Charlie Coyle & Marcus Johansson Make Their Home Debut as the Bruins Pummel the Sharks 4-1

I can't wait for that Bruins-Sharks matchup in the Stanley Cup Final in June, how about you? That scenario is really not that far-fetched but seriously though, these teams somehow managed to play two completely different styles but still wildly entertaining games only eight days apart. Boston (37-17-9) beat San Jose (37-19-8) 6-5 last Monday in OT (the craziest tilt of the B's season) on the road then they returned to TD Garden tonight for the first time in two weeks and humbled the Sharks 4-1. In the meantime, the Bruins extended their point streak to a whopping 14 games (10-0-4) while Jaroslav Halak (19 saves, 17th win of the season) saw his point streak increase to six games (4-0-2).

BU alum and Weymouth native Charlie Coyle played 17:14 in his first home game as a Bruin and Marcus Johansson one-upped that with an assist in his first game as a Bruin. Both guys were acquired within the past week and right away, they make Boston's lineup that much deeper and more experienced. San Jose actually scored first as Logan Couture's fluky touch somehow eluded Halak giving the Sharks a power play goal at 12:47 of the first period. Couture's 23rd goal of the season was unassisted and quickly forgotten as David Krejci answered with a power play strike of his own just 1:52 later. Torey Krug and Brad Marchand had the assists on Krejci's 15th goal of the season, another David Pastrnak-like (remember him?) one-timer from the slot.

I doubt that you will find a more dominating period this season by the B's than the second which is all the more impressive considering that they were up against one of the other elite clubs in the NHL. First of all, they scored three goals and they were in the span of 3:19 midway through the frame. Furthermore, they had the first of three fights (Chris Wagner vs. Barclay Goodrow) as the Sharks started to lose their composure on the last night of their four-game road trip. Charlie McAvoy gave the Bruins their first lead of the game at 9:09 as he went top-shelf on Martin Jones (28 saves, 13th loss of the season). Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen had the assists on McAvoy's fifth goal of the season (he's heating up with 3 in his last 5 games). Before that tally had even been announced yet, it was 3-1 for the home team as Jake DeBrusk finished off some nifty passing with his new linemates-Krejci and Johansson-37 seconds later. DeBrusk's 20th goal of the season was his sixth in his last seven games and it marked the first time in his NHL career that he's hit the 20-goal plateau. Marchand put it out of reach with an amazing shorthanded goal at 12:28 from Patrice Bergeron and Brandon Carlo. He weaved between two defenders (including Erik Karlsson who had aggravated his groin injury yet returned to action) before beating Jones for his 25th goal of the season and 25th shorthanded goal of his Bruins career (tying Rick Middleton for the franchise record).

There were no goals in the third period but plenty of shenanigans and tomfoolery as Evander Kane had the bright idea to jump Zdeno Chara after he took an elbow to the face (no penalty was called on that hit by the way). Kane knocked the giant down which is more than most humans could do but then he was predictably destroyed. For his troubles he received a 10-minute misconduct then later a game-misconduct when he couldn't stop yelling at Chara and the refs. Once a punk, always a punk (albeit a very talented and tough one). The only real cringe-worthy moment of the proceedings was David Backes (who has a long, scary history of concussions) dropped the gloves with goon Michael Haley. Yikes, don't do that anymore David.

This was a perfect way to open Boston's longest homestand of the season (6 games). Things only get more real on Thursday (7:30, NBC Sports) as the undisputed best team in the league-Tampa Bay (48-11-4)-pays a visit to the Garden. The Lightning have won nine straight games and straight up embarrassed most of their opponents but I give the Bruins a puncher's chance since Tampa Bay will be in New York tomorrow night to face the Rangers (27-26-9). Defenseman Kevan Miller is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and he was out tonight for the B's but John Moore subbed in admirably. Tuukka Rask (12-0-3 in his last 15 decisions) will be in goal and it should be an awesome playoff-like atmosphere. Who knows, maybe it'll be another playoff series this spring as well after the Lightning rolled in five games last year in the second round vs. Boston.

