Maybe There Is a Method to Don Sweeney's Madness After All

This is such a wasteland on the American sports calendar every year and it certainly doesn't help when the Red Sox are so unwatchable and irrelevant by the middle of May. I'm trying to (partially) rationalize why we tend to overreact to any significant trades involving our local teams that come at this extremely dull point of the summer. Case in point, the Bruins last week looked like a drunken mess as they traded Carl Soderberg to Colorado for a sixth-round pick, Dougie Hamilton to Calgary for three picks and Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for Martin Jones, a minor league defenseman and a pick. We wondered, "what the hell is Don Sweeney doing?" He doubled up on the crazy by rewarding mediocre defenseman Adam McQuaid with a four-year contract.

For a change from last week's constant drama and unending questions, today brought some sense of clarity for the Black and Gold. First, they signed coveted free agent left wing Matt Beleskey to a five-year deal worth $19 million. He's the exact same age-down to the day-as Lucic (27) but unlike the former Bruin, his career trajectory seems to be trending upwards. Last season, he put up a career-best 22 goals in the regular season (65 games) followed by eight goals in the postseason for Anaheim. Granted playing with Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf would turn almost anyone into a 20-goal scorer but Beleskey similarly should bring size (206 pounds), toughness and the left-handed shot that they were looking for. Put him with David Krejci and David Pastrnak or Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand then we might have something.

Sweeney won more support by trading away oft-criticized forward Reilly Smith and Marc Savard's $4 million cap hit to Florida for former BC star and Dorchester native Jimmy Hayes. Smith scored 20 goals two seasons ago but that went down to only 13 this past campaign. That coupled with the fact that he does literally nothing else made him easily expendable. I would normally bitch about the Bruins giving him that silly extension last year but I'm tired so oh well. Hayes' numbers were pretty similar to Smith's last season (19 goals, 16 assists) and his huge frame (6-foot-6, 221 pounds) should help the Bruins crash the net better (something that nobody consistently does for them).

Now it's time to sign some NHL-caliber top-six defensemen since at the moment, Boston has like four that they can reasonably count on: Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Torey Krug and McQuaid (kind of). Matt Bartkowski signed a one-year deal with Vancouver and Gregory Campbell agreed to a two-year deal with Columbus; needless to say after their rough performances last season, most Bruins fans aren't sad to see those two leave town.

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Torey Krug & Reilly Smith Both End the Most Peaceful Holdouts in Sports History

At least in my mind, there are a million good reasons to prefer hockey over any of the other major sports in the U.S. and today we added another check mark to the NHL's ledger. Bruins defenseman Torey Krug & forward Reilly Smith both ended their holdouts for the meager sum of one-year deals worth $1.4 million. If you weren't paying close attention, you might not have even known that either were holding out in the first place. It says something about hockey players' lack of ego that this didn't become a big topic at all like it always seems to be in the NBA, NFL and MLB.

It looked like Boston would have no choice but to trade some guys away, probably defensemen, in order to accommodate two of their better young players. No worries, now all they have to do is put Marc Savard on the long-term injured list (not sure why he's not there already?) and they'll recoup roughly $4 million. It is both refreshing but also kind of stunning how simple this seems (at least on the surface). Krug and Smith missed training camp and four preseason games but with nine days left before the season opener next Wednesday vs. Philadelphia and three preseason games remaining, they might have just enough time to get back in proper shape.

You can't assume that either will magically jump back in right away like they never missed a day but at the same time, with how smoothly the holdout went, you half expect that to be a breeze too. Krug is 23, last season (his first full one in the NHL) he had 14 goals (6 on the power play), 26 assists and he was +18. Smith is also 23 and he had 20 goals (6 on the power play), 31 assists and he was +28 in his rookie season.

Assuming that each performs to a similar type of level this season, they should be in line for raises next offseason when perhaps Boston's salary cap is less of a quagmire. Boston hosts the Islanders tomorrow night and then they play the Islanders on Friday in Bridgeport, CT on Friday and they wrap up the preseason on Saturday vs. Detroit. It'll be interesting to see when Krug & Smith see their first action and also how rusty them appear to be.

