Game Forty Four: B's Contiune Dominance of Atlantic Division

The Bruins capped off their four-game road trip on Thursday night when they took on the New Jersey Devils. Boston had won their previous two meetings with the Devils coming into this game.

For the first time in almost a week, the Bruins lineup returned to full strength as both Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley skated in this game. Marchand was suspended five games for his hit on Canucks defenseman Sami Salo and Peverley missed the last two games for personal reasons.

The team sure has missed their speed. These two players usually provide that injection of energy all game long. They needed it for this contest against New Jersey who sits in third place in the Atlantic Division. Boston has had success against Atlantic Division teams this season, winning six straight. The last time they lost to an Atlantic Division team was opening night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

We saw a fast-paced opening period between the two teams. Nathan Horton almost beat Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur on three separate occasions. However, it was New Jersey who ended up scoring first when Petr Sykora wrapped the puck around the net and shot it past Tim Thomas.

After a scoreless second period that was dominated by the Devils, Boston looked to get off to a good start in the final 20 minutes. That certainly was the case since the B's scored three goals within the first eight minutes. Horton, Andrew Ference, and Gregory Campbell had the tallies. Campbell finished the game with the Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist, and a fighting major).

The Devils seemed to just give up on this game as it progressed. They kept turning the puck over to the Bruins allowing them to get more scoring chances. Chris Kelly added an empty-net goal to seal a 4-1 Bruins victory. Thomas made 30 saves on 31 shots.

Boston will return home for their next game on Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers.

Gold Star: Gregory Campbell...A breakout game for the fourth-line center recording the Gordie Howe hat trick.

Black Star: Brad Marchand...He was clearly a little rusty in this one but give him some time and we should see him back to form soon.

Game Forty Three: Bruins Drop Game In Tampa

After coming off a shootout victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday night, the Bruins traveled a little further upstate to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was the second meeting between the two teams this season.

What is going on with the Bolts? Prior to Tuesday's game with the B's, Tampa was in last place in the Eastern Conference. They do have Steven Stamkos who leads the league in goals. However, they have the worst goals against average in the league, allowing 3.5 goals a game.

Across the sheet, Boston has been struggling even though their record does not show it. They really have not been clicking for the past few games now. Specifically, Bruins head coach Claude Julien called out Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic for not picking up their games lately. Would this turn out to be motivation or demoralizing?

Tim Thomas was back in net for Boston. Rich Peverley missed his second consecutive game due to a personal matter. He will likely miss the next two games as well. Zach Hamill and Jordan Caron skated with Chris Kelly once again.

Boston had a terrible opening period. The offense only got most of their shots when they had two power plays and the defense was straight up awful. The poor play was evident in the way that they allowed Tampa Bay to score the only goal of the period. Vincent Lecavalier tapped in the puck past Thomas after three Bruins players failed to clear it out of the crease.

The Lightning continued their momentum into the second period as they started off with a power play. Once the Bruins killed it off, the momentum started to shift. Horton scored two goals in the period. Looks like the words of Julien motivated him after all. The B's, however, had a mental lapse that turned into a Tampa Bay goal. Tom Pyatt put the puck past Thomas after a turnover by Boston.

The Lightning proved to be too much for the Bruins as they went on to score three goals in the final 20 minutes. Ryan Malone, Dominic Moore, and Stamkos (empty net) recorded the tallies for the Bolts. Daniel Paille had a short-handed goal for Boston but it was not enough. The Bruins dropped this game by a score of 5-3.

Tampa Bay snapped their seven-game losing streak at the expense of the Bruins. Also, the B's suffered their first loss of the season when Andrew Ference records a point as he had an assist on Horton's second goal.

The Bruins will be back in action Thursday night when they take on the New Jersey Devils.

Gold Star: Nathan Horton...All he really needs is a boost of confidence for him to get his game going again.

Black Star: Joe Corvo...He was trying to do too much by chasing the puck around and causing turnovers. Can we please see Steven Kampfer play?

Game Forty Two: B's Avoid Losing Two In A Row

The Bruins took on the Florida Panthers on Monday night for their second game of a four-game road trip. This was also the first of six games that the B's will play in a nine night span.

The Panthers have been struggling recently, surrendering their once commanding lead over the Southeast Division. They now only own a one point lead over the surging Washington Capitals.

As for Boston, they skated without Rich Peverley in this game due to a personal issue. As a result, Chris Kelly was paired up with Jordan Caron and Zach Hamill. It was good to see young players like Caron and Hamill get an opportunity to skate with a veteran like Kelly even though B's head coach Claude Julien mixed up the lines a little bit as the game went on.

The Bruins really came out strong in the opening period as they established their presence in all three zones of the ice. Even though Boston only got six shots on Panthers goaltender Scott Clemmensen, they still controlled much of the possession. The switching of the defensive pairs contributed to it as well.

Patrice Bergeron scored his 13th goal of the season at 1:20 of the period on a great shot from the top of the zone. Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Seguin had the assists. Daniel Paille got into his second career fight with Ed Jovanovski after he hit Paille with an incidental elbow. Tuukka Rask was great in the first period, stopping all 12 shots he faced.

