Bruins Celebrate Jarome Iginla Night by Stealing 2 points In Calgary

The Bruins (21-8-2) were lifeless for the first two periods tonight at Scotiabank Saddledome, trailing the Flames (11-15-4) 1-0 and getting outshot 22-9. Much like the Patriots in recent second halves, the B's came alive in the third period and scored a pair of goals to escape with a 2-1 win over hapless Calgary. It was Boston's third win in a row to remain in first-place in the Atlantic Division after Montreal got steamrolled by Los Angeles, 6-0.

It had to be a very emotional night for one Jarome Iginla since the Flames honored him extensively in the pre-game and named him the third star of the game so he was able to skate a sort of victory lap in the place he called home for parts of 16 seasons. I'm cynical and critical about almost anything but I have to say that Calgary did an excellent job of putting together the whole ceremony. The storybook ending of course would have entailed Iginla scoring a goal (probably the game-winner) but the closest he came was a shot that went off the crossbar then an empty-netter attempt that was blocked.

Jiri Hudler gave the Flames (wearing their terrible alternate jerseys) a 1-0 lead at 5:17 of the second period. First, Reilly Smith turned the puck over in Calgary's end setting off a rush up ice. Then Tuukka Rask (26 saves) couldn't stop a seeing eye shot by Jiri Hudler which he normally makes no problem. With their litany of injuries reaching critical mass (six regulars out of the lineup tonight), it seemed like Boston's offense had dried up.

That was until former Bruins first-round draft pick Joe Colborne got called for delay of game after clearing the puck over the glass in his own end. David Krejci tied it at 13:49 of the third period by tipping Torey Krug's shot from the point (that was meant to be tipped). Zdeno Chara had the second assist on Krejci's sixth goal of the season.

Just 1:38 later, Reilly Smith tallied the game-winner with a brilliant move around a Calgary defenseman then up high on Reto Berra (22 saves). Ryan Spooner assisted on Smith's seventh goal of the season (nobody has exceeded expectations quite like him on the Bruins so far this season).

Boston continues its tour of Western Canada with a visit to Edmonton (11-18-3) on Thursday (9:30, NESN) to see former Bruin Andrew Ference-the captain of the Oilers. Edmonton is currently the worst team in the Western Conference, one point behind the Flames. Remember when everyone (myself included) thought the Oilers would sneak into the playoffs this season? Yeah not so much.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Look out Canada: Bruins continue their rampage up North

Granted the teams they've played on this six-game road trip haven't all been Stanley Cup contenders (sorry Senators, Islanders and Oilers) but can you remember a more successful trip in the last few years than this current one for the Bruins?

I certainly can't as the Bs (36-19-7) won their season-high fifth straight in Canada, 3-2 last night over host Edmonton (20-35-8) at the Rexall Place.

There has been a new star each night and against the Oilers-the NHL's worst team-it was Michael Ryder (1 goal, 1 assist) and Nathan Horton (1 goal, 1 fight).

It's been very under the radar since he's so inconsistent by nature but Ryder has had a pretty decent season. The good news is that with Boston scoring so many goals this season, they don't have to count on his mercurial talents to show up in the biggest games (the playoffs). It's a bonus now when he does something.

Horton has also been on fire lately. Using his big body to stick his nose in front of the net while also playing more physical. He's been rewarded with a ton of points lately.

Tuukka Rask (15 saves; 8-11-1) got the start and gave up a goal to Ales Hemsky (from Jim Vandermeer and Dustin Penner) 1:05 into the game but he settled down from there and basically sat back and watched his teammates pepper Oilers goaltender Devan Dubynk (37 saves) with 40 shots.

Horton jumped Edmonton's Theo Peckham at 8:27 of the first period after Peckham had hit David Krejci hard. They got into a short-lived fight but Horton pummelled him and Peckham didn't return in the game.

Ryder tied it up at 15:30 of the first period with a sweet goal from Milan Lucic and Adam McQuaid. It was Ryder's 17th of the season and he waited for Dubnyk to make a move before he roofed it over him.

Horton made it 2-1 at 18:39 of the first period from Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg. Krejci found him with a sweet pass and Horton crushed the one-timer past Dubnyk for his 17th of the season.

Rich Peverley scored his first as a Bruin late in the second period (at 19:08) from Ryder and Chris Kelly. It was Peverley's 15th of the season and it was all him after he made a nice backhand fake on Dubnyk. Somehow the two newest Bruins forwards (Peverley and Kelly) have squeezed some life out of Ryder. Something fellow bum Blake Wheeler (now on the Atlanta Thrashers) could never do.

Gilbert Brule of the Oilers cut it to 3-2 at 3:14 with a tough-angle slap shot from Jordan Eberle and Jason Strudwick.

The battle of the NHL's top picks in 2010 never really materialized. Edmonton's Taylor Hall was held in check and as usual, Tyler Seguin's minutes were limited along with his impact.

