Krejci's Hat Trick Including Overtime Winner Propels Bruins Over Devils

If tonight was indeed a playoff preview-which it would be if the postseason started today-the Boston Bruins are in for another special journey.

The B's (38-21-3) got out to an instantaneous 2-0 lead on the New Jersey Devils (35-25-3) at TD Garden but had to rally to tie it at three in the third period. After months of underachieving, David Krejci notched his second career hat trick including the overtime game winner as Boston escaped with a scintillating 4-3 win.

With that, Boston swept the season series (4-0) against New Jersey but don't be surprised if these two teams see each other again in April.

In desperate need of some offense and a fast start, Bruins head coach Claude Julien shook up the forward lines and it paid immediate dividends. Krejci scored 1:13 into the game on a one-timer after a great feed from new linemate Tyler Seguin.

Shawn Thornton and Eric Boulton fought less than a minute later in one of the longest bouts that you'll see all season. NESN's Jack Edwards gleefully compared it to Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots and that wasn't too far off.

At 8:10, that line produced another goal as this time Milan Lucic (2 assists) fought through a check along the boards and was able to center it to Seguin (21st goal of the season) who did the rest. Tim Thomas also assisted on Seguin's goal (his first in 10 games) which was followed by a New Jersey timeout.

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur (21 saves) actually kept his team in it during the first as he made three grade A stops which kept it at a two-goal deficit. Krejci was sprung on a short-handed breakaway but Brodeur rolled over and deflected it away blindly with his glove.

New Jersey blitzed Tim Thomas (28 saves; 27-13-0) with three goals in the second period. After the now customary Joe Corvo giveaway (somewhere Dennis Wideman and Tomas Kaberle smile), Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise skated in on a 2-on-1. Kovalchuk fed Parise for his 24th of the season at 6:27. Now that the Bruins have Mike Mottau (scratched tonight) and Greg Zanon (who made his Bruins debut), it's time to make Corvo a healthy scratch. He seems to get worse by the game.

Patrik Elias (20th of the season) tied it up less than eight minutes later as Petr Sykora's shot bounced off Dennis Seidenberg's skate in front of the net and right to Elias. Amazingly, it is Elias' 11th season of 20+ goals. Impressive stuff.

David Clarkson (25th of the season) put the Devils up 3-2 at 17:46 thanks to a nice individual effort. He wheeled around from behind the Bruins' net and was able to stuff it past Thomas. In that case, Thomas needs to hug the post and make that save.

Krejci tied it at three with a crazy goal at 5:30 into the third. It deflected off a Devils player in the air to Lucic's stick. He passed it to Krejci but it was in the air as well so it hit him in the chest. Showing off his incredible hands, he was able to settle it down and slide it in. Amazing. Zdeno Chara had the other assist.

Krejci's deciding tally (16th of the season) was a one-timer 2:59 into overtime. Chara had the main assist with Patrice Bergeron recording the other one. Brodeur got a piece of it but the puck still managed to trickle over the line. Good enough for me.

This was a very nice win but it won't mean much if the B's fail to capitalize on the momentum the next time out: Saturday afternoon against the Islanders. It was back in November when Boston met New York twice in less than two weeks and they rolled (6-2, 6-0) both times. The Islanders have been playing a little better lately but they're still one of the most miserable franchises in the NHL. After Saturday afternoon's tilt, they also close out March with another matinee on March 31 in Long Island. That should be an easy four points.

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Saying Goodbye To Jason Varitek

When I read the other day that Jason Varitek was going to retire from the Boston Red Sox, I thought good riddance. However, after letting the last few pointless seasons wash away, the guy deserves plenty of credit for what was a superb career (up until 2007).

A three-time All-Star (2003, 2005, 2008), Gold Glover (2005) and Silver Slugger (2005) that was a two-time World Series champion (2004, 2007), Varitek also caught four no-hitters (Nomo, Lowe, Buchholz, Lester) during his 15-year career in Boston. His retirement ceremony is set for tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Red Sox' new spring training home.

Since he was relegated to a backup catcher duty the last two years, his skills basically went off a cliff. Varitek didn't want to go out like this but nobody is really looking for 39-year-old catchers with a million miles on their bodies.