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Head shot rule change; Horton says he is "symptom free"

While Bruins fans are still celebrating their Stanley Cup victory, the offseason storylines are already picking up some steam.

One of the more pressing issues that the NHL has to address is the ruling against head shots. Last year's "Rule 48" banned hits to the head from a lateral angle or from behind. In the wake of the Nathan Horton hit in the 2011 playoffs and Max Pacioretty in the regular season, the NHL has changed the language in the rule now taking any hit that targets the head and making it a suspendable infraction.

This zero tolerance policy for any contact to the head will surely not be without controversy but will hopefully deter NHL players from initiating contact with opponents' head and neck. Bruins fans are all too familiar with concussion related issues over the past few years as Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard and most recently Horton have felt the effects of head shots.

Savard, once the Bruins' best playmaker, was the victim of a Matt Cooke elbow last season which carried over to this season and ended his year in early 2011 on a clean hit by the Avalanche's Matt Hunwick (a former teammate). His condition does not seem to be improving and early word out of Boston says that the veteran center is planning on retiring before the start of the 2011-12 season.

Savard still has lingering symptoms from his concussion and even said at the Bruins' parade that he is still experiencing memory loss. The odds seem to be stacked against him when it comes to making a full recovery and returning to playing hockey.

Horton was also sidelined for Games 3 through 7 in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals after taking an open ice cheap shot from the Canucks' Aaron Rome. Initially Bruins fans were concerned about not only him missing the rest of the series but also possibly witnessing the end of his career.

The general consensus on concussions seems to be that everyone reacts to them differently which is certainly the case when comparing the Horton and Savard injuries. Horton was almost immediately back with the team, celebrating on the jumbotron during Game 6, raising the cup after Game 7 and being a prominent figure at the Bruins parade. His increased exposure led many Bruins fans to hope that Horton would be ready to rejoin the team in training camp.

The best news came today when Horton revealed that he was feeling no effects of the concussion.

"Personally, I'm fine. I don't have any headaches," Horton said. "I'm just relaxing and I have no symptoms, and I've been that way for a few days now. I'll rest up and hopefully start training real hard again and come into [training camp] in great shape and be ready to go."

What great news for Horton both as a hockey player and a human being, as we have seen these types of injuries wreak havoc on peoples livelihoods.

Hopefully the new emphasis on head shots can prevent these severe injuries from occurring, while maintaining the physicality in the game that we all love so much.

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Tuukka Rask and Nathan Horton emerge off a missing persons poster and help the Bruins put a bow on a solid road trip

It wasn't always pretty (namely the two third period leads that disappeared and led to shootout losses) but after last night's 2-1 win in Toronto, the Boston Bruins wrapped up a pivotal five-game road trip with a 3-0-2 record.

In the process, they just might have saved head coach Claude Julien's job while also showing that they're still a team to be feared in the Eastern Conference.

The biggest developments out of the Air Canada Centre last night were the reemergence of two Bruins (21-11-6) who have been scuffling (to be kind): Tuukka Rask and Nathan Horton.

Rask has not been himself all season and it hasn't helped that Tim Thomas has been playing out of his mind so his playing time has been sporadic at best. The Fin had 36 saves last night, shutting down the Maple Leafs (14-20-4) which is always doubly nice since we still own one more first round draft pick from them (having already used their last first round pick on Tyler Seguin) in the ill-fated Phil Kessel deal.

Mikhail Grabovski gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 14:08 in the first period after a flipped pass from Luke Schenn led to a breakaway.

Horton answered at 7:56 in the second period with his first goal in nine games. He was assisted by Dennis Seidenberg as the husband of a Playboy playmate (really) worked into the middle of the offensive zone and ripped one of his hard snap shots, that for once didn't ring off a post.

Probably the third guy from the invisible trio, Marc Savard, also stepped up with the game-winning goal less than eight minutes later. With Milan Lucic (who assisted) in front of Toronto goaltender James Reimer, Savard took a pass from Horton at the blue line and fired a screened shot.

