Alexander Ovechkin is not impressed

It was bound to happen sooner or later, the Boston Bruins after all cannot win every game (like the Celtics).

The B's (19-5-4) fell 3-1 to the Washington Capitals (16-10-3) last night at the Verizon Center in D.C.

Washington snapped the Bruins' five-game winning streak and truth be told, Boston didn't play that bad.

Caps goalie Brent Johnson (8-4-2) made 33 saves and outplayed Boston goaltender Manny Fernandez (23 saves).

Washington jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Nicklas Backstrom (9th goal of the season) scored on the power-play, 3:53 into the game (from Alexander Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov).

Alexandre Giroux (1st of the season) doubled the lead at 4:52 in the second with a goal from Kozlov and Tom Poti.

The B's finally got on the board with 35 seconds left in the second. Just like the game before, Phil Kessel found Milan Lucic (his 8th of the season) parked right in front of the net for an easy one-timer. Zdeno Chara also assisted on the goal.

Ovechkin (15th) iced it with an empty-net goal with 52 seconds left in the contest. Alexander Semin-Washington's other superstar and Backstrom assisted.

The B's head to Atlanta tomorrow night to face the Thrashers, one of the worst teams the NHL has to offer. Atlanta will then come to Boston on Saturday night. Needless to say, Boston should take both of those games.

Bruins just keep piling up the wins

Even when the Boston Bruins don't play particularly well this season, they still win. The B's (19-4-4) scored three goals in a four minute and two second span in the first period and held on to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning (6-13-8), 5-3, last night at the Garden.

At 6:44 in the first, Milan Lucic began the impressive burst with a power-play goal (his 7th goal of the season) from Dennis Wideman and Phil Kessel.

Kessel made it 2-0 less than three minutes later as his attempted pass went off a Tampa Bay defenseman's stick and past goalie Mike Smith (19 saves).

Michael Ryder (7th of the season) put it out of reach at 10:46 with a nice shot, assists going to Shane Hnidy and Matt Hunwick.

Boston had a chance to make it 4-0 in the second period but P.J. Axelsson could not score on a penalty shot.

Adam Hall cut it to 3-1 Bruins at 13:06 in the second period (assists from Evgeny Artyukhin and Paul Ranger).

My fantasy team got some help from Zdeno Chara (who's had a so-so season thus far) when the big captain blasted home a power-play goal on one of his monstrous slap-shots. David Krejci and Wideman (10th assist) had the helpers.

In the third, Tampa Bay made it interesting by scoring two goals: Vincent Lecavalier (Martin St. Louis, Ranger) and Paul Szczechura (Marek Malik, Andrej Meszaros). The second goal was with just 17 seconds left and it occurred when Tampa Bay had pulled Smith for the extra skater.

The Bruins won the ensuing face-off and Axelsson (1st of the season) sealed it with an empty-netter from Patrice Bergeron.

Boston goalie Tim Thomas finished with 26 saves and improved his record to 11-3-3.

Boston is now 9-0-1 in its last 10 games and they travel to Washington D.C. to face the Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and the high-flying Capitals tomorrow night.

The best shooter in the NBA is alive and well

I only caught bits of the first half and some of the second half and overtime since the Patriots game started at 4 p.m. but the Boston Celtics (20-2) took care of business once again with a 122-117 win over the Pacers (7-13) last night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The C's won their 12th straight game, tying last year's best run and also tying the franchise's best start through 22 games.

You might not have noticed since the playoffs last season but Ray Allen has been playing out of his mind.

He had a game-high 35 points yesterday, including 7-of-12 shooting on threes. It's pretty remarkable how well the guy is playing when you consider how much of a funk he was in much of last season and particularly in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Kevin Garnett added 17 points, 20 rebounds, five steals and four assists. Paul Pierce had 17 points and eight assists while Kendrick Perkins scored 11 points and grabbed seven boards.

Rajon Rondo put up seven points, seven assists (six turnovers), six rebounds and four steals while Eddie House (15 points) and Tony Allen (12 points) had the scoring touch off the bench.

Marquis Daniels led the Pacers with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Danny Granger added 20 points, six assists and three steals while Jarrett Jack (17 points), Troy Murphy (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Rasho Nesterovic (14 points) also put up numbers in the loss.

The C's travel to Washington on Thursday to face a Wizards team that gave them trouble last season but can't get out of its own way so far this season.

Welker and Cassel make just enough plays for Pats to hold off hapless Seahawks

The 2008 New England Patriots' playoff hopes looked over yesterday in Seattle as they quickly fell behind 14-3 to a terrible Seahawks (2-11) team.

