Tim Thomas shows he's a changed man

There was absolutely no reason to think the Boston Bruins would win Game 2 last night against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Wells Fargo Center.

Down 1-0 in the series, Philly needed a big effort to even it up and they couldn't have gotten off to a better start as James van Riemsdyk scored 29 seconds into the first period and then at 9:31 on the power-play.

From that point on though, Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (career-high 52 saves) played the best game of his career as he stood on his head and his team rallied for a heart-stopping 3-2 overtime win.

Chris Kelly (4th of the playoffs) and Brad Marchand (4th of the playoffs) tied it up later in the first period and then the teams flew up and down the ice in a scoreless second and third period.

Krejci (4th of the playoffs) got it done at 14:00 of overtime as he one-timed a great feed from Nathan Horton past Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher (32 saves).

van Rimesdyk was a revelation for Philadelphia as he was the most dominant offensive player in the game. I lost count on how many times he had great scoring chances for himself or teammates. His first goal was the result of a 2 on 1 with Claude Giroux. It looked like Giroux whiffed on his shot attempt but it went right to the former UNH star who put it past Thomas. Nikolay Zherdev also assisted on the goal.

The second Philly goal was the fault of Boston's defense, not Thomas. He stopped two shots before van Riemsdyk banged home the rebound. Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen assisted on the power-play tally, van Rimesdyk's seventh of the postseason.

It makes sense that Boston's two most dependable forwards in the playoffs-not named Patrice Bergeron-combined to knot it at two before the first twenty minutes were up.

Tomas Kaberle's shot was blocked by Boucher, Michael Ryder drove to the net and was stuffed but Boucher couldn't stop Kelly as he swooped by and poked it in at 12:50.

Marchand's goal was a wrist shot from about 35-feet out which in most cases (especially when there's no traffic) should be stopped. Lucky for us, Marchand scored and it was thanks to a tasty pass from Bergeron with Mark Recchi picking up the second assist.

It's hard to imagine there's a hotter team in the NHL right now than the Bruins. They've won six of their last seven games, including a bananas four in overtime.

Game 3 is tomorrow night at TD Garden and needless to say, we don't need a refresher course on what happened last spring when these teams met. Boston dominated Game 1 and stole Game 2 thanks to Thomas' majestic play. Just like the Flyers came out on fire last night, I expect more of the same tomorrow. It's up to the Bruins to weather it all and come out on top, again.

I wish the Red Sox could play the Angels every day

Jered Weaver entered last night 6-0 with an ERA of 0.99 ERA. That didn't seem to matter as the Red Sox beat their second straight stud starter (Felix Hernandez on Sunday).

After last night's 9-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels (16-13) at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox (13-15) are 5-0 against the Halos this season and 14-1 in their last 15 games.

Clay Buchholz (2-3) went 6.2 innings, allowing eight hits, two earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts in what was his best start of the season (not exactly a high bar).

Weaver (6-1) lasted six innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs, one walk and six strikeouts.

With nine runs and 11 hits, Boston's offense finally performed like it was expected to more regularly in 2011 not once every couple weeks.

Jacoby Ellsbury led the Red Sox with three runs, two hits and two stolen bases. Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz both had two hits and two RBIs while Adrian Gonzalez had three RBIs.

Los Angeles banged out 13 hits which is somewhat misleading since they added three garbage runs in the eighth and ninth.

Maicer Izturis led the Angels with three hits, Bobby Abreu added two hits and two RBIs while Howie Kendrick and Torii Hunter had two hits and Vernon Wells knocked in two runs.

Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first on Youk's RBI single that scored Ellsbury.

The Angels grabbed a 2-1 lead thanks to Abreu. He had an RBI single in the third which plated Izturis and he drove in Erick Aybar in the fifth with a groundout.

Pedroia had the at-bat of the game and the season so far as he battled Weaver for 13 pitches (9 foul balls) before lining a two-run single up the middle in the fifth for a 3-2 Red Sox lead.

Gonzalez delivered his first wall ball of the year, a three-run double off the Monster in the seventh, giving Boston a 6-2 advantage. Youkilis followed him with an RBI double and then Ortiz cranked a two-run homer over the Monster (9-2 Boston).

Wells hit a two-run homer off Dan Wheeler (who is about as Bobby Jenks right now) in the eighth and Izturis had an RBI double in the ninth.

Boston faces its third straight ace tonight as Dan Haren takes on Jon Lester in what should be a nice pitcher's duel.

Thomas, Krejci star as Bruins Take a 2-0 Series Lead

Tim Thomas was unstoppable and David Krejci scored six minutes into overtime, giving the Bruins a 3-2 win and a 2-0 series lead last night in Philadelphia.

Krejci has had a monster series so far and continued his stellar play, rifling a shot by Brian Boucher that was initially waved off, but later ruled to be a good goal. The shot even fooled the goal judge, who didn't even light the lamp. Krejci's shot hit the vertical bar in the back of the net and ricocheted directly out of the goal, giving the illusion that the shot was stopped.

After a quick review, the goal was allowed and the Bruins escaped Philly with a dramatic 3-2 victory.

