Winnipeg Blows Three Leads, Loses 5-3 To The Bruins Thanks To A 3-goal 3rd Period

On the surface, a home game against the Winnipeg Jets in January doesn't sound like anything special for a Boston Bruins fan. However, tonight was a prime example of how when you tune in on any given night, you can see something remarkable.

The Bruins (27-11-1) rallied three times against the Jets (20-17-5) and outscored them 3-0 in the third period to post a 5-3 win at TD Garden but all anyone will remember is Shawn Thornton's performance.

This was the first of five games that Boston didn't have Brad Marchand. It didn't seem to matter as like they have all season, the Bruins found a way to get it done despite missing a key player.

Boston's main enforcer-Thornton-earned a penalty shot in the second period after jumping out of the penalty box and collecting the puck. I admit that the holding call that led to the penalty shot was pretty lame but it was no worse than the same bizarre whistle for hooking that led to Winnipeg's Chris Thorburn taking a penalty shot in the first period.

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (29 saves; 10-4-1) stuffed Thorburn's weak backhand attempt but Thornton managed to beat Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (37 saves) with a nifty toe-drag, dangle and a hard backhander. It was a special moment for Thornton, his fourth goal of the season tied it at two while Boston was shorthanded.

Jets captain Andrew Ladd (14th of the season) gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 16:53 in the first period when he tipped in a shot from the point by Zach Bogosian.

Nathan Horton (13th of the season) tied it at one at 19:20 thanks to his net drive and a crisp feed from Milan Lucic (2 assists). Linemate David Krejci (2 assists; points in nine straight games) had the other assist.

The second period was a big one for former Bruins as Blake Wheeler put the Jets ahead 2-1 and Mark Stuart fought Thornton in a lengthy brawl. Wheeler's (9th of the season) tip in 31 seconds into the frame was thanks to Tobias Enstrom's shot.

After Thornton tied it then squared off with Stuart, the Jets took their final lead at 11:11 as Eric Fehr (1st of the season) took advantage of a bad giveaway in his own end by Joe Corvo. Fehr's shot also deflected off Corvo's skate past Rask.

It only took 6:41 into the third for the B's to vault ahead by two. This should come as no surprise since Boston is statistically the best third period team in the NHL (+37 goal differential after tonight). Horton scored eight seconds into the period after another easy tap in from close range. Krejci had the primary assist with Lucic providing the other assist.

Tyler Seguin (17th of the season) electrified the Garden with a game-winning goal at 3:06. Patrice Bergeron (2 assists) won the puck at the blue line and sent Seguin into the zone with a step on Winnipeg's defense. He didn't disappoint by tucking a backhander past Pavelec.

For good measure, Benoit Pouliot (8th of the season) made it 5-3 with a power-play tally at 6:41 from Bergeron and Rich Peverley. Pouliot's first shot hit the post but it bounced back to him and he was able to fight off a defenseman and scored on the rebound.

Montreal returns to the Garden and things haven't gotten any better for the Habs since they last appeared in Boston, a 3-2 loss on December 19. They are in last place in the Northeast Division and 12th place overall in the Eastern Conference. After losing the first two in the series, the Bruins have won the past two contests. The February 15th game in Montreal is the last regular season meeting and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there will be no chance to see the Canadiens in the playoffs.

This means, we should all savor Thursday night when a rested Tim Thomas will get a chance to shutdown Monteal. It wraps up a four-game homestand for the Bruins, all against Canadian opponents.

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Thumbs up for the Bruins trade deadline moves

It's not every day that the Boston Bruins actually make a notable trade so even though it happened on Friday (when I was headed out of town), I have to give a short shout-out to GM Peter Chiarelli.

On Friday, the Bruins made two trades that shook up their roster. The big deal was Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle finally coming over for Boston's 2011 first round pick, Providence Bruin Joe Colborne and a conditional second round pick in 2012 (wiped out if Kaberle resigns or the Bruins get to the Stanley Cup Finals).

It's a beautiful thing to see Boston be aggressive for once and not just settle for assorted junk and rentals that won't have much impact. Kaberle is a three-time All-Star and he will help immensely on the power play (one of the Bruins' biggest weaknesses). He's not known for his defensive prowess but that's ok since we needed a defenseman with more offensive creativity.

Losing the first round pick isn't a big deal since we still have Toronto's this summer (which will be much higher) and Colborne was a first round pick last summer but he's clearly stuck behind many centers in the organization so a fresh start is probably in his best interest.

In addition, Boston got rid of some spare parts by dealing Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart to the Atlanta Thrashers on Friday for forward Rich Peverley and minor league defenseman Boris Valabik (who's a 6-foot-7 project).

Everybody in New England was tired of Wheeler's inconsistency and Stuart was solid but Adam McQuaid's production had basically phased him out of the franchise. Peverley sounds like another Chris Kelly, that is a third or fourth line forward that has the two-way game that the Bruins' brass and coaches covet.

Kelly and Kaberle played their first games in Black and Yellow (sorry Wiz Khalifa) on Friday as the Bruins won 4-2 in Ottawa.

Their third game of the road trip is tonight as the Bs visit the red-hot (what a terrible pun) Calgary Flames. It'll be interesting to see all three of the new Bruins in uniform. Watching the replay late Friday night, I honestly didn't notice much from Kaberle or Kelly but I was very tired after a long week.

Chara's 1st career hat trick leads Bruins to steamroll win over Hurricanes

Coming out of the Patriots' shocking loss to the Jets on Sunday, I was quickly reminded yesterday why I'm so thankful to live in an area with four solid pro sports franchises.

Sure it still hurts that the Patriots choked in such a big spot but our four teams have possibly never all been so good at the same time. We are not a one-team podunk town (Green Bay, I'm looking at you) and we take pride in all of our teams.

The Boston Bruins came up with the perfect result for fans with a severe Patriots hangover, a 7-0 shellacking of the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday afternoon at the TD Garden.

Captain Zdeno Chara scored the first hat trick of his career and Tim Thomas made 31 saves for his seventh shutout of the season.

Boston (25-13-7) got this one over early as they pumped in three goals in the first period (four if you count a tally by Milan Lucic that was called off for a bogus penalty to Chara).

Mark Stuart, playing his first game in a month and a half, scored his first goal of the season (from Nathan Horton and Adam McQuaid). Then Chara scored a pair: one from McQuaid and the other on a power play from David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron.

Carolina (22-17-6) had seen enough as head coach Paul Maurice pulled goaltender Cam Ward after only two goals. Backup goalie Jason Peters (33 saves) wasn't much better as he allowed five goals.

The Bs made it a laugher in the second period as Gregory Campbell tipped home a sweet feed from Shawn Thornton (and Blake Wheeler) and Bergeron notched an unassisted goal 13 seconds later. It was the second game in a row where they scored twice 13 seconds apart.

Michael Ryder tipped home Dennis Seidenberg's shot in the third period (with the other helper to Steven Kampfer) and Chara put a bow on this gem with his third goal, another bullet from the point. It was particularly cool to see the usually stoic big man, fake throwing his helmet (imploring the crowd to throw their hats) after his last goal.

The two teams actually get back at it tonight in Carolina as the Hurricanes will try to get back to their recent winning ways (6-1-3) before yesterday's meltdown. It sounds like Tuukka Rask will start for the Bruins (he's won two straight road starts), it'll be interesting to see how Ward plays tonight. Bottom line, I guarantee it'll be much more competitive.

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.