The best things you could say about him were that he was a winner basically his entire life. From the Little League World Series, a No. 1 ranking for his high school team, the College World Series, Olympics, World Series and World Baseball Classic, he played in basically every possible highest level baseball game.

His acumen for calling games and taking care of his pitchers was legendary and that's a huge part of what transformed the Red Sox from a complete joke to one of baseball's best franchises from 2003-08.

Varitek was traded to Boston during the 1997 trade deadline in one of the most lopsided moves in team history: he came to the Red Sox with Derek Lowe in return for erratic reliever Heathcliff Slocumb.

People tend to forget that for a three-year stretch (2003-05) when the Red Sox made the playoff each seasons, Varitek was also one of the best offensive catchers in MLB. In 2003, he hit .273 with 25 homers and 85 RBIs. In 2004, he hit a career-high .296 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs. Then in 2005, he hit .281 with 22 homers and 70 RBIs.

For his career, he had 1307 hits, 664 runs, 306 doubles, 193 homers, 757 RBIs with .256 batting average, .341 OBP and .435 SLG.

I'm not going to mention his phony captaincy role that was appointed by the Red Sox front office. That was a joke and a marketing ploy to entice pink hats and other fairweather fans to buy some merchandise. Truth be told, I had a red Varitek t-shirt with a C on it (that I got rid of last year).

Tim Wakefield retired a few weeks ago and David Ortiz is now the last member left of the 2004 team that broke the 86-year "curse." It's time for the next generation of Red Sox stars (Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester) to further solidify their legacies. Varitek had a great run in Boston and Red Sox fans will always look back fondly to his playing days.

The enduring image of him will always be when he punched A-Rod in the face during the Red Sox-Yankees brawl in 2004. My favorite Varitek memories besides that will always be the last out of the 2004 World Series against the Cardinals and the 2007 World Series against the Rockies. Both ended with Varitek jumping in the pitcher's (Keith Foulke and Jonathan Papelbon) arms.

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Celtics Back To .500 After Second Win In As Many Nights

I've been negative for much of the 2011-12 season but this evening was a time to be happy about the Boston Celtics.

The Celts (17-17) got back to the .500 mark and won their second game in as many nights by holding off the Milwaukee Bucks (14-21) 102-96 at TD Garden.

You know I love statistics and there were some tasty ones from this win. Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds. His second solid performance, showing that the All-Star break did plenty of good for his old body. Last night, Rajon Rondo went scoreless but had 11 assists. Tonight, he notched his third triple-double of the season with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Finally, it was the seventh time that Boston has scored 100+ points, they are 4-3 in those games.

What the Bucks lack in talent, they make up for in effort which sounds cheesy but not when you think of all the lazy teams in the NBA. If they can ever keep Andrew Bogut healthy, they could be pretty decent. Ersan Ilyasova (25 points, 10 rebounds) is playing the best basketball of his life while Drew Gooden had 23 points and eight rebounds. Mike Dunleavy added 10 points off the bench. Milwaukee won't win many games that Brandon Jennings is held to six points and eight assists.

After an even first quarter (25-25), the Bucks led 54-50 at halftime before the Celtics turned it around in the third quarter (27-13). Boston looked poised for a rare blowout win since they got up 90-73 in the fourth but they had to sweat it out as Milwaukee cut it to 98-96 with 24 seconds left. KG hit all four free throws as the Celts held on for the second game in a row (something they couldn't do in the first half of this season).

Boston will look to make it three consecutive wins as the New Jersey Nets come to the Garden on Friday night. The Celts beat them 89-70 on January 4 but that was without Brook Lopez who just returned to the lineup.

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Celtics Finally Win On The Road & Snap A 5-Game Losing Streak In The Process

It wasn't pretty but what else would you expect for the Boston Celtics in 2011-12?

They finally snapped their five-game losing streak and won their first road game in nearly a month as the C's (16-17) held on for a 86-83 win over the Cavaliers (13-19) at Quicken Loans Arena.

Anthony Parker had a chance to send it to overtime but his 3-pointer at the buzzer hit the front rim. Let's be honest, I'll take my chances with Parker (the second best basketball player in his family) any day.

Boston has to be happy to say goodbye to Cleveland (who isn't?) since the three games they played this season were decided by a total of seven points. The Celts were lucky enough to go 2-1 against the up and coming Cavs with the one loss being a game they totally gagged away at the Garden.