That's all it took to get the two points although Rask had to make a couple top-notch saves to end it.

The Bruins come home to face the Minnesota Wild on Thursday at the TD Garden.

Just in time for the Holidays: the Bruins poop in your stocking and puke under your Christmas tree

Oh god damn it, why must the Boston Bruins torture us so much?

After sleepwalking through the start of last night's game at the Bell Centre in Montreal, that was enough to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win.

The Bruins (16-10-4) scored each goal as they frantically tried to scramble from an early 2-0 deficit but it wasn't enough as they suffered their third straight loss.

At this point, I'm with Mike Felger - the Bruins need to seriously shake this up and there's only two ways to do that: 1) make a big trade or 2) fire head coach Claude Julien. Since you know they won't do the first choice, I'll take door number two.

This team has no balls and they're on cruise control as per usual. They'll make the playoffs but then they'll fall apart as they always do in the spring. After all, they've lost three straight Game 7s.

Ok, end of rant. Losing to Montreal (19-11-2) is never fun but especially on a night like last night when a win would have vaulted the Bs to a first-place tie (and theoretically snapped them out of this latest funk).

Unfortunately nobody gave Boston the memo that it was a big game. Michael Cammalleri earned a bogus penalty shot just 1:04 into the game and deked Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (37 saves) for the 1-0 lead.

Maxim Lapierre (from Mathieu Darche, Alexandre Picard) increased it to 2-0 Montreal with a goal at 6:24 of the first period.

Blake Wheeler benefited from a lucky goal on Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (34 saves) to give Boston some life at 15:52 from Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron.

With 30 seconds left in the first period, the wheels fell off as a harmless pass from Max Pacioretty banked into the Bruins' net off defenseman Andrew Ference's skate. Scott Gomez and Jaroslav Spacek assisted on the complete gift which signaled serious trouble for the Bs.

This team is stubborn though and they cut it to 3-2 in the second period on Marc Savard's first goal of the season. He tipped a shot from Ference, Tyler Seguin also assisted by firing it back to Ference at the point.

Of course, nothing is simple right now for Boston so they had to give up another back-breaking goal late in the second period. Brian Gionta tipped a shot by Pacioretty with Gomez also notching an assist.

Milan Lucic tallied a power-play goal at 15:10 in the third period, from Bergeron and Savard. Lucic tipped Bergeron's shot from the point, for his team-leading 16th of the season.

Believe it or not, Thomas actually played well and garbage like weak penalty shot calls and tough bounces just didn't go his way. He made a bunch of A+ saves that would not have gone most goaltenders' way.

If you've watched 24/7 Capitals-Penguins on HBO which premiered on HBO on Wednesday, you know what a mess the Caps are at this time. With that said, the Bruins are starting to go over the cliff too so Saturday night's game at the TD Garden is a really important one for both teams.

Time for the Bruins to step up or continue to spiral backwards in the Eastern Conference.

Savvy's back! Now let's start planning that parade route in June for the Stanley Cup

In the recent history of Boston sports, there's no local pro athlete that I have felt worse for than Boston Bruins center Marc Savard.

Not only did he miss much of last season on a dirty hit by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke (which went unpunished by Colin Campbell - and now we might know why given his e-mail history) but he also missed 23 games this season while he recovered from the lingering effects of that pesky concussion.

Finally, Savard returned to the ice last night as the Bruins absolutely skated circles around the Tampa Bay Lightning, 8-1 at the TD Garden.

Savard didn't even have a point in the game which saw seven different Bruins (14-8-2) score goals but that's not the point (no pun intended). With him back, Boston has way more depth offensively and can boast a center combo of Savard, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Gregory Campball. Not bad at all.

After losing in Tampa Bay last week, this blowout was quite unexpected since the Lightning (14-9-3) are one of the NHL's most up and coming young teams.

