal, five point performance last Friday night, not much to discuss or write about as a member of the media. It is frustrating sometimes but it happens. Enough about me.
Back to the point of teams riding streaks. The Bruins resumed their schedule Wednesday night after having the last three days off. They took on the Phoenix Coyotes for the first time since the two-game series that opened up the 2010-2011 season over in Prague.
Boston had a six-game win streak coming into the game. Bruins head coach Claude Julien elected to continue riding another streak by starting Tuukka Rask in goal. Rask has posted back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts.
Rich Peverley did not play in this game in order to rest up a lingering injury. He was replaced by Zach Hamill. Jordan Caron was sent back down to Providence (AHL), signifying that the organization sees Hamill as a better fit for this team than Caron.
Judging from what we witnessed in the opening period, one would never have thought that the B's had an extended break. Less than a minute into the game, David Krejci put Boston on the board first by scoring his seventh goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Nathan Horton and Marchand. A great extended shift by Marchand led to the opening for Krejci to shoot the puck.
There was tight play from all four lines in the opening twenty minutes that kept the Coyotes off their game. The only mental breakdown for the Bruins occurred when Ray Whitney skated right past Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk to put the puck past Rask to tie the game. Basically a gimme goal since there was no man power down the center of the ice.
Adam McQuaid put a beating on Raffi Torres after he laid a high elbow to the face of Andrew Ference. McQuaid did receive an instigator penalty and ten minute misconduct, but he left the power forward with a bloody eye and that is something Bruins fans were hoping for. Keep in mind that Torres is a former Vancouver Canuck. Zing.
Anyway, back to the game. Both teams started to experience problems with the ice. Players started to slip and they had a difficult time trying to make accurate passes. Boston and Phoenix battled the sloppy ice to deliver a hard-fought period of hockey.
The only power play of the game belonged to the Coyotes in the second period but Rask and Chara made great plays to keep the puck out of the net. Boychuk skated off the ice in pain during the period after getting hit in the lower body with a slap shot. He did not miss any ice time after the hit, showing no sign of an immediate injury.
After a scoreless third period, both teams headed into overtime with a goal each. The Bruins were lucky to even get to overtime since the Coyotes put heavy pressure on the B's in the closing two minutes of regulation. Rask again came up with some big stops. He finished the game with 21 saves.
Just 58 seconds into the overtime period, Dennis Seidenberg scored on a shot from the top of the point. It deflected off of the stick of Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris and into the goal. Benoit Pouliot and Chris Kelly had the assists. The Bruins won their seventh game in a row by defeating the Coyotes 2-1.
Their next game will be this Saturday night against the Dallas Stars.
Gold Star: Dennis Seidenberg (1 goal, plus-2 rating, 3 shots on goal)...He was on the ice for both goals and he was solid defending the blue line.
Black Star: Gregory Campbell...Although it was a sloppy game, he was not aggressive enough and he was pushed around rather easily in this game.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Game Thirty Three: Career Night For Marchand
Remember the last time that the Bruins faced off against the Florida Panthers on December 8th? Boston dominated the entire game but eventually fell 2-0 after Florida put in two late goals. They needed to jump down their throats early against the Southeast Division leading Panthers on Friday night if they wanted to avoid what happened last time.
Well, no one can say that they did not do that in this game.
The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. All four goals occurred on plays that were not on a regulation five-on-five play. Brad Marchand recorded a short-handed goal and Milan Lucic scored on the power play. Benoit Pouliot and Dennis Seidenberg scored when both teams skated four-on-four.
The goal scored by Pouliot could be one of the best goals that he has scored in his young career. He pulled off a slick front pass through his legs and slid the puck past Panthers goaltender Jose Theodore. It should be an early candidate for Goal Of The Year. Theodore was eventually pulled for Scott Clemmensen.
Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves for his usual bout with Krys Barch. The fight sparked the Bruins to score two of their first period goals in a 31 second span.
Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron each added a goal in the second period. Bergeron's goal was a power play goal and it was the second power play goal of the game for the B's. He also finished the game with two assists. Marchand added two more goals in the third period to complete his first career hat trick.
The speed of the game was very fast. The puck was constantly moving and the hits occurred often. The familiarity of these two teams seemed to be evident because the Bruins had control of the game from the opening face-off. The Panthers could not even get the puck into the B's zone when they had power play opportunities.
Tuukka Rask stopped all 30 shots en route to his 10th career shutout. Boston takes this game by a final score of 8-0.
The Bruins head on their Christmas break by posting a record of 22-1 in their last 23 games. They will resume their season on the 28th of December when they travel to Phoenix to take on the Coyotes.
Gold Star: Brad Marchand (3 goals, 2 assists, plus-five rating).
Black Star: Daniel Paille...The Bruins only had to kill off two penalties in this game, thus limiting the ice time of Paille.
Well, no one can say that they did not do that in this game.
The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. All four goals occurred on plays that were not on a regulation five-on-five play. Brad Marchand recorded a short-handed goal and Milan Lucic scored on the power play. Benoit Pouliot and Dennis Seidenberg scored when both teams skated four-on-four.
The goal scored by Pouliot could be one of the best goals that he has scored in his young career. He pulled off a slick front pass through his legs and slid the puck past Panthers goaltender Jose Theodore. It should be an early candidate for Goal Of The Year. Theodore was eventually pulled for Scott Clemmensen.
Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves for his usual bout with Krys Barch. The fight sparked the Bruins to score two of their first period goals in a 31 second span.
Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron each added a goal in the second period. Bergeron's goal was a power play goal and it was the second power play goal of the game for the B's. He also finished the game with two assists. Marchand added two more goals in the third period to complete his first career hat trick.
The speed of the game was very fast. The puck was constantly moving and the hits occurred often. The familiarity of these two teams seemed to be evident because the Bruins had control of the game from the opening face-off. The Panthers could not even get the puck into the B's zone when they had power play opportunities.
Tuukka Rask stopped all 30 shots en route to his 10th career shutout. Boston takes this game by a final score of 8-0.
The Bruins head on their Christmas break by posting a record of 22-1 in their last 23 games. They will resume their season on the 28th of December when they travel to Phoenix to take on the Coyotes.
Gold Star: Brad Marchand (3 goals, 2 assists, plus-five rating).
Black Star: Daniel Paille...The Bruins only had to kill off two penalties in this game, thus limiting the ice time of Paille.
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