Krejci wasn't the only hero, as Tim Thomas played out of his mind, especially in the third period and overtime. Thomas made 32 of his 52 saves in the third and OT, following up his solid game 1 performance

Early in the first period however, it looked like Thomas was due for a rough night. James Van Reimsdyk scored less than one minute into the first, chipping the puck past Thomas and giving the Flyers the all-important first goal.

Van Reimsdyk was not done yet, scoring his second goal of the night at 9:31 off a rebound from Kimmo Timmonen's shot. The power play goal put the Flyers up 2-0 with momentum squarely on their side.

The Bruins would not go quietly, as they answered 1:25 later to quiet the rowdy crowd. The masked man Chris Kelly continued his impressive postseason, crashing towards the net to put home Tomas Kaberle's rebound to trim the deficit to one.

After Kelly's goal, the B's kept the pressure on, and then tied the game less than two minutes later. Rookie Brad Marchand took a beautiful feed from Patrice Bergeron and unleashed a wicked wrister from the slot that got by Boucher and tied the game at 14:15 of the first period.

Bruins Coach Claude Julien praised Bergeron after the game for raising his level of play in the postseason, saying, "He comes to play every night, and he plays hard. He plays hard at both ends." Bergeron has easily been the Bruins' most consistent player so far this spring, and moments like last night solidifies his importance on this roster.

With 4 goals in the first period, game two looked like it was going to be a shootout.

The goaltenders quickly dispelled that notion.

Tim Thomas was spectacular and both Boucher and Sergei Bobrovski held the fort down for the Flyers in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Bobrovski came on in relief of Boucher in the 2nd period, who left with an apparent injury before returning in the 3rd.

In the final stanza, Philly was the more aggressive team, outshooting the Bruins 22-7 in their frantic attempt to take the lead. Thomas was perfect making save after amazing save, including three massive stops in the final few minutes of regulation when Philly was on the power play.

Philly missed out on a golden opportunity as time expired in the third, when Daniel Briere stood on the doorstep with an open net and fanned on the shot as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

After more Tim Thomas greatness, Krejci scored his third goal in two games to send the series back to Boston.

Heat decide to show up, Celtics basically don't in Gm. 1 of Eastern Conference semifinals

I was at the Red Sox-Mariners game yesterday afternoon so I wasn't able to watch Game 1 of the Eastern Conference between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat live. Still, this being 2011 I couldn't help myself (even though I was recording it on DVR) and had to check the score on Twitter and my phone plus look at the TVs in the bars on Landsdowne Street as we walked down the street.

I listened to the end of the game on the radio as I drove home, took some time to decompress then finally sat down and watched it. One word comes to mind: yuck.

The Heat rolled to a 99-90 win at AmericanAirlines Arena in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Dwyane Wade had a game-high 38 points but the key in the win was James Jones. The sharpshooter off the bench (the 2011 3-point champion at the All-Star Game) had 25 points. LeBron James had 22 points while Chris Bosh (7 points, 12 rebounds) continued to be one of the biggest frauds in the NBA.

Ray Allen led the Celts with 25 points, Paul Pierce had 19 points and Delonte West had 10 points. Rajon Rondo (8 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds)-who was saddled with three fouls early-and Kevin Garnett (6 points, 8 rebounds) were both basically non-factors. Jermaine O'Neal and Jeff Green each added nine points.

An NBA playoff game wouldn't be complete without WWE style posing and theatrics. Yesterday, that meant Pierce would get booted out of the game in the fourth quarter on a bogus technical. He picked up the first one after jawing with Jones after a foul. A minute later, Wade ran into him on a hard screen and more yelling commenced. Pierce must have said all of George Carlin's seven words as he got tossed.

The first technical (which went to both players) was an easy one. I agree that the second one was completely ridiculous but Pierce has to know better than to go crazy like that for no reason. Boston wasn't going to make a full comeback anyway but seeing their captain get ejected meant it was really over.

The only bright side for the Celtics is that the Heat could never fully put them away when they had countless opportunities to do so. Boston had every reason to get blown out but it just didn't materialize. It was well chronicled that during the regular season, Miami was terrible in the fourth quarter of close games so they should have that hanging over their heads until they change that perception in the playoffs.

Miami led 20-14 after the first quarter and 51-36 at halftime. The Celtics outscored the Heat 26-25 in the third quarter and 28-23 in the fourth quarter.

For the game, Miami shot 47.1% to 42.7% for Boston. The Celtics hit three more 3-pointers (12-9) but the Heat made 12 more free throws (26-14). Surprisingly, Miami made five more blocks (8-3).

Game 2 is tomorrow night and the Celtics have never trailed by two games in playoffs during the Big Three era. Therefore, Game 2 is a telling barometer for what to expect in this series.

Carl Crawford plays for the Red Sox?

Don't ask me what happened in the month of April, his first with the Boston Red Sox, but Carl Crawford hopefully turned the page yesterday on May 1 as he delivered a 3-2 walkoff win over the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.

Crawford's (2 hits) RBI single in the bottom of the ninth ensured that the Red Sox (12-15) wouldn't be swept by the Mariners (13-16). Bigger picture, maybe it'll spark some life in the former All-Star and stud with the Rays who is currently hitting .168 and batting eighth for Boston.