With Tim Thomas (13-2-1; 37 saves) in goal, this was never really a contest as the Bruins led 2-0 after one period and 4-1 after two periods before pumping in four in the third period. Cue the youth hockey coaches and assorted douchebags saying something dumb like wish those goals carried over.

Krejci opened the scoring with a goal from Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference at 10:51 in the first. Dennis Seidenberg made it 2-0 with 20 seconds left in the frame when his snap shot from the point went past Tampa Bay goaltender Mike Smith (17 saves). Smith completely misjudged the play as he thought Seidenberg was going to wrap it around the boards, instead he put it on goal and was lucky enough to get his first tally of the season.

Lucic increased the Boston lead to 3-0 at 6:48 in the second period from Krejci and Nathan Horton (who lately had been the invisible man).

Victor Hedman broke Thomas' bid for another shutout at 15:14 on a one-timer from Ryan Malone and Sean Bergenheim. That would be the Lightning's only highlight of a forgettable night.

Shawn Thornton answered with Boston's second cupcake goal. A Lightning defenseman and Smith fumbled with the puck and it ended up right on the goal-line where Thornton just had to skate up and tap it in. Brad Marchand and Thomas assisted.

It might be because I was watching it a bar with no sound on but the third period was nuts. It seemed like every shot the Bruins threw at the Tampa Bay net went in.

34 seconds into the third Krejci potted his second, unassisted. That prompted Smith to get pulled but it didn't matter as Dan Ellis (7 saves) certainly wasn't the solution to Tampa Bay's myriad problems.

1:16 after Ellis entered, Michael Ryder greeted him with an unassisted goal of his own. Later, Mark Recchi scored on a power play (from Ryder and Zdeno Chara) and Blake Wheeler (who else?) closed it out with a goal from Recchi.

Boston looks to be playing good hockey once again so ideally they can keep it going as they travel to Toronto tomorrow night to meet Phil Kessel and the still-shitty Maple Leafs.

PS. The Marco Sturm trade to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional draft pick didn't happen, at least not yet. Not sure why it fell through but apparently it wasn't because he failed a physical. Uh ok then.

This one's for you Matt Cooke (you scumbag)

After missing nearly two months of action thanks to Matt Cooke's cheap shot (that went unpunished by the NHL), Bruins center Marc Savard returned this afternoon and wrote a fairytale chapter to what has been a terrible ordeal for him.

He scored the game-winner in overtime as the B's beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 at TD Garden in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Going into the series, the one thing that seems to distinguish the two teams is that Tuukka Rask is the hottest goalie left in the NHL playoffs and Flyers goalie Brian Boucher is a journeyman scrub (despite his fine play against the Devils).

Boston choked away a pair of two-goal leads (3-1, 4-2) but that was soon forgotten as their best offensive player ended it with a turnaround shot at 13:52 from Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara.

As expected, it was a very physical game with both teams not afraid to throwing their bodies all over the ice.

Steve Begin scored his first career playoff goal 2:39 into the game from Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. Any offense from the fourth line is a big plus and to see a bum like Begin score is similar to a solar eclipse.

Bergeron doubled the lead at 12:54 of the first period with an assist from Wideman.

Ryan Parent opened the scoring for Philly at 7:38 in the second period from Mike Richards and Arron Asham.

Miroslav Satan cashed in on a power-play just over four minutes later. Johnny Boychuk and Wideman.

At 15:48 Chris Pronger got the Flyers closer (3-2) with a power play goal from Kimmo Timonen and Richards.

David Krejci made it 4-2 in the third period with assists from Satan and Milan Lucic. It looked to be over at that point but the stubborn Flyers kept the pressure on and it paid off as Richards and Daniel Briere tied it up.

Boucher (41 saves) and Rask (32 saves) made some outstanding saves in overtime, with Boucher making a bunch of A+ stops in the early going of OT. Boston outshot Philadelphia 15-4 in overtime.

The B's will try to hold serve at home in Game 2 on Monday night.

