Bruins Survive Firefight With Kings (10/12/07)

It was a great night for Boston sports. The Boston Red Sox won Game 1 of their 2007 American League Championship Series with the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Bruins won a high scoring game against the Los Angeles Kings. This one had it all with fights, assists, goals, trash talking officials. Ironically the first period ended 1-1 with goals by Boston's Phil Kessel and LA's Brad Stuart. The second period took off as the Bruins scored three goals in the span of five minutes but the Kings scored the final two of the period. Kessel scored another to open the third period but LA scored the next two to tie the game. The Bruins then scored three straight goals including an empty net one to seemingly put the game away. Just for vanity the Kings scored with 5 seconds left as the Bruins had beaten the Kings 8-6 at the Staples Center.

                                                       Josh Beckett approves of the win

The Kings took the first penalty 6:06 of the first period when Jack Johnson was called for hooking, but the Bruins did nothing on the powerplay. Zdeno Chara got called for hooking 9:24 into the period but the Bruins killed off the penalty. Then it was fight time with 7:13 left in the period when Raitis Ivanans decided to go with Milan Lucic. Ivanans landed more shots but Lucic held his own. Michal Handzus got called for holding with 5:06 and the Kings were in the process of killing it off....but David Krejci found Phil Kessel just as the powerplay ended to put the Bruins up 1-0. Aaron Ward got called for hooking with 92 seconds left in the first period and old friend Brad Stuart scored on Manny Fernandez with 13 seconds left to tie the game heading into intermission 1-1.

The Bruins poured it on in the second period beginning with a too many men penalty on the Kings 3:25 into it. On the ensuing power play, Chara found Marc Savard for a shot that rebounded right to Glen Murray. Murray shot it in for the powerplay goal to make it 2-1. Just under two minutes later, Lucic and Savard found Ward open in the slot for a goal to make it 3-1. Brady Murray got a double minor for high sticking 7:41 into the period and Patrice Bergeron found Savard who passed it to Kessel who scored again. Bergeron went off for hooking with 5:01 left and the Bruins killed it off, but Brady Murray took a loose puck and banged it in with 2:15 left.  Krejci got called for hooking with 1:11 left and Mike Cammalerri fired one off Fernandez with Anze Kopitar putting in the rebound. After the second period it was 4-3 Bruins.

The Bruins didn't waste any time scoring to open the third as Peter Schaefer sent it to Savard who shot on the net but Jonathan Bernier kicked it out. Kessel banged it in for the hat trick and a 5-3 lead 1:27 into the period. The Kings didn't give up as Alex Frolov and Derek Armstrong plowed through Boston's D and passed it to Cammaleri who banged it home at 4:37 into the period. Glen Murray got called for hooking 7:07 into the period and the Kings went on the powerplay. Rob Blake passed it to Kopitar who's shot clanged off the post and in to tie the game 8:19 into the period. Things fell apart for the Kings as Kyle Calder got called for hooking at 9:04 and it took just 38 seconds for Peter Schaefer to grab the puck. He dished it to Glen Murray who faked shooting but passed it to a wide open Savard who banged it home on the powerplay to give Boston the lead back 9:42 into it. With under 5 minutes left in the game, Chara passed it up to Krejci who slid it over to Lucic for his first career goal to essentially ice the game. Kings coach Marc Crawford got a penalty for taunting the officials and the Bruins killed off crucial time on the clock on the powerplay. With less than 90 seconds and the goalie puilled, Savard dished it to PJ Axelsson who passed it to a streaking Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew was pulled down but still put the puck in the net for the empty net goal. Somehow Patrick O'Sullivan scored with 5 seconds left to inch the Kings closer but that was it, the Bruins had won it 8-6.

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That was definitely the most entertaining game of the season but good grief where was the defense? Manny Fernandez was essentially left out to dry a few times by Chara, Marc Stuart, Ward, Dennis Wideman, Andrew Ference and Andrew Alberts. The good news is that offense is going to be deadly by the end of the year. You got 19 year old Lucic, 22 year old Bergeron, 20 year old Kessel and 21 year old Krejci. They also have two prospects, 20 year old Vladimir Sobotka in Providence and 19 year old Brad Marchand who's tearing up Juniors. Chuck Kobasew the BC hero from 2001 is only 25 as well so this is a young, hungry offense.  The additions of Chara and Savard are going to pay off if this young team continues to develop. Lucic getting into a fight and holding his own was also an encouraging sign. With coach Claude Julien's defense first mentality, even on an off night like this, it looks like this could be a fun season. Last year they had talent but wasn't listening to Dave Lewis but Julien seems to have their attention. The Bruins have gone 2-2 on this season opening West Coast trip and it ends tomorrow night in San Jose. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going at the HP Pavillion. 

