Bruins force Game 7 with Hurricanes

The Boston Bruins have found their game at just the right time as they once again resemble the top seed in the Eastern Conference that for much of the season looked like the NHL's best team.

The B's won 4-2 last night at Carolina's RBC Center and thus Game 7 will commence tomorrow night at the Garden.

After looking so terrible in Games 3 and 4 in Carolina, Boston quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and they led 4-1 heading into the third.

My grandfather Mark Recchi scored another vital goal, 2:01 into the game to put Boston up 1-0. Patrice Bergeron drove to the right side of the net and dished to Recchi, who tapped it past Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (15 saves). Chuck Kobasew also assisted on the goal.

Steve Montador, who has been awful all series, did something positive for the Bruins as he gave his team a 2-0 lead with a booming slapshot from the point. David Krejci (with a sweet touch pass) and Michael Ryder assisted.

Matt Cullen gave Carolina its only real spark of the game as he cut it to 2-1 early in the second. Scott Walker and Chad LaRose had the helpers.

Boston put it away with two goals in the second: first Milan Lucic looked like Marc Savard as he drove to the net then found Savard with a beautiful feed for a goal. Dennis Wideman also assisted on the goal.

Next, Kobasew finished another great Bergeron feed. Recchi had the second assist.

Sergei Samsonov scored in the third from Eric Staal and Tim Gleason, making it 4-2 Bruins. Carolina was buzzing as they outshot Boston, 14-4 in the period but Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (31 saves) held the fort down as he once again outplayed Ward.

You have to like Boston's chances tomorrow night. After being dead on Friday, they've come back to life and then some. Suddenly, they're the team forcing Carolina mistakes and playing gritty, tough playoff hockey.

Washington and Pittsburgh also face off in a Game 7 tonight as three of the four NHL playoff semifinals have been pushed to the limit.

The Bruins laugh at your impotency

In a total reversal of last season's first round of the playoffs, the Boston Bruins are the much more skilled, deep team while the Montreal Canadiens are left scrambling to do anything in their power to disrupt the B's.

In game two last night at the Garden, Boston put forth a nearly flawless game en route to a 5-1 white-washing of the Canadiens.

Boston takes a 2-0 lead to Montreal tomorrow night, a virtual must-win for the Habs.

It is hilarious to watch the not-tough-at-all Canadiens skate around and try to goad the Bruins into pointless fights. The third period might as well have been skipped in game two since Boston led 5-1 after two periods and Montreal yanked its shaky young goalie Carey Price (who looks like Euro trash).

The Bruins scored three power-play goals and used 30 saves from Tim Thomas to easily skate away with the win. Marc Savard led the way with two goals and two assists.

9:59 into the contest, Savard connected on a power-play with help from Steve Montador and Phil Kessel.

Chuck Kobasew made it 2-0 a little over five minutes later with a goal off assists from Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron.

Montreal has one good line (its first one) and they fucked that up in game one by putting goon Georges Laraque on it with Alex Kovalev and Saku Koivu. Genius. They're forced to play a Flyers-style, chippy game but you can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit as a wise man once said.

They simply can't match the Bruins depth and variety of scoring threats and Price (21 saves) can't keep them in the game by himself.

Kovalev scored his second of the series to open the second period. That was as close as the Canadiens would get as the Bruins put home three goals in less than 15 minutes.

Shane Hnidy, in the lineup after Matt Hunwick had his spleen removed, scored a rare goal from P.J. Axelsson and Savard. On a power-play, Savard fired home a nice wrister from in close on Price. Michael Ryder and Dennis Wideman assisted. Finally, Ryder put the icing on cake as he scored another power-play strike, with two seconds left in the second period. Savard and Thomas, who started the play with a long outlet pass, were credited with the assists.

The third period was all about fights. The biggest surprise of the night was when Patrice Bergeron threw down with Josh Gorges of the Canadiens. Bergeron had never received a fighting major in the NHL and his greenness showed as he puched Gorges in the throat. Still, you had to love the fire from the normally mild-mannered center.

Milan Lucic had also had enough of Montreal's bullshit as he cross-checked Maxim Lapierre in the face, a penalty which earned him a game-misconduct.

Hopefully a good amount of Bruins fans show up in Montreal tomorrow night as Boston tries to put away this woefully overmatched team.