Kids gather 'round while Grandpa Recchi tells you about when real men played hockey

On the day that the Bruins officially signed Marc Savard to a seven-year extension, it was only fitting that he scored his 200th career goal as a nightcap in a 4-1 win over the Lightning at the TD Garden.

Boston (14-8-5) have won six out of their last seven and they regained control of the Northeast Division. Marco Sturm led the way with two goals while Patrice Bergeron scored once and had two assists while Mark Recchi had three assists.

Tim Thomas (7-6-3) had one of his better games of the season, making 39 saves against the talented Lightning (10-8-8).

Savard opened the scoring with a power-play goal 8:05 into the first period. He banked a shot off Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith's (35 saves) skates from the side of the net. Derek Morris and Zdeno Chara assisted on the goal.

Almost six minutes later, Bergeron scored off assists from Chara and Recchi.

Sturm is the most mercurial player on the Bruins. He's talented for sure but he goes through long stretches of ineffectiveness not to mention he's about as fragile as J.D. Drew.

Therefore it was nice to see him score two in a row during the second period. Recchi and Bergeron assisted on both of Sturm's goals.

Boston travels to Montreal tomorrow night for a game with some historical significance. It will be the 100th anniversary for the Canadiens so those jokers will be going nuts. Is there anything else to do in Canada? Didn't think so.

The boys are back in town/on Causeway Street

After treading water with Milan Lucic and Marc Savard out for awhile, the Boston Bruins are slowly starting to become the team everyone thought they could be.

The B's (11-8-4) won their third straight, 4-2 last night in St. Louis. Savard made his return and while he didn't record a point, his presence was felt as the team had more jump in their skates with two power-play goals and a shorthanded tally.

Patrice Bergeron, who's been the Bruins' best player thus far, had four assists and Tuukka Rask (6-2-1; 29 saves) made his fourth straight start as he continued to get better every game.

Even with Tim Thomas out with a hand injury, Boston has one of the best goaltending duos in the NHL.

Mark Recchi (4th of the season) gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first period with a standard Recchi goal. It was on the power play, Bergeron and David Krejci assisted as Recchi followed a rebound and batted it out of the air past Blue goaltender Chris Mason (19 saves).

Another ageless American winger, Keith Tkachuk, tied it for St. Louis (8-9-4) 1:31 after Recchi's goal.

Blake Wheeler (6th of the year) made it 2-1 Boston in the second period with another power-play goal from Bergeron and Dennis Wideman.

Carlo Colaiacovo tied it for the Blues later in the second period but Lucic responded with his second goal in two games since returning. Zdeno Chara and Bergeron assisted on Lucic's second goal of the season.

Marco Sturm wrapped it up with his sixth goal of the year, a shorthanded goal in the third period from Bergeron.

The Bruins close out their four game road trip tomorrow night in Minnesota against the Wild.

a statement win in October

After pointing out in my last Bruins post how irrelevant the NHL is right now, I am going to do a 180 and tell you what a big win it was last night over the Islanders.

Boston (2-2-0) was completely lifeless at the Garden and faced a 3-0 deficit in the third period before they tied it up with three goals in a little over five minutes. The B's kept the good vibes going as they outscored the Islanders (0-0-3) 2-1 in the shootout.

Looking for a spark, Bruins head coach Claude Julien started talented backup goalie Tukka Rask. It wasn't really his fault as New York scored three goals in the second period.

Jon Sim scored on a power-play goal, Radek Martinek tallied a goal and No. 1 draft pick John Tavares rounded out the scoring for what is expected to be one of the NHL's worst teams.

At 11:59 in the third period, Marc Savard finally got the B's on the board with a goal from Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic. Byron Bitz cut it to 3-2 with a pretty spin and shot that deflected off an Islanders defenseman's skate, past goalie Dwayne Roloson. Steve Begin and Matt Hunwick assisted on the goal.

Through four games, Boston's best line by far has been the fourth which consistently brings energy and pressure.

Less than two minutes later Hunwick tied it with his wrist shot that went top shelf through a ton of traffic in front of Roloson (27 saves). The Garden crowd went nuts as the Bruins had improbably come back from a seemingly insurmountable hole.