Florida picked up the pace and scored two goals in the second period. The first goal was scored by Jason Garrison, who shot the puck and it deflected in off of Dennis Seidenberg. Shawn Matthias scored the second goal when he skated out of the penalty box and beat Rask on the breakaway. Bergeron netted his second goal of the game (a five-on-three power play goal) in between the two Florida goals.

It seemed as if the B's defense broke down as the game went on. On the other hand, the forwards put heavy pressure on the Panthers defense, Seguin in particular. His speed was a problem for the Panthers all night.

In the third period, all four lines were clicking for Boston. They all played very physical and they had several chances to put the game away. Rask made some good saves down the stretch as he finished the game with 38 of them. The score was tied at two at the end of sixty minutes.

Both teams headed to a shootout after no winner was decided in the five minute overtime. Even though his 11 game point streak came to an end in this game, David Krejci had the game-winning shootout goal in the fourth round. Boston sealed the victory with a 3-2 shootout victory. They are now 5-0-1 in games that go beyond regulation this season.

The Bruins will be back on the ice Tuesday night when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Gold Star: Patrice Bergeron (2 goals, plus-1 rating, 6 shots on goal)...Do you think he was a little upset about not being named to the All-Star game?

Black Star: Andrew Ference...He committed too much in the offensive zone, which turned into fast breakaways by the Panthers.

Game Forty One: Marchand's Absence Shows In B's Loss

The Bruins kicked off a four-game road trip on Saturday when they traveled to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes. This was game three of Brad Marchand's five game suspension. Coming into the game, Carolina was one point ahead of the last place New York Islanders whereas Boston was one point back of the first place New York Rangers. You can say that is an Eastern Conference mismatch.

When these two teams get together, it is anything but a mismatch. The last time the Bruins faced the Canes was during that stretch when they went 3-7-0 in the first month of the season. Boston lost their cool and took some ridiculous penalties that pretty much forfeited their shot to win the game. What have they done since then? They have gone 25-4-1. Not too bad right?

Two veteran goaltenders shined in this game as Tim Thomas opposed Cam Ward. Zach Hamill and Steven Kampfer were the scratches for Boston.

Even though the opening period was scoreless, the Bruins seemed to control the puck slightly more than the Hurricanes. Ever since the game against the Canucks, the Bruins seemed to have lost their edge. They shook that off a bit in the opening period, yet they did not really have a great scoring chance against Ward.

The B's finally broke through in the second period on a goal by Patrice Bergeron. Johnny Boychuk blasted a shot on goal that was saved by Ward but it produced a rebound for Bergeron to tap in. Carolina tied the game at the midway point of the period when Patrick Dwyer deflected a shot by Brandon Sutter past Thomas.

The Hurricanes put heavy pressure on Boston and there were times when they could not even leave their own defensive zone without turning the puck over. If it was not for Thomas coming up with some huge stops, the score would not have been tied.

Milan Lucic put the Bruins back on top less than two minutes into the third period. David Krejci had an assist on the goal, extending his point streak to 11 games. The rest of the game belonged to the Canes. They scored three unanswered goals (one of them being an empty net goal) and Ward made some great stops to shut down the Bruins. Carolina gets the victory in this game with a score of 4-2.

The B's will continue their East Coast road trip on Monday night when they skate against the Florida Panthers.

Gold Star: Patrice Bergeron (1 goal, 4 shots on goal, 61.1% face-offs won)...He was snubbed from the NHL All-Star Game for the second straight year. Look for him to have a big week to get some retribution.

Black Star: Rich Peverley...His speed was a non-factor in this game, which was surprising to see.

Game Forty: Bruins Lucky To Escape Wtih Win Over Habs

The Bruins knocked off the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night at the TD Garden by a score of 2-1. Jordan Caron and Milan Lucic had the goals for the Bruins. Tim Thomas made 33 saves on 34 shots. David Krejci extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist on Lucic's goal.

Caron was called back up from Providence earlier Thursday morning as he was expected to get the start. Zach Hamill was a healthy scratch along with Steven Kampfer.

Neither team deserved to win this game to be completely honest. I have never seen a Bruins team play as sloppy as they did against Montreal on Thursday night. On Caron's goal, the puck took a weird bounce off the boards and bounced in front of Caron. Since Habs goaltender Carey Price vacated the net in anticipation to grab the puck, Caron essentially had an empty net.

Both teams turned the puck over in their own defensive zone and there was no real established winner in the neutral zone all game.

Yannick Weber scored the lone Montreal goal on the power play. It was assisted by Tomas Kaberle and David Desharnais. Montreal initially went on the power play when Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban elbowed Krejci right in the face, causing Andrew Ference to respond. Ference got whistled for a double roughing minor while Subban covered his head and fell to the ground. Typical.

During the game, Mike Cammalleri got traded from Montreal to the Calgary Flames. He was escorted from the locker room during the second intermission to a local Boston hotel. This comes just days after Cammalleri told the media that the team was "playing like a bunch of losers." It looks like the kettle is calling the pot black.