Bruins Win First Game, Defeat Coyotes (10/6/07)

Less than 24 hours after the Boston Bruins got dumped on Opening Night by the Dallas Stars, they turned the tables to knock off Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes. After Derek Morris got called for hooking, Patrice Bergeron took a dish from Zdeno Chara to score on the powerplay to put the Bruins on top just 7 seconds later. Just 10 seconds after Bergeron scored, Peter Schaefer got called for interference butChuck Kobasew potted the first shorthanded goal of the season to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead right away against Coyoytes goalie Mikael Tellqvist. Niko Kapanen scored with just over 5 minutes left in the second period to cut the lead to 1 but Marco Sturm scored the dagger on the powerplay 9 minutes into the third period. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas was the true star of the game, stopping 36 of 37 shots to give the Bruins their first win of the season 3-1 over the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.

                                                     Milt Schmidt approves of the win

The Bruins struck first in the first period when Derek Morris went to the penalty box for hooking 4:02 into the first period. Just 7 seconds later, Patrice Bergeron used a Glen Murray screen to score on the powerplay to put the Bruins up right away. Just ten seconds after Bergeron scored, Peter Schaefer was called for interference. The Bruins PK stepped up as PJ Axelsson got the puck and passed it to Chuck Kobasew on a 2 on 1 for the B's first shorthanded goal of the season to put the Bruins up 2-0 just 4:47 into the game. Zdeno Chara took a cross-checking penalty just 4 seconds after Schaefer got out of the box but the Bruins defense snuffed out the ensuing power play. With eight minutes left in the first, Thomas robbed Shane Doan point blank to keep the lead intact. The Bruins had a great chance to go up three goals when Mikael Tellqvst left a juicy rebound off a Marco Sturm shot but Glen Murray fired it over the net. Still, the Bruins led 2-0 going into the second period.

The Bruins caught a break less than 2 minutes into the second period when the refs blew the play dead when they lost sight of the puck behind Tim Thomas just inches from the goalline. Kobasew got sent off for interference but Thomas and the defense killed the penalty. Almost as soon as Kobasew was free, Marc Savard was sent off for tripping. The Bruins killed that off as well but not before Mike Zigomanis nearly scored in the waning seconds. With 5:40 left in the second Thomas made a great save to rob old friend Nick Boynton then fell on the puck. The Coyotes finally scored when a Kapanen slapshot bounced off Thomas and in to cut the lead in half at 14:39. That was it for the second period as the Bruins clung to a 2-1 lead.

The Bruins got the first powerplay of the third period when Daniel Carcillo got called for high sticking at 4:39 but they failed to score. Then Ryan Caldwell got called for roughing 7:15 into the period to put the Bruins on another powerplay. In the final seconds, Phil Kessel found David Krejci who passed it to an open Sturm for the one timer goal at 9:14 to put the Bruins up by two. The Coyotes best chance to come back came with just over 4 minutes in the game when Carcillo was in front all alone, but Thomas made the biggest save of the game to keep it a two goal game. With 90 seconds left Shane Doan was robbed point blank and Kapanen failed to bank it in to essentially settle matters. Tim Thomas saved 36 of 37 shots to give Claude Julien is first win as Bruins coach 3-1 over the Coyotes.

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Remember how I said on Opening Night that Julien was a defensive minded coach that was going to greatly improve the defense? Exhibit A of what Julien can do. To be fair, Thomas was the real star by stopping THIRTY SEVEN shots but having Chara, Dennis Wideman, Marc Stuart, Andrew Alberts, Andrew Ference and Aaron Ward stepped up big. They finally did some damage on the powerplay by getting two goals in three powerplays. The shorthanded bid by Axelsson and Kobasew was also brilliant to give the Bruins a nice cushion. Now the Bruins offensively don't have the firepower to match a Pittsburgh Penguins or Dallas Stars but just like the old New Jersey Devils, their defense could be a key this season. David Krejci got his first career assist and point so hats off to him. Obviously it would be unfair to expect Thomas to have too many games like that as a journeyman minor leaguer but any time he can back up Manny Fernandez like that is a good thing. The Bruins west coast trip to open the season continues Wednesday night against the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks. This will be the first real big test of the season to see what the young Bruins can do.