Blake Wheeler scored first in the shootout and Rob Schremp answered for New York. Savard was the last shooter to score as the Islanders last two shooters missed the net.

Rask finished with 35 saves in his first win of the '09-'10 season. It should be the first of many this season as along with Tim Thomas, the Bruins possess one of the best goalie tandems in the league.

Boston hosts Colorado tomorrow afternoon in a Columbus Day matinee at the Garden.

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.

It can't be this easy, right?

There is apparently no such thing as a layoff affecting NHL hockey teams in the playoffs. All three squads that swept first round series, won in the first game of round two.

The Boston Bruins had nine days between games but they came out last night in Game 1 vs. the Hurricanes and dominated from start to finish, en route to a 4-1 win at the Garden.

After cruising past Montreal, the B's were facing a team that basically stole Game 7 from the New Jersey Devils. Common sense was that Boston would be rusty and Carolina would be playing well after their dramatic win. Eh, not so much.

Just 1:34 into the game, David Krejci deflected in an Aaron Ward shot. Michael Ryder also assisted.

Basically the only time the Hurricanes showed life Game 1 was at 18:50 of the first period when Jussi Jokinen finished off a rush with Ryan Bayda and Joni Pitkanen assisting.

In the second period, Marc Savard (from Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic) and Ryder (unassisted) gave Boston a commanding 3-1 lead. Savard whipped a shot from the slot past Carolina goalie Cam Ward (20 saves). Ryder's was a spectacular individual play as he stole the puck at the Canes' blueline, skated in and snapped a shot over Ward's glove hand.

Tim Thomas (26 saves) had a relatively quiet night in goal. It was nice to see that the break didn't seem to effect the probable Vezina trophy winner one bit.

In the third, Savard put it away after a nice drop pass from Kessel.

Game 2 is tomorrow night at the Garden. I'm not going to say it's a must win for Carolina since they'll play better at home but you don't want to go down 2-0 to the Bruins right now. They look phenomenal.

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.

Somewhere the Dropkick Murphys are writing a terrible song that will make millions

For the first time in 16 seasons, your Boston Bruins hit the 50-win plateau last night at the Garden with a 2-1 triumph over the playing-for-pride Ottawa Senators.

It's the eighth time in franchise history that they've reached that mark and the 110 points represent the team's highest total since the '82-'83 season.

Not bad for a team that was treading water for a few months. They're currently 7-1-1 in their last nine games, winners of five straight. With one more win (or two more points), the B's will clinch the Eastern Conference's top-seed and all the home ice glory that entails. There's an outside chance that they could also still have the best record in the league.

Do you think anyone in the world (not currently employed by the Bruins, including bat-shit crazy NESN announcer Jack Edwards) would have picked this team to have such an amazing season this year? No and that's what makes this so sweet. Obviously, if they choke and lose in the first round of the playoffs, people (myself included) will be lining up to jump off the Tobin Bridge. But for now, NHL hockey is important once again in the Hub.

Daniel Alfredsson (from Jason Spezza, Chris Campoli) gave Ottawa (33-34-10) the 1-0 lead in the first period.

The Bruins (50-17-10) led by the red-hot Milan Lucic bounced back in the second when Looch (17th) scored off assists from Michael Ryder and David Krejci.

In the third period, Marc Savard (24th) notched the game-winner after a steal and dish by P.J. Axelsson.

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas made 31 saves and his impressive record climbed to 33-11-7.

The Rangers come to the Garden tomorrow afternoon in what could be a first round preview. New York is sliding and they currently sit in the eighth spot, just ahead of Florida and behind Montreal.

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.

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.

Sweet uniforms Montreal

The Bruins' poor play against the Canadiens last season seems like about 20 years ago as Boston won its fourth straight against Montreal, 3-1 yesterday at the Bell Centre.

Robert Lang gave the Canadiens (28-16-6) a 1-0 lead late in the first period with a power-play goal from Andrei Markov and Andrei Kostitsyn.