A very sloppy game that Boston was fortunate enough to win. The B's will be back in action on Saturday when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes.

Gold Star: Johnny Boychuk (1 assist, plus-2 rating, 3 hits)...He was the only defenseman who did not have a sloppy game. Solid effort.

Black Star: Adam McQuaid...The puck seemed to skip around on him in this game. He also was not very dominant in the defensive zone.

Game Thirty Nine: No Marchand? No Worries

After a controversial loss on Saturday afternoon to the Vancouver Canucks, a team that is turning into their new rivals north of the boarder, the Bruins were back in action Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. Boston took this game by a score of 5-3.

Tuukka Rask got the start in goal for Boston. Rask has now won his last six decisions with shutouts in three of his last five. He opposed Ondrej Pavelec, who is still winless playing at the TD Garden.

The opening period consisted of both teams exchanging scoring chances. There were times when the two teams got caught too far up ice and that led to breakaways. Boston definitely had the better chances but they just failed to capitalize on them.

The Jets took the lead at 16:53 of the first period on a shot from Zach Bogosian and deflected in by Andrew Ladd. Nathan Horton netted his 13^th goal of the season to tie the game with less than a minute remaining in the period. Milan Lucic and David Krejci had the assists. With the assist, Krejci extended his point streak to nine games.

The Jets nabbed two more goals in the second period. Blake Wheeler and Eric Fehr had the tallies. Bogosian and Tobias Enstrom each finished with two assists for Winnipeg.

Shawn Thornton had a very eventful period as he had a goal and a fight. As he was skating out of the penalty box at the end of a 5-on-3 power play for Winnipeg, he grabbed the puck and pursued the goal but was held along the way. That set up a short-handed penalty shot and he back-handed it past Pavelec. He later dropped the gloves with former Bruin Mark Stuart.

Rask stopped a penalty shot taken by Jets forward Chris Thorburn earlier in the game. This marked the first time in Bruins history that the team had both faced and taken a penalty shot in the same game.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien started to mix up the lines a bit from the second period on. He bumped up Gregory Campbell to the third line and stuck Zack Hamill on the fourth line. The move seemed to work since the B’s started to find their rhythm that created more scoring chances.

The Bruins came out firing in the third period. Horton scored his second goal of the game just eight seconds from the drop of the puck. Once again, Krejci and Lucic had the assists.

Boston dominated the entire period as they made it difficult for Winnipeg to leave their own zone. Tyler Seguin and Benoit Pouliot each added a goal in the period. Seguin’s goal was his first ever point against the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise. Four Bruins players finished the game with two points each.

Solid performances in all three zones and good goaltending down the stretch by Rask contributed to the win. It may have taken until the final period to get it done, but that has been the story of the season so far for Boston.

The B’s will be back in action Thursday night when they welcome in the Montreal Canadiens.

Gold Star: Nathan Horton...He really seems to be feeling it now as he puts his slow start to the season behind him.

Black Star: Joe Corvo...A costly turnover and no production on the power play. It seems to be a recurring thing with him lately.

Marchand Suspended For Five Games

Bruins forward Brad Marchand had his phone hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan early Monday afternoon in regards to his clip on Vancouver Canucks defenseman Sami Salo. After a lengthy waiting period, the Bruins were informed that Marchand will be suspended for five games.

Marchand has developed a reputation as a player who plays right along that line without crossing over. After Saturday's loss to Vancouver, he may have crossed that line. He will lose over $152,000 in game checks from the absence.

The hit took place with around one minute left in the second period. Marchand and Salo had been jousting and shoving each other earlier in the shift. As the puck was wrapped around the boards, both players skated after it and Marchand went low with a clip. A five minute major and a game misconduct was issued. The Canucks went on to score two goals during the five minute power play en route to their 4-3 victory over the B's.

As far as the hit is concerned, it was a horrible hit. There was no need for him to go after Salo's legs the way he did. Some would argue that the two players were getting into it earlier in the shift and Marchand thought Salo was going to come head hunting for him. However, if you watch the replay you will notice that Salo had his eyes directly on the puck, not Marchand. Salo allegedly received a concussion on the play.

Should he have been suspended for the hit? Absolutely. Is five games too much? Possibly. Shanahan took into account that Marchand is a repeat offender. Earlier this season, he was fined $2,500 for slew-footing Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen. He was also suspended two games last season for elbowing Columbus Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger.

Since it was a phone hearing, the suspension could not have exceeded five games anyway.

No one should pay attention to what the Vancouver staff and players are saying about Marchand because they are a bunch of hypocrites. But the kid has to learn. If a player from another team clipped a member of the Bruins, we all would be outraged. It is not right for someone to throw a hit like that no matter what team they play for.

The Bruins have to put this behind them. In fact, they are probably the only team that can do that due to their great depth. Boston will be back in action Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. Marchand is eligible to return from his suspension on January 19th when the B's play the New Jersey Devils.