Things got more chippy in the third period as Brad Marchand fought Andrew Cogliano and Lucic scrapped with Vandermeer in one of the better fights of the season.

The Bruins have the rare opportunity to cash in a perfect road trip if they can just get a win in Ottawa tomorrow night (where they played a week and a half ago in Tomas Kaberle's first game with Boston). Ottawa is still the worst team in the Eastern Conference and they've had a fire sale, getting rid of almost all their assets ahead of today's trade deadline.

This is why the Bruins are never good

After beating the Buffalo Sabres the first three times they met this season, you had to know that streak would end at some point.

Sabres forward Drew Stafford scored a hat trick last night at the HSBC Center as Buffalo (13-14-4) beat Boston (16-9-4) 3-2.

The frustrating part of the game (and the reason for the headline) was that the Bruins choked away two leads (1-0 and 2-1) and completely turtled when it mattered, stop me if you've heard that before with this team.

They had a goal by Brad Marchand (correctly) called back in the third period on which Shawn Thornton received a penalty for goaltender interference. Worse than that, Milan Lucic was called for a unsportsmanlike penalty late in the third period when the Bruins were scrambling for the tying goal. I don't know which is more sad, that the ref called it on Lucic for saying he was "a joke" while he was sitting on the bench or the fact that the Bruins' robot head coach Claude Julien didn't go crazy on that Bantam League call.

David Krejci opened the scoring at 17:29 in the first period when he tipped in a shot from Dennis Seidenberg. In what turned out to be a pattern, the Sabres quickly responded. Stafford followed up Derek Roy's shot off the post and got a power-play goal at 18:41. Tyler Myers also assisted.

Michael Ryder gave the Bs a 2-1 advantage with a pretty individual effort at 6:21 in the third period on the power-play.

Just 32 seconds later, Stafford scored his second on a one-timer from the slot. Roy assisted on that one too.

Next, Stafford had another power-play goal at 10:55 after a feed from Roy and Jason Pominville.

Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask had 32 saves while his Buffalo counterpart Ryan Miller also had 32 saves.

Tim Thomas should be in net tonight as the Bruins travel to Montreal. The Canadiens have lost three in a row so Boston needs to get two points to wipe away the bitter taste from last night's fiasco.

Two wins in a row?

Just when you've completely given up on the Boston Bruins, they reel you back in so you can sweat over whether they'll make the playoffs and get swept by the Capitals, Devils or Penguins.

Such is life but at least the B's (25-22-11) have woken up from their dirt nap. They won their second straight, 3-2 in a shootout last night in Buffalo against the Sabres, who have now lost five in a row after a great start to the season.

Fittingly Bruins forward Daniel Paille, a former Sabre, got Boston off to a 2-0 start in the first period with a pair of goals. His first was assisted by Marc Savard and Miroslav Satan while the second was a deflection off Zdeno Chara's shot and Derek Morris' pass started the sequence.

2-0 leads mean nothing to the Bruins as they are useless to protect them. Buffalo tied it up in the second period as Derek Roy scored a power-play goal and Tyler Myers scored with 1:25 left.

For better or worse, this is Tukkaa Rask's time and the young Fin had one of his best games of the season with 42 saves. The B's were outshot in every period but seemed to come alive with a power play in overtime. They didn't score (obviously) but they used that momentum to win the shootout (another foreign concept).

David Krejci finally did something this season as he scored the winning goal.

Boston swings through Florida for two games before the Olympic players head to Vancouver and everyone else goes home for the lengthy Olympic break. The Bruins play at the Lightning tomorrow night.

The Bruins decide to give that winning thing a try

After a 10-game losing streak, that matched the franchise's worst skid since 1925 (you know your great grandfather was a huge Bruins fan), the B's finally won a game, 3-0 yesterday afternoon at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Marco Sturm scored twice for Boston (24-22-11) and Tukkaa Rask, making his third start in a row, stopped 36 shots for his third shutout of the season.

The B's jumped out to a surprising 2-0 lead in the first period as rookie defenseman Andy McQuaid scored his first NHL goal with 2:28 left, assisted by Marc Savard.

Sturm doubled the Boston advantage when he scored off a rebound (from Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara) with four seconds remaining. His 17th goal of the season was a huge shot of adreneline as the teams went into the dressing rooms.

Rask stood on his head in the second period as Montreal (28-26-6) outshot Boston 15-3.

The fact that the Bruins had choked away two straight 2-0 leads as well as finding nearly every other possible way to lose during the 10-game losing streak, meant that nothing was comfortable until Sturm's second goal went by Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak (24 saves). Assisted by Bergeron once again, Sturm's wrist shot squirted through Halak's pads and lifted the King Kong size monkey off Boston's backs.

They're tied for ninth in the Eastern Conference with 59 points and they can move up further tomorrow night in Buffalo. They have three more games until the Olympic break when six of their players will go to Vancouver to play for their home countries.

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.