The first game after the All-Star break and official halfway mark of the season (33) was a success for Boston who saw the return of Brandon Bass (injury) and Rajon Rondo (suspension). With zombie Jermaine O'Neal the only Celtic out, Bass started and put up his usual 12 points and seven rebounds. Rondo was held scoreless (can't remember the last time that happened) but he managed to hand out 11 assists.

It was a good team win for Boston as nearly everybody that stepped on the court made a contribution. Ray Allen led the Celts with 22 points, Kevin Garnett had 18 points and eight rebounds while Paul Pierce slogged through a tough shooting night (4 of 11) to get 12 points and six assists.

Mickael Pietrus (9 points) and Chris Wilcox (5 points, 11 rebounds) were both excellent off Boston's bench as well.

Is it too early to hand in my ballot for rookie of the year? What's that, bloggers like me don't get to vote? Kyrie Irving (24 points in 27 minutes) is a stud and he's going to put the Cavaliers back on the NBA map soon. He's only 19 and played a handful of games at Duke but he has a polished all-around game. It's too bad he's surrounded by a bunch of stiffs, albeit hardworking ones.

Omri Casspi was the only other Cav starter in double figures with 10 points. Rookie Tristan Thompson (13 points, 10 rebounds) and backup point guard Ramon Sessions (13 points) played well off the bench for Cleveland.

Boston actually started fast (for once) to start and even jumped out to a 16-point lead (28-12) before Cleveland started to wake up, trailing 28-15 after the first quarter. The Celtics led 43-38 at halftime but the Cavs went up 66-64 heading into the fourth.

The three reasons the Celts won: they shot better (44.6% to 39.7%), they hit more 3-pointers (10-4) and they were unselfish (27-18 assists).

Boston will try to get back to .500 tomorrow night as they host the Milwaukee Bucks, who also played tonight (winning 119-118 vs. the Wizards in Milwaukee). The Bucks (14-20) aren't good but neither are the Celtics so expect it to be a close one.

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It's Tough To Win Hockey Games When You Don't Score Any Goals

I suppose with the law of the averages, the Ottawa Senators were bound to beat the Boston Bruins at some point.

After losing the first four times they played in 2011-12 (including on Saturday in Ottawa), the Senators (34-23-8) came to TD Garden tonight and blanked the Bruins (37-21-3) 1-0 to pull within one point of the Black and Gold for first place in the Northeast Division.

These seem to be two teams headed in opposite directions: the Bruins have lost four of six while the Senators have won six of their last seven. This was the fourth time in the last 10 games that the B's were shut out.

The good news for the B's is that they have four games in hand compared to the Senators. Plus, they can turn the calendar to March before their next game which is a must since they were shut out five times in the year's shortest month. It's no surprise then that Boston still hasn't won consecutive games since mid-January.

The best offensive defenseman in the NHL, Eric Karlsson, provided the game-winner with a power-play strike at 14:44 of the first period. Karlsson's 15th of the season was assisted by Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (37 saves; 26-13-0) was outstanding but he had no chance on the goal since he was screened by multiple players from both teams including Daniel Alfredsson who was right in front of him when Karlsson blasted it from the point.

Ottawa goaltender Robin Lehner (32 saves), recently called up from the AHL, recorded his first NHL shutout. He made some nice stops but truth be told, the B's didn't have many quality chances. Boston's power-play continued to be a mess, going 0 for 4.

New Bruins Brian Rolston and Mike Mottau made their debuts but neither had much of an impact. Greg Zanon was in the press box but he will see plenty of ice time on Thursday when Boston hosts New Jersey. The Bruins are 3-0 so far this season against the Devils (14-5 goal differential) but I'll be careful making any predictions since I learned my lesson with what turned out to be a reverse lock this evening.

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The Boston Bruins Make Two Trades Right Before The 2012 NHL Trade Deadline

Just like last season, the Boston Bruins swooped in at the last second to make two minor moves before the NHL trade deadline ended at 3 p.m. ET this afternoon. Let's hope that today's deals can have an impact like last season's (Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly) and the same end result: another Stanley Cup in June for the Black and Gold.

The B's acquired forward Brian Rolston and defenseman Mike Mottau from the New York Islanders in exchange for prospects Yannick Riendeau and Marc Cantin (neither of whom I'd ever heard of).

