There's No Place Like Home for the Bruins, Especially When It Comes to Garbage Opponents

Right after two horrific losses (6-1 at Toronto and 5-1 at Montreal), that were so bad that I didn't feel like writing about them, the Bruins returned to TD Garden aka their comfort zone. Boston (11-8-0) did what they had to do to beat Carolina (5-8-3) 2-1 this afternoon. Like most of their victories this season, it wasn't an artistic masterpiece by any means but for a team that played so poorly on back-to-back nights, at least this was much more indicative of who they are (or rather who they should be).

The Hurricanes scored first, something which has happened to Boston in five of their last six contests, as Jiri Tlusty tipped in Justin Faulk's shot from the point at 7:05 of the first period and Eric Staal had the second assist. Tuukka Rask (33 saves) earned the first star of the game but there was nothing he could do about that high shot that went even higher off the deflection for Tlusty's team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Fortune was smiling on Boston during their fifth-straight win at the Garden as Seth Griffith tied it at 14:24 on one of the flukiest goals I have ever seen. It started with Andrej Sekera fumbling the puck backwards on some sort of ill-fated pass, that ended up going off Griffith then back off Sekera again and past Cam Ward (23 saves). You'll probably never see a goal like that in the NHL, at least not for many years. Griffith's fifth goal of the season (tying him with Carl Soderberg and Brad Marchand for the team lead) was unassisted but we all know that Sekera deserved something special for that monumental fail.

The Bruins got the game-winner on their own accord. A strong forecheck led to Brad Marchand stealing the puck and feeding Patrice Bergeron for one of his patented quick shots after a turnover. Dennis Seidenberg had the second assist on Bergeron's fourth goal of the season and Reilly Smith did his part by screening Ward.

All that stuff happened in the first period with basically nothing to write home about or remember about the second or third periods. Yay afternoon games! Boston outshot Carolina 14-3 in the second and the Hurricanes returned the favor by outshooting the B's 15-4 in the third but it didn't matter. The key sequence of the game also took place in the first when Boston killed a 5-on-3 for 1:43 just 12 seconds after Tlusty's goal. If Carolina had added another goal or two then, who knows what would have happened?

Finally, the Bruins play another quality team at the Garden on Tuesday (7, NESN)-those have been so few and far between. St. Louis (11-4-1) currently leads the very difficult Central division in the Western Conference and they are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games entering tonight's game vs. Washington.

David Krejci and Zach Trotman were the scratches today, meaning that Matt Bartkowski played for the first time in eight games. He finished +1 with four shots, two hits and a blocked shot which for him is a highlight reel game. Milan Lucic also looked like himself with a game-high six hits, he was way more active than he's been in weeks.

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Bruins Lose To A Shitbag Team-Hurricanes-But Gain A Swede That Could Help Them

When you lose to a team that came in with seven straight losses, miss out on clinching a playoff spot and most importantly, don't retake possession of first place in the Northeast Division, it has been a rough night. Boston (26-11-4) had everything in their hands but they couldn't get the job done as they lost 3-2 at Carolina's (17-22-2) PNC Arena.

While the B's were faltering against one of the Eastern Conference's worst teams, the Canadiens were getting curbstomped by the Maple Leafs. Montreal ended up losing 5-1 which means that if Boston had won, they would have jumped one point ahead of the Habs.

I guess it wasn't to be; the only thing that should give B's fans a sliver of hope after this punch to the balls is that they were able to sign Swedish forward Carl Soderberg to a three-year deal. He's expected to play on Wednesday and he'll be eligible for the playoffs as soon as he suits up for the Bruins. It is beyond stupid to pin our hopes on a guy that's never played in the NHL, joining a new team right before the postseason but at least he is obviously skilled and he could potentially give Boston more scoring punch which would help balance out their faltering lines.

Milan Lucic scored his first goal in 10 games (his sixth of the season) at 6:07 of the first period from Matt Bartkowski and Jaromir Jagr. Looch tipped Bartkowski's shot from the point past Hurricanes goaltender Justin Peters (28 saves). Boston hadn't recorded a fighting major since March 27 so it was nice to see the Bruins drop the gloves three times in the first period: Shawn Thornton vs. Kevin Westgarth, Zdeno Chara vs. Jay Harrison and Gregory Campbell vs. Nicolas Blanchard.

The Hurricanes spoiled the fun provided by the fisticuffs since Jeff Skinner scored a backbreaking power play goal with 36 seconds left in the first period. He banked it in off Tuukka Rask's (34 saves) pads with assists to Alexander Semin and Justin Faulk.