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Bruins Pick Up Their Best Win of the Young Season: 5-3 Over Sharks

I'm happy to say that it's time to find a new way to make fun of the Bruins this season. After they were so pathetic for the first five games in terms of goal-scoring, they have awoken lately capped off by tonight's 5-3 win over the Sharks at TD Garden.

Boston (4-4) reached the .500 mark while setting a season-high in goals and scoring 4+ for the third straight game. It was also their best victory since San Jose (4-2-1) had been playing great hockey before the end of this arduous five-game road trip.

Milan Lucic tied a career-high with three assists while Torey Krug (1 goal, 2 assists) tied a career-high for points and David Krejci (1 goal, 1 assist) also had multiple points. Boston received goals from three different lines plus a defenseman and their power play even sprung to life with a pair of goals in the first two periods.

Three different Bruins scored their first goals of the season so fittingly, Brad Marchand opened the proceedings with a power-play snipe at 13:57 of the first period from Lucic and Krug. Logan Couture answered with a power play goal of his own at 16:28 when he tipped in Patrick Marleau's shot, also from caveman Brent Burns.

Boston regained the lead early in the second period as Krug whipped in a power play goal at 6:54 from Lucic and Krejci. Couture tied it at 16:52 after Marleau fed him right in front of Tuukka Rask (31 saves). Boston lost their focus for a minute as former Bruins No. 1 draft pick (in 1997!) Joe Thornton batted a Joe Pavelski pass out of the air 37 seconds later. Former UMass star Justin Braun had the second assist.

San Jose had been 4-0-1 entering the third period this season with a lead and Boston was 0-3-0 when they trailed going into the final frame but both those numbers got flipped. Rookie Seth Griffith tied it up at 4:50, putting in a rebound from Lucic and Krug at 4:50 for his first career NHL goal. Good timing right? I'm not going to make too much out of it but it was nice to see a Bruins young player step up and take advantage of a great opportunity.

This was only the third game of the season for Gregory Campbell but he showed his value to the B's with a key goal, the game-winner in fact as he tipped in Daniel Paille's shot at 10:42 after a strong forecheck. Krejci's empty-netter with 25 seconds left in regulation put the finishing touches on a solid two points against a quality Western Conference (still the far superior conference) opponent.

The B's figure to have their hands full again on Thursday (7, NESN) as they host the New York Boychuks (4-2-0), I mean Islanders. It's Boychuk's first game against the Bruins since his stunning trade a few weeks ago so he will surely get a huge ovation at least at the start of the game. The Isles fell 5-2 to the Maple Leafs tonight but they've looked really good thus far so I bet they'll bounce back from that disappointing result.

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Local Guy Overshadows Joe Thornton's Return To Boston In 4-2 San Jose Win

Well the Boston Bruins are still looking for their first win streak in the 2011-12 season.

Tonight, former No. 1 pick and franchise center Joe Thornton returned with the San Jose Sharks and they beat the Bruins 4-2 at TD Garden.

It wasn't April or May but Thornton mostly disappeared like he's been known to do in the playoffs. Sure he assisted on Joe Pavelski's (4th of the season) goal 1:12 into the game but after that, Jumbo Joe was barely heard from save for a nice highlight package on the Jumbotron (no pun intended) from his days with the spoked B.

This game marked the sixth time in a row that the Bruins have allowed the first goal. They also fell to 2-4 at home and they never led in this one despite a valiant rally in the third period.

The real hero for the Sharks (3-3-0) was Essex, MA native and Boston College alum Benn Ferriero (1st of the season) who netted the game-winning goal at 8:48 of the third period.

In a very weird way, I felt like a proud parent when Ferriero's hustle to a rebound resulted in a diving goal. He was the only pro athlete from the coverage area of the newspaper I used to work for (the Gloucester Daily Times) and that motivated me enough to sponsor his page on hockeyreference.com (look it up) last spring. So while I never enjoy seeing the B's (3-5-0) lose, on this night it didn't feel quite as bad.

