The Bruins Used Four Special Teams (2 SH & 2 PP) Goals to Beat the Red Wings 5-3

To beat a quality team like Detroit (36-17-11), especially in the second leg of a back-to-back, Boston (33-22-10) needed its vaunted depth to show up in a big way. Luckily for the B's it did as they beat the Red Wings 5-3 at TD Garden for their second win in as many afternoons (they rallied for a 3-2 overtime win vs. Flyers yesterday). A four-point weekend against two Eastern Conference foes should give them plenty of confidence with 17 games left in the regular season.

Perhaps most importantly, Niklas Svedberg (36 saves) started and he was pretty decent in picking up his first regulation and non-shutout win of the season. 10 Bruins had points and their special teams were money with two power-play goals and two shorthanded goals against the No. 1 power-play unit in the NHL. Daniel Paille was scratched for two games a few weeks ago but he has responded like the professional that he is with four goals in his last six games, including two today vs. Detroit.

With Red Wings backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson also getting the start, you had a feeling that it would be far from a 1-0 game. Brad Marchand continued his excellent weekend with his third goal in a row going back to yesterday's contest vs. Philadelphia. To change it up, this one was a shorthanded tally just 4:15 into the first period. Stephen Weiss turned the puck over in Boston's zone, Marchand went in on a breakaway and deked Gustavsson out of his hockey pants. His team-leading 22nd goal of the season was unassisted. Marchand has a four-game point-streak (5 goals, 1 assist) along with 10 points (7 goals, 3 assists) in the last 10 games.

University of Maine product Gustav Nyquist tied it at 7:01 with a wrist shot. His 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Kyle Quincey. Adam McQuaid had a game-high five blocks but he missed that out on that one and screened his own goalie in the process. No worries though, Boston answered with a power-play goal by David Pastrnak less than two minutes later for a 2-1 lead. His snipe from the left face-off circle was a bit of skill that you rarely if ever see from these B's. Pastrnak's eighth goal of the season was assisted by Milan Lucic and Reilly Smith.

Paille's pair of goals in the second period really opened things up for the home team. First, he had a breakaway and nothing went wrong for once. His fourth goal of the season was unassisted at 11:44 and it represented the first time in nearly two years (April 10, 2013 at NJ) that Boston scored two shorthanded goals in the same game. The Bruins are now tied with Toronto, Tampa Bay and Winnipeg for the third-most shorthanded goals in the league (7). After that highlight, Paille one-timed a pass from Max Talbot (game-high 7 hits) from in close for another goal at 18:39. Gregory Campbell had the second assist on Paille's seventh career two-goal game (1st since Dec. 14, 2011).

Jimmy Howard replaced Gustavsson (4 goals allowed, 19 saves) to start the third period and the blowout got interesting for a few seconds as Luke Glendening's routine shot found its way past Svedberg at 1:24. His ninth goal of the season was assisted by the magical Pavel Datsyuk. Boston's second power-play goal, this time from Loui Eriksson at 4:03 gave them back their three-goal cushion (5-2). Patrice Bergeron and Ryan Spooner (5-game point-streak) assisted on Eriksson's 16th goal of the season.

To conclude the special teams explosion, Detroit added their only power play goal of the affair. Newly acquired defenseman Marek Zidlicky scored his second goal in three games as a Red Wing. His shot from the point went top shelf on Svedberg; it was his sixth goal of the season with assists to Tomas Tatar and Datsyuk.

This good stretch (5-1-1 in their last 7 games) couldn't come at a better time for the Bruins with three of their next four games on the road: they are at Ottawa (29-23-11) on Tuesday (7:30, NESN) before hosting Tampa Bay (41-20-6) on Thursday (7, NESN). Then they have a back-to-back next weekend at Pittsburgh (38-18-9) on Saturday (1, NESN) followed by a game in Washington (36-21-10) the following night (7:30, NBCSN). With the Senators hosting the Flames tonight, Boston is currently seven points ahead of Ottawa which means that a win there could really bury them from the playoff discussion.

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Goodnight Red Wings, Bring On The Canadiens!

So it turns out that we all overestimated the Red Wings. Boston only needed five games in the first round to get rid of them. The B's knocked out the Red Wings 4-2 this afternoon at TD Garden to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals vs. Montreal. Even when they cut it to 3-2 late in the third period, you never really felt like Detroit posed that much of a threat to rally either in this particular game or in the series as a whole.

Tuukka Rask (31 saves) had another excellent start, he was one of the main reasons that Boston won so handily (outscoring Detroit 14-6 in the series). Jimmy Howard tapped out in Game 4 with the flu and was never heard from again. Don't blame Jonas Gustavsson though who only allowed three goals in each of his outings and received four goals of support from his overrated, mostly too young or too old teammates.