In the other trade, the Bruins dealt defenseman Steven Kampfer to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman Greg Zanon.

Non-Pink Hat Bruins fans will remember Rolston fondly. He previously played in Boston from 1999-2004 (338 games) and he has scored 20+ goals seven times in his career. At 39-years-old and in his 17th NHL season, he is quite long in the tooth but he can still skate (always one of his biggest assets) and he's an excellent penalty killer capable of playing all three forward positions.

A native of Flint, Michigan, Rolston has played in 1235 NHL games on five teams (Devils, Avalanche, Bruins, Wild, Islanders). In his career, he's totaled 339 goals and 407 assists with his best season coming in 2005-06 with the Wild: 34 goals, 45 assists (both career-highs). Good piece of trivia: he was part of the Ray Bourque deal to Colorado with Rolston going the other way-to Boston.

With Peverley out with a knee injury, I think you can count on Rolston basically taking his spot. He provides veteran leadership and experience plus he won a Cup with the Devils back in 1995. This year, he has four goals and five assists in 49 games on a garbage team.

Mottau is also familiar to hockey fans in New England since he's from Avon, MA (he must be one of the only pro athletes from Avon) and he went to Boston College. He was a stud for the Eagles, winning the Hobey Baker award (top college hockey player) in 2000 under Jerry York.

At 33-years-old, Mottau's pro career never took off like most expected with him bouncing between four teams (Rangers, Flames, Devils, Islanders). He's dealt with concussions and numerous injuries. This season with the Islanders, he had two assists in 29 games (he was activated on Sunday).

Zanon is the possible gem of the bunch, in the Dennis Seidenberg mold of a defensive defenseman. He was second in the NHL last season in blocked shots (212) so he figures to play right away with Johnny Boychuk out with a minor concussion. Both him and Mottau are left-handed shots which is something Boston had coveted for the playoffs when Seidenberg and Zdeno Chara will certainly be reunited. In 432 career games between Minnesota and Nashville, Zanon has 11 goals and 43 assists.

Kampfer was a victim of a number crunch and bad luck as far as injuries go. He showed promise last season but when this one started, he could never get on track (he kept getting hurt) and other guys passed him. He's young, mobile and a good player so hopefully he finds his place for the Wild-a more middle of the pack franchise. If nothing else, the original Bruins tweeter will be missed for his social media aptitude.

To make room for these three new players, who are all expected to suit up tomorrow night as the Bruins host the Ottawa Senators, Boston sent down three players to Providence: defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk and forwards Carter Camper and Max Sauve. Of the three, I thought Bodnarchuk was sent down yesterday and I didn't know Sauve was around. Camper made a nice first impression in a very short first taste of NHL life. He'll be back.

In the NHL as a whole, there were no big trades made. Columbus swapping Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson from Los Angeles last week went down as the biggest move while today was especially slow and tedious. By staying the course and believing in what they've built the last few seasons on Causeway Street, the Bruins have set themselves up for another memorable spring. All three of these new players were very low risk and odds at least one or two of them will fill a hole and prove valuable almost immediately.

UPDATE 2/28: Rolston and Mottau are expected to play tonight for the Bruins vs. Ottawa while Zanon should make his B's debut on Thursday vs. New Jersey.

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Pierce & Rondo Do Little As West Edges East 152-149 In 2012 NBA All-Star Game

For some unknown reason, I thought it would be a good idea to watch Billy Crystal host (for the ninth time) the 2012 Oscars so I can't say that I watched much of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game tonight in Orlando.

I caught bits and pieces which is all that matters in that glorified dunking session. The West beat the East 152-149 and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (36 points) captured the MVP award.

The two Boston Celtics-Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo-came off the bench and didn't have much of an impact. In 16 minutes, Rondo had two points, eight assists, four turnovers and two rebounds. He was 1 of 3 from the floor. Pierce had a brutal shooting performance, which is pretty tough to do when nobody is even thinking of playing defense on you. In 11 minutes, Pierce had three points on 1 for 8 shooting with two rebounds, a block and two turnovers. Me thinks, that might be the Truth's last All-Star game appearance.

Boston will regroup tomorrow in Cleveland before meeting the Cavaliers on Tuesday night in their 33rd game of the 66-game regular season. Brandon Bass and Rondo will return to a team that was on its death bed when we last saw it, in Oklahoma City.

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