From there, New England woke up and outscored Seattle, 21-8. It wasn't a thing of beauty but the Pats (8-5) made just enough plays on offense and finally a few stops on defense to propel them to a crazy 24-21 at Qwest Field.

Everybody's favorite short, white receiver Wes Welker (12 catches, 134 yards; 2-PT conversion catch) could not be stopped as he took over in the second half. Did I mention he's small?

Matt Cassel (26-for-44, 268 yards, touchdown) made a bunch of big-time throws and Brandon Meriweather forced a Seneca Wallace fumble on Seattle's last drive as they tried to tie it up. Richard Seymour recovered the ball and the Pats just took a knee for the clutch win.

Earlier, they had made Wallace, the backup quarterback, look like a Hall-of-Famer as he went 20-for-28 with 212 yards, three touchdowns and 47 yards rushing.

Old friend Deion Branch made up for lost time (he has been injured and virtually useless since he left New England) by burning the Pats for 88 yards on four catches, including two vintage Branch touchdowns.

Branch had the first score of the game as he caught a 14-yard TD after burning Meriweather.

Stephen Gostkowski's 50-yard kick cut it to 7-3 Seahawks after one quarter.

Rookie tight end John Carlson (8 catches, 69 yards) had a 10-yard TD catch which put Settle up 14-3 early in the second.

Cassel and the offense responded as Benjamin Watson hauled in a 2-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone.

It was 14-10 Seattle heading into halftime.

Another Gostkowski kick (42 yards), cut the Seahawk lead to one point in the third.

Branch worked some more magic with a ridiculous 63-yard catch and run where he went from one sideline to the other, juking past (and using blocks) to get by almost every Patriots defender.

He topped that with a juggling, one-handed grab on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Wallace.

New England made it 21-16 with Gostkowski's third field goal of the day (27 yards) early in the fourth then Sammy Morris jumped over the goalline on a gutsy fourth-and-1 run. Cassel found Welker with the two-point conversion and then Seattle did what it's done best this year (fail).

With Vince Wilfork and Tedy Bruschi going down during the game and Gary Guyton getting pulled, recently re-signed linebackers Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin were back on the field for New England.

Neither of them made any big plays but it was a time warp to see them again. That's how desperate New England is for warm bodies, they had to bring these two experienced veterans in.

The Pats will stay out on the West Coast as they travel to Oakland next Sunday to face an awful Raiders team with nothing to play for. The Jets once again choked yesterday (against the 49ers) and the Dolphins beat the Bills, so the AFC East is currently a three-way tie at the top.

The Patriots defense is a complete mess that can't stop anybody but if they can just make the playoffs, anything can happen. Especially in an AFC that still has no clear top teams other than the Titans and Steelers.

Rondo records first career triple-double as C's make it 10 straight

Rajon Rondo had a vintage Jason Kidd performance last night against the Indiana Pacers. I'm talking Kidd on the Nets, during the wife-beating, ugly kid courtside days when New Jersey made back-to-back NBA Finals.

It's safe to say he's the best point guard in the East (which isn't saying much). The West is still loaded with the likes of Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Chauncey Billups and Steve Nash. There's no reason that Rondo shouldn't be playing in the All-Star game this year with such a weak conference for point guards.

Rondo dropped the first triple-double of his young career with 16 points, 17 assists (career-high) and 13 rebounds with three steals.

The Celts (18-2) made up for one of their two losses on the season by drilling Indiana (7-11), 114-96 at the Garden. Boston has now won 10 games in a row.

It wasn't all about Rondo though as Ray Allen had a game-high 31 points, Kevin Garnett (26 points, 14 boards, 4 blocks) and Kendrick Perkins (16 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles and Paul Pierce added 16 points.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points while T.J. Ford had 15 points and eight assists, Marquis Daniels scored 14 and Troy Murphy put up 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Boston led 28-27 after one quarter and 57-51 at the half. The third quarter was the money frame as the C's used a 31-22 advantage to cruise into the fourth and the win. For good measure, Boston outscored Indiana, 26-23 in the final 12 minutes.

The C's shot 50% to the Pacers' 44%. Boston got to the line much more (26-32) and made them count as the Pacers only went 9-for-13. Finally, Boston had an absurd 23 more rebounds (54-31) which you almost never see in an NBA game.

The Portland Trailblazers-winners of six straight-one of the NBA's other hottest teams comes to the Garden tomorrow night in what should be an intriguing matchup. Brandon Roy is a rising star while LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden (when healthy) make Portland a contender for the near future.

Take a number Orlando

Jameer Nelson and Mickael Petrus-two solid starters-are currently out of the lineup with injuries but the Orlando Magic came to Boston last night as the third-best team in the Eastern Conference. Outside of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, the Magic (13-5) have looked like a much more cohesive team than the Detroit Pistons since they traded for AI.