Boston made sure to never really let Detroit possess much hope in Game 5. Loui Eriksson scored on a backhander during a power play at 3:27 of the first period. His first goal of the postseason (and first since May 2008 with Dallas) was assisted by Dougie Hamilton and Rask.

One of the only Red Wings forwards to show up in the series-Pavel Datsyuk-tied it at 14:41 in the second period on a rebound also during a power play (only their second power play goal of the series). 5:15 after that, Zdeno Chara did what winning captains do as he scored a backbreaking power play goal with 3.8 seconds left in the frame. Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug assisted on Chara's second goal of the postseason.

Milan Lucic scored a goal for the second straight game, putting Boston up 3-1 at 4:27 of the third period. His third goal of the postseason was assisted by Krug who did most of the work by intercepting the puck on a lazy clear by Johan Franzen and passing to Looch who was wide open in front of Gustavsson (29 saves).

Henrik Zetterberg had the honor of scoring Detroit's final goal of 2013-14. It was another rebound after Rask had made an unbelievable save. I suppose that made for a few tense minutes at the Garden but Jarome Iginla kicked off the mild celebrations with an empty netter. All that was left was one of the best traditions in pro sports: the handshake lines after playoff hockey series have ended.

The series with the Canadiens won't start for a while, probably Friday or Saturday at TD Garden due to both teams getting out of the first round so early and Northeastern having graduation there on Thursday. We feared Detroit since they owned Boston in the regular season; Montreal was the only other team to dominate the B's consistently and their recent playoff history with Boston shows that they'll probably be in for another long and frustrating series. Let's get our rest before we lose our minds cheering against those extremely hateable losers.

UPDATE 4/28: Chara is a finalist for the Norris Trophy along with Nashville's Shea Weber and Chicago's Duncan Keith. It is the sixth time that Z has been nominated and he won it in 2009. When is the last time the Bruins had three players nominated for major awards in the same season?

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Bruins Take a Commanding 3-1 Series Lead on Jarome Iginla's 1st Career OT Winner

I would have said the exact same thing (well maybe worded a little differently) if the Bruins had lost Game 4: this was a huge result. By rallying for a 3-2 OT win over Detroit on Jarome Iginla's tip in, Boston goes back to TD Garden with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to eliminate Detroit in Game 5 on Saturday afternoon (3, NBC).

The first period was the best of the series for the Red Wings and conversely the worst for the Bruins. Niklas Kronwall gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 11:00 with a blast from the point on the power play that Tuukka Rask (35 saves) never saw. Without Rask, the B's could have found themselves down 2 or 3-0 in the first period as Detroit outshot them 15-5.

The team that had scored first won the first three games and the odds were even more in the Red Wings' favor when they went up 2-0 at 4:27 of the second period on Pavel Datsyuk's goal. Boston finally started to wake up and they received a huge goal by Torey Krug at 10:14 on the power play. His first of the postseason was assisted by Patrice Bergeron (or should I say Mr. Selke?).

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard was in the pregame warmups but left with the flu so he was a last-second scratch. Red Wings backup Jonas Gustavsson (37 saves) was actually really good and I feel like he earned the start for Game 5 as well. It only took 1:15 in the third for Boston to tie it up. Carl Soderberg made an unbelievable pass from behind the net to Milan Lucic out front for an easy goal. That was Looch's second of the postseason and Dougie Hamilton had the second assist.

I forgot to mention that it shouldn't have been decided in overtime since Brad Marchand missed not one but two of the easiest goals he'd ever have in his career. It was scary in the extra session that Boston dominated so much (outshooting Detroit 12-3) but thankfully, Iginla tipped in Hamilton's shot at 13:32. Believe it or not, that was the first overtime winner in the playoffs in Iginla's illustrious career. Hamilton notched another helper on it as well.

Boston has won the last three games in the series so they have all the momentum plus Rask has allowed just four total goals in four games. He made the save of the game and one of the best in the postseason by stuffing Justin Abdelkader's breakaway attempt in the first minute of overtime. The B's have extra incentive to get rid of the Red Wings since the Canadiens are sitting around and waiting for their next opponent.

UPDATE 4/25: Another day, another major award nomination for a Bruin. Today Tuukka Rask was named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender) along with Tampa Bay's Ben Bishop and Colorado's Semyon Varlamov. I might be seeing this through my black and gold colored glasses but like Patrice Bergeron and the Selke Trophy, I feel like Rask is the favorite for this too.