You wouldn't know that San Jose was the team that played back-to-back nights on the road. They had more jump than Boston from the start and that resulted in a 1-0 lead after the first which increased to 2-0 at 8:54 of the second when Logan Couture (1st of the season) scored on a nifty pass from Martin Havlat, Ryane Clowe had the second assist.

I don't usually recommend any athletes on Twitter but you have to follow Couture (@logancouture39), he's one of the funniest and most honest pro athletes I can think of.

Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves for the second straight game, this time against Jim Vandermeer, and as usual it served as a wake-up call to his teammates and the crowd.

The B's tied it up with a flurry of goals in 29 seconds early in the third. First Milan Lucic (2nd of the season) scored a classic Looch goal by stealing Antti Niemi's (37 saves) pass behind his own net then wheeling around and beating multiple defensemen and Niemi to shovel it in. Chris Kelly and Patrice Bergeron assisted on that goal.

Tyler Seguin started and finished the next one as he blocked a clearance attempt by a San Jose defenseman then started a 2-on-1 with Lucic. Seguin (3rd of the season) was the recipient of the final pass and he roofed it past Niemi who had no time to react. Kelly had the second assist.

As my friend said after the game, "Lucic and Seguin are going to make sweet music together this season." I couldn't say it any better myself, they appear to be a great match and I hope to see them on the same line for years to come.

Patrick Marleau (1st of the season) added an empty-netter with five seconds left. Boston wasted a serviceable but not great performance by goaltender Tim Thomas (26 saves).

I think I've found the clue to solving the Bruins' woes so far this season: It's all about scoring more than two goals. When they've scored 3+ they are 3-0 while they are 0-5 when they have scored two (twice), one (twice) or none(0-1). It's no secret that head coach Claude Julien's system makes Boston way more strong when playing with a lead since between Thomas and their defensive ability, it's hard to come back on them. Conversely, with their up and down scoring, it's much tougher to play from behind as we have already seen time and again.

The good news is that it should not be hard for the Bruins to focus on their final two games in October: a home and home series with Montreal. The team that everybody loves to hate comes to Boston on Thursday while the B's travel to the Bell Centre on Saturday. All would quickly be forgiven if the Bruins can beat the reeling Habs (1-4-2) twice in three nights.

UPDATE 10/23: Jordan Caron has been sent down to Providence where he'll get much more ice time. He didn't played bad for the Bruins to start this season but I guess they prefer Benoit Pouliot over him at the moment. Keep your head up Jordan!

UPDATE 10/24: Caron returned to B's practice today so he just went down to Providence for one game while Boston had a lengthy break (four days) between games. Expect him to be with the Bruins on Thursday as they host the Canadiens, although he'll most likely be in the press box as a healthy scratch.

Follow @RichSlate


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Bruins with a lifeless effort against the Sharks

I can't quite put my finger on it, maybe it's because the unwashed masses haven't been liquored up enough at the local watering holes but something seems off when you go to a Boston Bruins game on a Saturday afternoon.

It's the second time this season I've gone to a 1 p.m. start on a Saturday and once again, the Bruins lost. This time it was a completely lifeless effort, a 2-0 loss to former golden boy Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks.

Since the Bruins (30-16-7) had their most exciting game of the season on Thursday against the Dallas Stars, it was predictable that there was a big letdown. Still, it had to be one of the most boring contests of the season since Boston never really did anything against San Jose (28-19-6).

Antti Niemi (26 saves) held the fort, which wasn't too hard while the Sharks scored the only goal they needed in the first period. Rookie stud Logan Couture scored on the power-play (his 23rd of the season) with a weird backhander at 7:22 from Ryane Clowe and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Adam Mcquaid fought Ben Eager late in the first period and that was probably the highlight of the day for the Bs.

Devin Setoguchi scored an empty-netter (his 11th of the season) with three seconds left (from Clowe and Niclas Wallin) to seal it.

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas made just 16 saves in his quietest game of the season in terms of action.

The Bruins get back at it on Wednesday as they host the Montreal Canadiens. I'm thinking they won't have as much trouble getting up for that one against their bitter rival.