Bruins clinch Northeast Division and playoff spot

A majority of sports fans were transfixed by the NCAA men's basketball tournament yesterday (finding out the last Sweet 16 teams), myself included, but I managed to change channels during CBS' repetitive ads and see much of the Bruins' 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Garden.

I've been especially busy the last few weeks so I haven't blogged at all and I picked a good time since the Celtics and Bruins in particular have been how you say, shitting the bed?

Of course, it's not all doom and gloom since both will be heavyweights in the playoffs, but it's a sign of these teams' championship potential that we expect deep runs, not just simply making it.

The Bruins clinched a playoff spot (the eighth seed) in the second to last regular season game last spring. Yesterday, they secured their first division title in five seasons while also locking up a playoff spot.

The win was especially satisfying for the B's (46-17-10) and its worrisome fans, since the Devils (47-22-3) are the No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference and one of the NHL's hottest teams.

Boston won by playing like it did for much of the season (save for the last month and change): balanced scoring, strong goaltending and physical, smart hockey.

They're not splitting atoms over at the Garden, playoff hockey tends to be pretty meat and potatoes compared to the more wide-open, run and gun regular season. The great unknown is how this largely young, inexperienced team will handle being one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup once the calendar turns to April.

Michael Ryder staked Boston to a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal (his 25th of the season) late in the first period. Marc Savard passed to Mark Recchi who relayed it to Ryder. He didn't get anything on the shot but it deflected off a New Jersey player's skates, past Martin Brodeur (26 saves).

The B's put it away with three more goals in the second period. Chuck Kobasew put a clever backhander (18th of the season) past Brodeur with assists to Patrice Bergeron and Recchi.

Savard made it 3-0 with a power-play goal (his 23rd) from Matt Hunwick and Ryder.

Andy Greene got the Devils on the board later in the second period but that's as close as New Jersey would get.

Milan Lucic ended a long goal-scoring drought and potted his 14th of the year from Phil Kessel and Mark Stuart to wrap up the scoring for the game in second period.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas improved to 31-11-7 with an impressive 41 saves on the afternoon.

Only nine games remain on the regular season schedule for Boston and they won't play again until Saturday in Toronto.

Bruins back to drinking beer and kicking ass

The Boston Bruins' season hit a major roadblock in the last few weeks as they slogged through their most uninspired performances of the season.

In the last two games, however, the Bruins have returned to form and then some as they've thrown two major beatings at teams that are currently battling for playoff spots in their respective conferences.

Last night at the Garden, the B's (42-12-8) shutout the Anaheim Ducks (30-28-5), 6-0.

Between last night and Tuesday night's 6-1 dominance over the Panthers, Boston fans have been able to calm down with the trading deadline (next week) and playoffs looming on the horizon.

Was the absence of Michael Ryder during that tough stretch, the reason Boston struggled so bad? That sounds pretty far-fetched but it's hard to argue with his results: a goal and assist vs. Florida and two goals and a helper against the Ducks.

Anaheim tried to push Boston around, especially as the result of the contest seemed inevitable. A great sign for the B's is that they fought back. There were two fights (Shawn Thornton vs. George Parros and Milan Lucic pummelling Mike Brown) and a small skirmish with mild-mannered Marc Savard and Scott Niedermayer all in the second period.

Defenseman Matt Hunwick gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first period, scoring his fourth of the season from Blake Wheeler and Ryder.

The Bruins erupted for four goals in the second period. Ryder (21st; David Krejci, Wheeler), Chuck Kobasew (13th; Zdeno Chara), Ryder (22nd on a power play, from Tim Thomas) and Kobasew (14th on a power play, from Dennis Wideman and Andrew Ference) had the tallies.

Ducks goalie Jean Sebastien-Giguere was yanked after allowing Kobasew's first goal. Backup goaltender Jonas Hiller wasn't much better as he also allowed three goals.

Rookie Byron Bitz rounded out the scoring with his fourth of the season from Ference and Hunwick in the third period.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas made 35 saves while he recorded the shutout.

It's perfect that the B's have built a little momentum back up as Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Captials come to the Garden tomorrow afternoon. The top two teams in the Eastern Conference have already had some memorable games this season and it seems predestined that they'll meet deep in the playoffs this spring.