However, Dennis Wideman and the Bruins took back all the momentum and then some as he found the back of the net with a wrist shot with one second left in the period. It was the emerging defenseman's 11th goal of the season.

After tangling with a monster named Alex Henry in the first period, Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton potted his career high (haha, really) fifth goal of the season in the second period. Linemates Byron Bitz and Stephane Yelle had the assists on what turned out to be the game-winner.

Tim Thomas shut the door on Montreal the rest of the way, finishing with 27 saves as the All-Star moved to 22-5-5.

Marc Savard officially clinched it with his empty-netter (20th of the season) when there were 57 seconds remaining.

The B's hit the road to face the Flyers Wednesday in the teams' first meeting of the season. Philadelphia will also travel to the Garden on Saturday to face the NHL's top team.

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.

The Bruins laugh at your injury problems

In the first game of the unofficial second half of the season (after the All-Star break), the Boston Bruins were able to do something which they couldn't do earlier in the season: beat the Washington Capitals.

It wasn't exactly a piece of art but the B's (35-8-5) avenged two previous losses to the Caps (30-15-4) with a 3-2 overtime win last night at the Garden.

And the best news of the night for Boston was that three of its key injured players returned to action: Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference were all back on the ice.

David Krejci (from Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara) won it with his 18th goal of the year, on a 4-on-3 power play. Krejci tried to pass across the crease to Marc Savard but the puck deflected off Washington defenseman Shaone Morrison's skate and past Capitals goalie Jose Theodore.

Washington took a 1-0 lead 2:08 into the game as defenseman Mike Green (his 13th; from Alexander Semin and Alex Ovechkin) beat B's goalie Tim Thomas with a slap shot.

Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton had a rare moment of goal-scoring prowess as he potted an unassisted goal (his fourth) at 9:26 of the first.

The Capitals came right back with a late goal (21 seconds left) in the first by Michael Nylander (5th), from Tomas Fleischmann and Chris Clark.

Savard (17th) tied it in the second with a power-play goal from Bergeron. Playing right wing, instead of his normal center, Bergeron kept the puck in the Capitals zone with a dive and then he found Savard, who put the wrister in the net.

Neither team scored in the third but Bruins rookie Byron Bitz tangled with Capitals goon Donald Brashear. Many feel that Brashear is the best fighter in the NHL so it was no surprise that he won the battle but Bitz still gave his team some life.

Fresh off the All-Star game appearance, Thomas improved to 21-5-4 with 34 saves, including two showstoppers on Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin in overtime. He'll have to carry the load for an undetermined amount of time since Manny Fernandez is out with an undisclosed injury.

Another division leader, the New Jersey Devils come to the Garden tomorrow night as the Bruins' schedule the next few weeks is loaded with quality opponents.

Everything is coming up black and gold for this team

Last night in Long Island was a classic trap game for the Boston Bruins.

They were coming off an emotional win over the Canadiens on Tuesday and probably looking a bit ahead to Saturday night's showdown in our nation's capital with the second best team in the Eastern Conference-the Washington Capitals.

The B's (33-7-4) played like a team with other things on its mind but it still managed to sneak out of Nassau Coliseum with a 2-1 win over the Islanders (12-28-4).

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas was the number one star as he stopped 40 shots, en route to his 19th win (4 losses, 3 overtime defeats) of the season.

The Islanders outshot the Bruins, 41-27 but they scored their only goal in the last minute of play as Bill Guerin's (14th goal) attempt kicked off of a Bruin skate in front of Thomas.

Marc Savard opened the scoring in the second period with his 15th goal of the year, from Chuck Kobasew and Marc Stuart.

Martin St. Pierre made it 2-0 B's in the third (his 2nd of the year) from Vladimir Sobotka and Shawn Thornton.

Boston traveled to DC after the game and they'll meet the Caps tomorrow night in a game that I just so happen to be attending with a college friend.

Should be great, I'm excited to see Alexander Oveckin in person. Washington has been playing great hockey lately.