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Well The Bruins Aren't Going to Sweep the Red Wings, That's For Certain

This might be the easiest Bruins game recap that I've ever written. Tonight they dropped Game 1 of the first round to Detroit, 1-0 at TD Garden. The result wasn't that surprising if you watched the game because Boston took way too long to find itself and by the time they did, it was in the third period.

Red Wings superstar Pavel Datsyuk made an incredible move to get open then snap a shot past Tuukka Rask (23 saves) at 16:59 of the third period. He was assisted by Johan Franzen. That's all that Jimmy Howard (25 saves) needed as he posted his third career playoff shutout.

There is no need to panic (yet) for Bruins fans but I will say that I think Game 2 on Sunday (3, NBC) is basically a must-win. I had a hunch this series would go six or seven so I felt like the Red Wings would win a few games but the B's really don't want to be down 2-0 then going on the road.

Boston's top line was mostly non-existent and the second line was just ok. The defense pairings and last two forward lines were remodeled as Chris Kelly (back), Daniel Paille (concussion), Matt Bartkowski and Kevan Miller (both have flu, I think) were all surprisingly out. It's not like any of those guys is irreplaceable but losing them all at the same time means that the Bruins don't have the depth they normally display.

The B's will also have to change their gameplan a bit in later games too since they didn't possess the puck nearly enough or go on the power play (once). It's nice that they had eight more hits (34-26) than the Red Wings but Detroit didn't seem to mind at all as they owned the puck which is the most important aspect of hockey besides scoring goals which they could also improve on.

UPDATE 4/19: Milan Lucic was fined $5000 (most allowed under CBA) for spearing Danny DeKeyser in the groin last night, Happy Easter!

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My Name Is Jonas...........Gustavsson

Sadly, it wasn't a perfect weekend for Boston sports teams as the Bruins fell 3-2 to the Red Wings this afternoon at TD Garden. Boston (3-2-0) spotted Detroit (4-2-0) a 3-1 lead in the second period, the first time the B's had trailed by two goals this season, and it was too much to overcome.

For the Red Wings, it was payback for the humbling 4-1 loss the B's had dealt them on October 5. These two Original 6 rivals and new divisionmates will meet twice more: November 27 (night before Thanksgiving) and April 2 in Detroit. Is it too early to start preparing for the inevitable playoff matchup this spring?

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard warmed up before the game but didn't play because of a bruised hand. His backup former Maple Leafs scrub Jonas Gustavsson (28 saves) played well in his first start of the season. Boston's piss poor power play (0 for 5 including a 1:54 two-man advantage) didn't help matters. Henrik Zatterberg and Pavel Datsyuk combined for a highlight reel goal with the former one-timing some backhanded sauce from the latter at 11:33 of the first period.

Loui Eriksson tied it at 14:12 after he deflected Johnny Boychuk's shot from the point. Reilly Smith-who played on the second line for struggling Brad Marchand-had the other assist on Eriksson's second goal of the weekend.

The game was won in a span of 2:20 in the second period as new Red Wing Stephen Weiss one-timed a cross ice pass from Johan Franzen then at 10:41 Dan Cleary potted a one-timer out front distributed by Daniel Alfredsson who was stationed behind the net. There was not much that Tuukka Rask (24 saves; 3-2-0) could do as it was Boston defensemen caught in loose coverage in all three tallies.

The aforementioned 5-on-3 was particularly frustrating since the B's peppered Gustavsson with quality chances yet somehow he kept the puck out of the net. Milan Lucic breathed some life into the Garden with his third goal of the season, cutting it to 3-2 with 1:20 left in regulation. Dennis Seidenberg and David Krejci had the assists. Rask was pulled for an extra attacker but time ran out on the Bruins.

It will be a while until the B's are back at the Garden. The circus is here so Boston heads to Florida on Thursday, Tampa Bay on Saturday and Buffalo on Wednesday for a three-game road trip against fellow Atlantic Division squads. They have only had one road game so far this season so being away for a little while should help them bond further with their new teammates. Also, playing terrible opponents like the Panthers and Sabres should wake up the Bruins' dormant offense (8 goals in 5 games).

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Patrice Bergeron Named 1 of 3 Finalists For 2012 Selke Award (Defensive Forward)

A little Bruins nugget to tide you over until their biggest game of the season on Wednesday night-Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals vs. the Capitals at TD Garden.

Today, Patrice Bergeron was named one of three finalists for the Selke Award (defensive forward) at the 2012 NHL Awards. For the second straight year, that celebration will be held June 20 in Las Vegas, NV (sick!) but the house band is also Nickelback (again, puke!). The winner is selected by a vote of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and will be presented at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.