The Boston Bruins and the Amazing Technicolor Power Play

After going winless in its last four games (0-2-2), the Boston Bruins flipped a switch last night and decided to be the dominant team they'd established themselves as in the season's first half.

Boston (40-10-8) rolled over host Carolina (28-25-5), 5-1, scoring three third period goals on Glen Wesley night (which may or may not still be going on).

Using a variety of goal-scorers and solid goaltending-the two keys to the unbelievable season-the B's showed why the last week has been a slight hiccup.

The Hurricanes actually scored first as Matt Cullen (15th) found the back of the net in the first period, from Ray Whitney and Dennis Seidenberg.

Rookie Blake Wheeler started a run of five straight goals for the visitors as he notched a power-play goal (his 17th) later in the first period, assisted by Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference.

Shane Hnidy gave his team the lead for good in the second period as he potted his third of the season from David Krejci.

Special team's play was the key of the night and the theme of the third period for the B's as Krejci (20th, from Patrice Bergeron) scored a short-handed goal with 3:48 left in the game.

Boston would score two more before it was over: Chuck Kobasew added another power-play goal (his 12th) from Zdeno Chara and P.J. Axelsson. Finally, Bergeron put home an empty-net goal (his 5th), short-handed from Stephane Yelle.

The two goals on the power play were a great sign for the B's since the man advantage has been terrible over the last few weeks.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas made 31 saves and his record moved up to 25-7-5.

After a flight to Florida last night, the Bruins get a day off in the Sunshine State today. The team is playing golf or going deep sea fishing in its free time. They'll play the red-hot Panthers on Saturday night.

I apologize for making the Bruins lose

When the Bruins entered the first intermission of yesterday's game up 3-1 on the Flyers, I fired out a mass text message to all my friends that care about hockey. It said, "the Bruins are unstoppable."

Predictably, this jinxed them as Philadelphia (27-15-9) obviously got wind of my cocky message and recovered to win 4-3 in overtime at the Garden.

It all started out so well for Boston (39-8-7). Marc Savard opened the scoring with his 21st of the season, from Milan Lucic and Mark Stuart. Savard took a shot, gathered the rebound and spun around the net, letting another shot fly that trickled under Flyers goalie Martin Biron's pads.

Simon Gagne tied it up for Philly on the power play, with his 21st of the season (assisted by Mike Knuble and Claude Giroux).

B's rookie Byron Bitz tallied his first NHL goal at 18:59 in the first. Stuart blasted a shot from the point that hit the post and lay on the open goal-mouth. Bitz just had to knock it in. Petteri Nokelainen also had an assist.

After the ensuing face-off, the Bruins scored eight seconds later as Chuck Kobasew (11th) took a pass from Shane Hnidy (and Patrice Bergeron), rushed towards the net and put a low slap shot under Biron.

Give credit to the Flyers though, as they are a good, tough team. They showed some pride in coming back on the road.

Philadelphia scored twice in the second. Former Bruin Glen Metropolit (2nd) made it 3-2 Bruins, with an assist from Arron Asham. Then Scott Hartnell (20th) tied it on a power play with helpers from Jeff Carter and Joffrey Lupul.

In his first game in 30 days, Boston goaltender Manny Fernandez (30 saves) looked a bit rusty but he certainly couldn't be blamed for the fluky game-winner in OT.

Flyers goon Randy Jones (best known for knocking out Bergeron last season) flipped a harmless wrist shot that deflected off B's defenseman Andrew Ference and into the net.

Boston will have a few days to think about the loss and their next game is one of the marquee games of the regular season. On Tuesday, the Western Conference leaders, the San Jose Sharks come to the Garden led by former Bruins star (and MVP) Joe Thornton. Should be a great one.

It's called Bruins

Your Boston Bruins have become the Celtics of the last two seasons. They also resemble the last two Patriots teams to win Super Bowls. Even when they don't play nearly their best, they still find ways to get it done.

Last night in Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, the B's (39-8-6) had a 2-0 lead wiped away as the Senators (17-25-8) scored three straight but it didn't matter as Boston tied it up late in the third and eventually won in a shootout.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (22 saves) stopped the first five shooters in the shootout and Senators goaltender Brian Elliot (30 saves) stoned the first four Boston shooters. Up stepped P.J. Axelsson with his second chance of the season to clinch a shootout win and he didn't disappoint, tucking a backhander just past Elliot.