Stars Outshine Bruins on Opening Night (10-5-07)

Woof, not only did the Boston Bruins pick up where they left off last year, they seemed to have gotten worse this season in a lifeless loss to the Dallas Stars on Opening Night. New head coach Claude Julien broke in his young team including rookie Milan Lucic by getting pasted by the Stars. The Stars scored the first three goals of the game with Matt Niskanen assisting on two of them. Patrice Bergeron got the Bruins on the board with his first goal of the season with two minutes left in the second period on the powerplay. That was as close as it got as Segei Zubov slammed home the power play dagger 3:39 into the third to ice the game. The Bruins fell to 0-1 on the season with a 4-1 loss to the Stars at American Airlines Center.

                                                          Opening Night Flop

Things went bad right from the start as Zdeno Chara and Aaron Ward were caught sleeping with 4:41 left in the first period. Niskanen passed it over to Joel Lundqvist who fired it past new Bruins goalie Manny Fernandez to put Dallas on the board. Twenty seconds later Andrew Ference tripped up Niklas Hagman who proceeded to chop Andrew with a high stick to earn a double minor. Unfortunately the Bruins never even got to enjoy a power play as one minute later Marco Sturm was called for slashing to put the Bruins down 4-3. Just as the Bruins got back to full strength, Marc Savard flipped the puck out of bounds for a delay of game penalty. The Bruins went into the break down 1-0 with Savard still in the box.

The Bruins managed to kill off the rest of the penalty but once again their loafing cost them 2:41 into the second period. An errant puck managed to get right through the entire team right to a streaking Hagman who buried it to make it 2-0. Almost immediately after play resumed, new Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton and rookie teenager Milan Lucic jumped Todd Fedoruk and Brad Winchester to earn fighting majors. The Bruins caught a break when Jeff Halpern went off for tripping four minutes into the period but Marty Turco robbed new Bruin Peter Schaefer on their best chance. Things looked bleak when Brendan Morrow took a Zubov past and fired a slapshot past Fernandez 8:49 into the second period. It was almost a 4 goal game but Fernandez robbed Lundqvist point blank. The Bruins got a glimmer of hope when Dallas took a too many men penalty sixteen minutes into the period but Turco robbed Glen Murray on the initial powerplay attempt. Then Savard caught the Dallas defense asleep as he passed it to Schaefer who saw a wide open Patrice Bergeron who scored to cut the lead to two with two minutes left in the period. The score remained 3-1 going into the third and Bruins fans had a bit of hope for a comeback.

That hope was dashed pretty quickly in the third period. Three minutes into the period Thornton was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Sure enough, 3:39 into the third period Morrow fired off a slapshot that went off Zubov's stick and in for the dagger to make it 4-1 Dallas. The final chance the Bruins had was when Phil Kessel found PJ Axelsson streaking only to be robbed by Turco with fifteen minutes left in the third. Fedoruk went off for hooking but the Bruins couldn't capitalize then Stephane Robidas went off for hooking almost as soon as Fedoruk was out of the box. Once again the Bruins couldn't capitalize and the game ended 4-1 Dallas.

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The Stars were one of the three teams in the West to finish with 100 points last season despite losing to the Vancouver Canucks in the first round. Fact is they're far and away better talent wise than the Bruins right now. The key word is right now because the Bruins are a young team. Lucic is only 19 while Bergeron just turned 22. David Krejci is 21 and Kessel is still 20. They have other guys in Providence that are young such as Vladimir Sobotka so they're going to take their lumps this year for sure....but lookout down the road. Getting smashed by Dallas in Dallas is not the way to open the season but its only one game and there's 81 more to go. Like mentioned earlier, the key to the game was getting back in it down 3-1 only to give up the back breaker just 3:39 into the third. Going 1 for 5 on the power play didn't help either. The real downfall of the game is the defense looked like it was standing still on some of the goals by Dallas. Julien is a defensive minded coach so hopefully he can work on that. All in all its not the way you want the season to open but its over now. The Bruins look to bounce back tomorrow night when they travel to Phoenix to take on the hapless Coyotes in Jobing.com Arena.