For years, Bruins fans have always felt that Bergeron was one of the top two-way centers in the NHL and this nomination only illustrates that it is the view league-wide too, not just a regional bias.

The other two nominees are St. Louis Blues center David Backes and Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk.

From NHL.com's press release:

Besides his team-high totals of 24 goals and 54 points, Backes led Blues forwards with an average ice time of 19:59 while posting a plus-15 rating. He started just 46 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, the second-fewest of any Blues forward who played at least 10 games, but finished 52.4 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, meaning he was able to turn defense into offense better than any player on the team. He also led all NHL forwards in advanced metrics website Behind the Net's Quality of Competition rating, meaning the players he skated against had the highest average plus/minus rating.

He led the team with 226 hits and all Blues forwards with 72 blocked shots, while his 50 takeaways were second on the team. He won just 48.6 percent of his faceoffs, but took the most on the team at 1,353.

The Blues were the League's best defensive team, allowing just 1.60 goals per game. Much of that had to do with goaltending, but the team allowed a League-low 26.7 shots per game, meaning skaters like Backes had a big role in that defensive excellence.

In addition to finishing second on the team with 64 points, Bergeron was at his best in the faceoff circle, finishing second in the League by winning 59.3 percent of his draws. He was especially strong on faceoffs while shorthanded, winning 53.5 percent of his faceoffs while killing a penalty, and he led Bruins forwards in shorthanded ice time at 1:48 per game. He also took 34.6 percent of all Boston faceoffs, the sixth-highest percentage of any player in the League.

He led the League with a plus-36 rating, and did it while playing 18:34 per game and picking up just 20 penalty minutes. He also led all Bruins forwards with 67 blocked shots and 55 takeaways. And among forwards who played at least 30 games, his 1.73 on-ice plus/minus per 60 minutes at even strength was third among all NHL forwards -- he was on the ice for 66 goals for and 34 goals against at even strength.

Datsyuk is a perennial contender for the Selke, and with good reason. Besides scoring at leat 65 points for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, he was 10th in the League in faceoffs, winning 56.2 percent, while taking 32.0 percent of all Red Wings faceoffs. He was third among all League forwards with 97 takeaways. Datsyuk was second among the team's forwards in average ice time per game at 19:34, but had a plus-21 rating and just 14 penalty minutes, the fewest of his career. He also played 1:13 per game shorthanded.

And according to Behind the Net's QoC, Datsyuk faced the second-hardest competition among Red Wings players, behind only defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom.

He had his three-year Selke win streak snapped last year when Vancouver's Ryan Kesler won it. If Datsyuk wins his fourth Selke, he would tie Bob Gainey for the most in history.

Bergeron got hurt in Game 5 on Saturday and had to leave the game but he played in Game 6 and there's no doubt that he'll suit up for Game 7. He's such a special player, just look at Bruins head coach Claude Julien's comments about him after yesterday's overtime win. We're lucky to have him on the B's, he represents basically everything that is right in professional sports. He does his job, respects the game, his teammates, coaches and opponents and seems like a nice guy off the ice as well. He wasn't able to take any face-offs yesterday (because of his upper body injury) but when he had to take one late in the third period, in Boston's own end, he of course won it.

We all know that awards are meaningless when your team falls short in the playoffs (what up Vancouver Canucks?) but if the Bruins can make a run once again and Bergeron can pick up the Selke Award, it will be quite an accomplishment. Remember that Tim Thomas picked up the Vezina Award (not to mention Conn Smythe) last season while Zdeno Chara got the Norris Trophy. Let's hope for another May and June dominated by the Black and Gold.

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My Dream Of A Perfect November Crumbles At The Hands Of The Detroit Red Wings

When I am commissioner of the NHL, I will create the rule that the Boston Bruins must have a home-and-home series with the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks, every season. These Original 6 matchups (to go with the normal Bruins-Rangers, Bruins-Canadiens and Bruins-Maple Leafs) are too juicy to pass up, the fans of these storied franchises deserve those games.

Rant aside, I knew that Boston's (13-7-1) 10-game winning streak would come to an end at some point but since it finally happened, I can't complain much about this afternoon's 3-2 shootout loss to Detroit (13-7-1) at TD Garden.

Todd Bertuzzi had the winning goal in the shootout after teammate Pavel Datsyuk scored earlier and Nathan Horton tied it with Boston's last shot.