Jiri Tlusty sneaked one past Rask at 14:04 of the second period from Jordan Staal and Tim Gleason. Boston pushed back as Tyler Seguin tied it at two with his 15th goal of the season, from Andrew Ference at 17:57. A bad line change by Carolina and heady chip by Ference led to Seguin skating in on a breakaway. Let's face it, there's nobody else on the Bruins that we'd rather see in that situation.

Joltin' Joe Corvo provided the game-winning goal against his former employer, Carolina scored its second power play goal at 9:36 in the third period. Corvo one-timed a pass from Marc-Andre Bergeron that Rask would normally stop. Tlusty added an empty-netter with 29 seconds left. Make no mistake about it, given the circumstances I think this was Boston's worst loss of the season.

The Bruins are back at TD Garden for a busy week of four games in seven days-all in Boston. They begin by hosting Ottawa (21-14-6, 4th in Northeast Division) on Monday (7 p.m., NESN). Boston is 4-0 against the Senators this season (all 1-goal games) so they'll go for the season sweep on Monday. Keep in mind that all numbers pointed to them beating the Hurricanes tonight. You never know what'll happen when two of your best players (Patrice Bergeron & Brad Marchand) are out.

Boston still has a chance to catch Montreal since five of their last seven games are at home while the Canadiens play four road games in their last seven contests to close out the regular season.

UPDATE 4/17: Jordan Caron was sent to Providence while Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand return to action for the B's tonight vs. Buffalo.

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Hurricanes Pick Up Their First Win Of Season, At The Bruins' Expense

It is less than a week into the 2011-12 NHL season so pardon me if I can't quite work up a lather yet about the Boston Bruins' lame beginning.

The defending Stanley Cup champs have gotten off to a slow start; their first road game of the season was tonight at the RBC Center in Raleigh Center and the host Hurricanes (1-2-1) picked up their first win with a 3-2 triumph over the B's (1-3-0).

With seven goals in four games, it's clear that putting the puck in the net has been Boston's biggest issue so far. Let's not forget that the power play is still a hot mess, off to a rousing 1 for 18 start (picking up where they left off in the playoffs).

David Krejci missed the game with a midsection injury so Tyler Seguin got the bump up to center on the first line with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton flanking him. Boston still needs Krejci but for one game at least, Seguin (1 goal, 4 shots, 7 of 9 on face-offs) was a more than suitable replacement.

B's goaltender Tim Thomas (1-2-0) got his third start and yet again, it wasn't his fault that his team failed to get two points. He made 31 saves but was the victim of some bad luck and a shaky defense in front of him.

Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward (26 saves) showed why he's one of the more underrated guys at his position with a strong showing.

After a scoreless first period, Carolina opened the scoring 42 seconds into the second frame with a power-play strike from defenseman Joni Pitkanen (1st of the season). Former Bruins great Tomas Kaberle and Jussi Jokinen assisted on the goal. Pitkanen was by the face-off dot and he took forever to fake a shot twenty times before finally unleashing a low one that found its way past Thomas. It appeared like Erik Staal screened Thomas on the play, regardless he should not have been able to park there so easily.

Boston bumbled through three straight scoreless power play chances and predictably, they didn't get a call the rest of the night (the B's had the last three penalties).

When Carolina's Anthony Stewart (1st of the season) scored 3:42 into the third (from Tim Brent and Tim Gleason) on a shot that trickled past Thomas at the post, I was firing off an angry Tweet but Seguin interrupted my venom with a sick top-shelf wrist shot just 25 seconds later. It was his first of many this season, from Horton and Adam McQuaid. It was a juicy glimpse of what Seguin can do when he has room to shoot.

Something called Jiri Tlusty (1st of the season) iced it with his game-winner at 13:32 from Brandon Sutter and Patrick Dwyer. He was unmarked in the slot and made Thomas and Co. pay for that.

Boston was about to go on another ill-fated power play but Patrice Bergeron hit Brad Marchand with a nice cross-ice feed for a one-timer and the Bruins' second goal (Marchmont's second of the season). Former Hurricane Joe Corvo had the second assist at 16:35.

I'm not going to say time ran out on the Bruins since it never really felt like they'd ever tie it before regulation ended.

McQuaid ran head first into the boards (how many times has he done that in the last year?) in the third and didn't return. Don't be surprised to see him held out of the next game with Matt Bartkowski getting another shot after being a healthy scratch for the last three contests.

It won't get any easier as the B's will remain on the road the next few days before meeting the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. After failing to really show up against two subpar teams (Carolina and Colorado), expect Boston to at least make a game of it in Theo Epstein's new home.

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