The Celtics (17-2) right now are clicking on all cylinders as they won 107-88 for their ninth straight win.

Rashard Lewis scored a game-high 30 points for the Magic, Hedo Turkoglu added 19 points and Dwight Howard-the best center in the NBA-managed 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Orlando only played seven players though and Boston's superior depth paid off. Paul Pierce had a team-high 24 points and seven rebounds. Ray Allen scored 21 and Rajon Rondo had a double-double of 16 points and 12 assists.

Kevin Garnett added 15 points and nine rebounds while Eddie House tossed in 11 off the bench. Kendrick Perkins had eight points and 13 rebounds.

Boston started fast, jumping on Orlando 28-18 after the first quarter. The Magic responded with a 28-20 second quarter.

As has been the trend so far this season, the C's really went to work in the third quarter. Pierce scored 17 in the frame as once again the Celts outscored the Magic by 10 (29-19).

A 30-23 fourth quarter was just a formality for Boston.

The numbers that seem to always be decidedly in their favor followed the course last night: Boston shot 54.1% to Orlando's 42%. They made six more free throws (21-15) and dished out six more assists (20-14).

If you're going to beat the Celtics, you have to shoot lights out or play lockdown defense because as they proved most of last season (other than the first few rounds of the playoffs), this team does not beat themselves.

Revenge will be on the minds of the C's as the Pacers (one of only two teams to beat them this season) come to the Garden tomorrow night.

Reality Bites

The past few weeks with Matt Cassel playing the best football of his life, it was easy for Patriots fans to think that just maybe this team could make a playoff run in the AFC that other than the Titans, has no heavyweights in 2008.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) came to Gillette Stadium yesterday afternoon and made a statement with a 33-10 victory over New England (7-5).

We were getting ahead of ourselves and this team-while still in position for a playoff spot given such an easy remaining schedule-has to get its shit together and fast.

The Pats actually led 10-3 late in the first half (and it should have been more) but the Steelers reeled off 30 straight points.

One of the hallmarks of the last eight years for New England has been smart, physical football. Rarely do the Patriots make more mental mistakes than their opponents.

That trait was totally absent yesterday as the Patriots turned the ball over five times and had countless drops and stupid mistakes.

After posting 400+ yards in his last two starts, Cassel quickly came back to earth against the No. 1 defense in the NFL. He was 19-for-39 for 169 yards and two interceptions. He also fumbled twice.

Cassel's teammates didn't help him much as Randy Moss (twice), Ben Watson and Jabar Gaffney all dropped very catchable balls.

Kevin Faulk (73 yards rushing, 48 yards receiving) seemed to be the only New England player that showed up all day.

Things started out well as Mike Vrabel picked off Ben Roethlisberger deep in Steelers territory on their first drive. Sammy Morris punched it in from 2 yards out to put the Pats up 7-0.

Pittsburgh drove down to the red zone but New England's defense held up, forcing a 20-yard field goal by Jeff Reed.

Stephen Gostkowski's 29-yard kick put the Pats up 10-3 in the second quarter.

Big Ben and the Steelers moved the ball downfield efficiently and Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes for a 19-yard TD pass.

Cassel and the offense looked like they would go up before halftime but Moss dropped a pass in the end zone and then Gostkowski shanked a 27-yard kick.

In the third quarter, Pittsburgh took a 13-10 lead on a Reed 25-yard kick then everything fell apart for New England.

Normal return man Ellis Hobbs was on the bench with cramps so rookie Matthew Slater took the ensuing kickoff and promptly fumbled which Pittsburgh recovered.

Two plays later, Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward with an 11-yard TD pass.

James Harrison started to get around Matt Light at will and he caused both fumbles by Cassel that Pittsburgh recovered. Two more Reed field goals and two more Cassel picks made this an ugly blowout.

Gary Russell went in from a yard out to make it 33-10 Steelers.

It was a pretty depressing game, fittingly played in miserable pouring rain.

Wes Welker left the game in the second half after taking a kill shot from a Steelers defensive back. Somehow, he walked off under his own power after being drilled when he was defenseless and trying to make a catch.

The Jets lost and the Dolphins won, meaning New England is still a game behind the New York and tied with Miami. Buffalo lost so they're officially done from the AFC East race.

The schedule maker gave the Pats a gift at the beginning of the year in the form of consecutive games at Seattle and Oakland.

Since they're still on the outside of the playoff picture, the remaining four games for the Patriots are crucial. They have to win at least three, four to be safe.

Just like they have no excuse for yesterday, there is no reason in the world they should lose to the Seahawks or Raiders, two of the worst teams in the NFL this season.