Blake Wheeler (15th) gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first on a power-play strike from Andrew Ference and Phil Kessel.

Cyborg Zdeno Chara potted his 12th in the second period after assists from David Krejci and Michael Ryder. Most probably expected Ottawa, the second worst team in the NHL, to roll over after that but they didn't.

Nick Foligno jump-started the Ottawa resurgence with a goal later in the second from Brendan Bell.

The Senators top line clicked in the third as Daniel Alfredsson (Dany Heatley) and Jason Spezza (power-play goal from Foligno and Alfredsson) gave their team the improbable 3-2 lead.

With 4:02 left in the third, Chuck Kobasew (one of the only likable things to ever come out of BC) scored his 10th of the season, on a power play. Chara had the initial slap shot, Blake Wheeler's rebound was stopped but Kobasew was there to poke it in.

The Flyers come to Boston tomorrow afternoon for what should be a physical, chippy battle after the Bruins beat them Wednesday in Philly.

Two Jagerbombs chief: Devils beat Bruins, 4-3 in OT

As if the world needed further proof that nobody outside of it likes New Jersey, the Devils are one of the most underrated franchises in recent sports history. They won a few Stanley Cups and they're almost always tough to beat since they play an aggressive forechecking and defensive game.

After taking care of the Southeast-leading Capitals on Tuesday night, the Bruins tangled with the Atlantic-leading Devils at the Garden last night. New Jersey skated away with a hard-earned 4-3 overtime win thanks to Jamie Langenbrunner's second goal of the game.

The Devils (31-15-3) jumped on the Bruins (35-8-6) with a goal in the first and second before Boston finally woke up.

Langenbrunner (11th) started it with a shorthanded tally from Travis Zajac in the first.

Zach Parise scored his 29th goal of the season, this one on the power play, in the second with assists to Langenbrunner and Paul Martin.

The B's shook off the cobwebs and scored three straight goals in 13:30 of the third. First, Chuck Kobasew (9th) found the net with help from Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Ferance.

Next, Marc Savard (18th) poked home a shot after Phil Kessel (returning after missing six games due to mono) and Milan Lucic worked it around.

Finally, Dennis Wideman potted his 10th, which looked like it would be the game-winner for the Bruins, who made a nice comeback after a pretty lifeless first two periods. Kessel and Savard had the helpers.

It was not to be though as Langenbrunner beat Tim Thomas once more in overtime. It was a classic Devils goal: not a beauty but very effective. Langenbrunner was right in front of the crease and slid the rebound past a sprawled out Thomas.

Boston will look to regroup (and get out to a faster start) in tomorrow's matinee against the New York Rangers.

We'll always have the Bruins

After what seemed like months (ok it was five days), a Boston team won a game last night, joy! The Bruins (30-7-4) held off the bottom-feeding Ottawa Senators (13-20-6), 6-4 at the Garden.

The B's got off to a hot start, scoring their first two goals in 4:15 seconds and later led 3-1 before Ottawa tied it at three. Boston sealed it with a trio of goals in the third before the Senators added a meaningless garbage-time tally.

Oft-injured but solid veteran defenseman Aaron Ward started things with his first goal of the season, from David Krejci and Michael Ryder.

Chuck Kobasew (7th) scored less than two minutes later, assisted by Dennis Wideman and Phil Kessel.

Chris Phillips cut it to 2-1 for the Senators, with help from teammates Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley.

Ryder's 15th of the year (that's looking like a nice signing, huh?) made it 3-1 B's in the second. Blake Wheeler and Marc Savard had the assists.

Ottawa scored twice in the second. First Chris Kelly found the back of the net (from Antoine Vermette and Jesse Winchester) and later Brandon Bell beat Bruins goalie Manny Fernandez (26 saves) with assists from Dean McAmmond and Chris Neil.

Krejci's (15th) great individual work was rewarded with a goal in the third. That kicked off the three-goal burst. Savard (14th) scored from Kobasew and then empty-net specialist P.J. Axelsson (3rd) put it out of reach at 6-3 after a pass from the omnipresent Savard.

Vermette (Chris Kelly, Winchester) had the final goal for Ottawa with 28 seconds left.