It was a hell of a game, really entertaining with superior puck movement, physical play and top notch goaltending, what more can you ask for? Unfortunately, unlike last season where they played twice, this was the only meeting between the B's and Wings in the regular season. You know what that means, they'll just have to meet in June for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Boston outshot Detroit 43-31 and that wasn't misleading as the Bruins dominated play for long stretches of time. The problem was that Red Wings goaltender and former UMaine star Jimmy Howard (41 saves) was on for most of the game and Detroit had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 that Boston had to rally from.

Tuukka Rask (29 saves; 3-3-1) made somewhat of a surprise start but as usual, he acquitted himself well.

After some significant pressure on Howard in the first period, Detroit skated against the tilted ice and Valtteri Filppula (5th of the season) gave them a 1-0 lead at 12:43 after some nice passing from Henrik Zetterberg and Ian White. Filppula tipped in Zetterberg's centering pass from the half boards, Rask didn't have much of a chance to stop it from in close.

Daniel Paille (3rd of the season) tied it at 4:05 of the second period after some great forechecking and a pass from behind the net that came from Horton.

Loyal NHL fans know that Datsyuk is a magician with the puck and he lived up to that moniker with a silly goal just 35 seconds after Paille scored. It was so fast, that the Bruins PA guy hadn't finished announcing Paille's goal. Datsyuk's sixth of the season was assisted by his linemates Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen.

Thanks to a bad giveaway by Zetterberg in his own zone, Patrice Bergeron (5th of the season) pounced on a loose puck and whipped it by Howard at 7:52 in the third period.

Both teams had chances to win it later in the third period and a crazy overtime session. Filppula put a shot over from like a foot outside Boston's net while Zdeno Chara blasted a slap shot that skittered inches wide and Howard stuffed Horton from in close.

With points in 11 straight games, Boston will look to start another winning streak tomorrow night as they host the Winnipeg Jets. I will be in attendance (my first game of 2011-12) and I expect Tim Thomas to get the start. Additionally, I think the B's will get back in the win column and score some more goals against one of the Eastern Conference's worst squads.

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So that's what a real hockey team looks like

You have to admire the way that the Boston Bruins never let their fans get too high before quickly cutting them down to size.

I feel like anytime they play a great game, they follow it up with a dud that always leaves you questioning the team.

The latest chapter in this neverending give and take was last night at TD Garden as the Detroit Red Wings made their first visit to Boston since 2008. The Bs never ever play on a Friday night (especially at home) so naturally they treated they're hard-working fans to a diaper full of Indian food.

It was a fun night for Eminem, Kid Rock and all the other miserable souls from that wretched area as the Red Wings (33-16-6) won 6-1 in a game that didn't even feel that close.

To say the Bruins (31-17-7) didn't show up would be too kind. It was easily their worst performance of the season thus far. Tuukka Rask (14 saves) gave up two goals in the first 3:10 and Detroit added three second-period goals in this laugher.

It got so bad that Rask was booed then given mock cheers when he made routine saves. If that wasn't bad enough for his fragile confidence, Bruins head coach Claude Julien mercifully pulled him after two periods.

Henrik Zetterberg (1 goal, 2 assists), Jiri Hudler (1 goal, 2 assists), Todd Bertuzzi (2 goals), Tomas Holmstrom (1 goal, 1 assist), Daniel Cleary (1 goal, 1 assist) and Pavel Datsyuk (2 assists) led the Red Wings, who believe it or not came into town on a skid (losers of three of their last four, outscored 12-4).

Former University of Maine star Jimmy Howard made 25 saves for Detroit in a very quiet night's work.

Bertuzzi scored at 1:10 of the first period from Johan Franzen and Zetterberg. Cleary made it 2-0 on Detroit's second shot of the game at 3:10 from Jiri Hudler and Niklas Kronwall.

Boston's only highlight of the game was David Krejci's first goal in 21 games (his 8th of the season). It was at 17:53 of the first period on the power play with a nifty pass from Milan Lucic, who caught Howard out of position. Zdeno Chara also assisted.

Hudler (from Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski), Zetterberg (on the power play, from Holmstrom and Cleary) and Bertuzzi (from Datsyuk) all scored in the second period.

A third power-play goal, this one from Holmstrom, was the final Red Wings goal in the third period. Hudler and Datsyuk assisted on that one.

I figured it out, the Red Wings are the San Antonio Spurs and the New England Patriots. The robotically efficient teams that are always good but don't get any credit nationally since they're you know boring. It'll be interesting to see how they fare the rest of the season.

More importantly, the Bruins have a chance to atone for last night's stinker when they go to Joe Louis Arena tomorrow afternoon for a rematch with the Red Wings on NBC. Tim Thomas will be in goal to start and I'm guessing Boston will play just a tad better.