Fernandez improved to 14-3-1 with the win.

The Carolina Hurricanes come to town tomorrow afternoon as the Bruins try to erase the memory of their dud from last Saturday against the Sabres.

Manny Fernandez will haunt your dreams

After witnessing first-hand my second Bruins win in as many days (a 4-1 whitewashing of the defending Stanley Cup Champions from Detroit), I'd love to take credit for the wins (11-1-1 in November) but I had nothing to do with it.

This Bruins team (16-4-4) doesn't need any help, they're stacked as they proved last night at the Garden.

Detroit (15-4-4) dominated possession in the first 10 minutes of the game, putting constant pressure on Manny Fernandez (29 saves) but the Boston backup stood tall. He got the surprise start (his second in a row) after Tim Thomas was scratched with an illness.

Blake Wheeler (8th of the season) made Boston's first chance count as he took a pass from Michael Ryder (and David Krejci) and one-timed a snap-shot past Red Wings goalie Ty Conklin, 12 minutes into the first.

4:11 later, Phil Kessel doubled the Bruins' lead as he put a screened shot past Conklin. It was Kessel's 13th of the season, from Shane Hnidy and Zdeno Chara.

Patrice Bergeron dug a puck out of the corner in the second period and whipped a pass to Chuck Kobasew in the slot. Kobasew (5th of the season) put it past Conklin, who was promptly pulled in favor of Chris Osgood.

The Red Wings finally made some noise as Jiri Hudler (9th of the season) scored a power-play goal with 3:35: left in the second. Henrik Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson assisted on the lucky goal that Hudler bounced off Marc Savard's skate after a scramble in front of Fernandez.

The third period wasn't exactly thrilling (especially for the Red Wings fans in attendance) but the Bruins had one more highlight as Krejci (7th goal of the season) scored from Michael Ryder and Dennis Wideman. Krejci used his quick hands to fish out a loose puck in front of the Detroit goal.

Detroit outshot Boston, 30-19 and the Bruins were 0-for-1 on their only power-play opportunity.

The Bruins get a few days off before hitting the road for a game at Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

This ain't Harry Sinden's Boston Bruins (even though he still has some pointless post)

In the last few years, the Boston Bruins have struggled to score goals, meaning that if they gave up more than one or two, you knew their chances of losing increased dramatically. That's part of the backstory that makes this season so enjoyable thus far.

The Bruins (12-3-4) smoked the Buffalo Sabres (9-6-3), 7-4 last night at the Garden as they scored five unanswered goals to recover from an early 4-2 deficit. This year's Bruins can win close, low-scoring games, high-scoring games, everything.

Marc Savard was all over the place with a goal and two assists. Zdeno Chara had two power play goals while David Krejci (1 goal, 2 assists) and Chuck Kobasew (2 goals) had the most productive nights.

It was a night of video game stats for the B's as rookie defenseman Matt Hunwick had two assists, Phil Kessel had a goal and assist and Patrice Bergeron added two assists.

What started out as a disastrous start (3 goals in the first 5:38) for backup goalie Manny Fernandez (25 saves), became a memorable game as the Bruins continually peppered the Buffalo zone and its outstanding goalie Ryan Miller (who was yanked after the 7th goal).

1:41 into the game, Jason Pominville scored off assists from Thomas Vanek and Craig Rivet.

At 2:59, Kobasew scored his second of the year (assists to Krejci and Blake Wheeler).

A minute and a half later, Derek Roy put Buffalo up 2-1 with assists from Toni Lydman and Drew Stafford.

29 seconds later, Vanek put the Sabres up 3-1 with helpers from Pominville and Jochen Hecht.

40 seconds after that, Krejci cut it to 3-2 with an assist from Shane Hnidy.

Vanek's power play goal later in the first period was ironically Buffalo's last goal (assists from Roy and Pominville).

The Bruins started their streak with Savard's seventh of the year, from Kessel and Hunwick.

In the second, Boston blitzed the Sabres with three more goals: Chara's two goals (both from Savard and Bergeron) were sandwiched around Kobasew's second of the night (from Hunwick and Krejci).

Kessel completed the madness with his ninth of the year in the third period, from Milan Lucic and Savard.

Boston hosts the lowly Florida Panthers tomorrow night (the first Friday night home game in 31 years).