On a personal level, it was my first Red Sox game of the 2011 season and I'd like to note that makes two games in a row that I've seen a walkoff win (last July 31 as well) for the home team after not seeing one previously in my life. Baseball!

It was truly bizarro day as for almost six innings, Tim Wakefield was slightly better than 2010 Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez. Thankfully, Bobby Jenks came on for Wakefield in the sixth and cost him a win by coughing up a 2-0 lead by giving up a hit and three walks.

Hernandez went seven innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, one walk and 10 strikeouts. He didn't factor into the decision despite throwing 111 pitches and getting into a groove late in his outing. More so than almost anyone in baseball, you have to feel bad for Hernandez (to a certain extent) since he's temporarily stuck on a team with a pathetic offense and just an awful 25-man roster.

Called into duty when Clay Buchholz contracted a virus, Wakefield made his first spot start of the season and it was a real good one. He went 5.2 innings, allowing three hits, one earned run, one walk and three strikeouts.

David Ortiz gave Boston a 2-0 lead with an RBI double off the Monster in the bottom of the third. Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) scored on the play.

Seattle tied it up in the top of the sixth as Jenks walked Jack Cust and then Luis Rodriguez with the bases loaded.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Jed Lowrie hit a routine fly ball to right that Ichiro Suzuki lost in the sun. The baseball hit him and Lowrie was able to advance to third on that gift. Marco Scutaro grounded out on the next pitch for the second out but Crawford finally came through with the big hit (which I called, pats self on back).

The unsung heroes for the Red Sox yesterday were Matt Albers and Jonathan Papelbon. Albers pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth with one strikeout. Papelbon (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout in only seven pitches.

The Los Angeles Angels come to Fenway with four games this week, starting tonight as Buchholz pitches against Jered Weaver (who has an ERA of 0.99 but also had his start moved back due to illness). Who's medicine worked better? The world will found out tonight.

Bruins get off to a perfect start in Game 1 vs. Flyers

In my Black and Gold tinted world, I honestly can't imagine a much better start to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia than the one submitted yesterday by the Boston Bruins.

The Bs embarrassed the Flyers 7-3 at the Wells Fargo Center.

The only real advantage Boston has over Philadelphia is in goaltenders but as my buddy who likes the Flyers said, "goaltending in the playoffs is the great equalizer." His name isn't Nostradamus but damn, that was pretty prophetic.

After their offense was shackled up for most of the quarterfinals vs. Montreal, Boston exploded for seven goals with two in the first period, three in the second period and two in the third period.

Brian Boucher (18 saves, 5 goals allowed) got the start between the pipes for the Flyers but he was pulled in the second period for rookie Sergei Bobrovsky (8 saves, 2 goals allowed). Good luck trying to figure out who starts for Philly in Game 2.

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (31 saves) gave up three goals and had some sketchy moments as he flopped around but the difference between him and the Flyers goalies was immense. Thomas looks like Dominik Hasek compared to those two graduates of Philly's goaltending clown college.

The Bruins power-play carried over its misery from the first round as it went 0 for 5 yesterday with the Flyers committing numerous dumb penalties. In total, Boston is now 0 for 24 on the power play and getting worse by the game if that's possible.

David Krejci's value was underscored in the playoffs last season when he broke his wrist in Game 3 vs. the Flyers. Not saying it was only because of him but we all remember how the next four games went.

Yesterday, Krejci was all over the ice as he scored two goals and had two assists. Brad Marchand added two goals and an assist, Patrice Bergeron notched three assists while Nathan Horton had a goal and assist while Dennis Seidenberg had two assists.

Claude Giroux was the only Flyer with multiple points as he had two assists.

Krejci (2nd of the playoffs) scored 1:52 into the game as he put a backhander past Boucher. Horton and Seidenberg assisted on that one.

Danny Briere (7th of the playoffs) tied it up at 11:02 as Thomas gave a rebound right to him and Horton failed to cover him properly. Braydon Coburn and Ville Leino assisted.

Horton (4th of the playoffs) gave Boston a late lead, scoring with 36 seconds left in the first period. Krejci and Seidenberg assisted as Horton was able to just flip it by Boucher, who helped out by knocking it into the net with his glove.

Boston came out on fire in the second period, pumping in three goals before Philadelphia could respond.

At 2:34, Mark Recchi (2nd of the playoffs) got his own rebound and squeezed it past Boucher. Bergeron and Marchand had the assists.

Krejci tipped in a shot from the point by Adam McQuaid at 15:26 for a 4-1 Bruins lead. Marchand's (2nd of the playoffs) snipe at 17:14 from in close, signaled the end of the day for Boucher. Bergeron and Andrew Ference assisted.

16 seconds later, James van Riemsdyk (5th of the playoffs) stopped the rally with a goal from Sean O'Donnell and Giroux.

Mike Richards' power-play goal (1st of the playoffs) at 13:02 from Kimmo Timonen and Giroux gave the Flyers a glimmer of hope that maybe they could comeback.

Psyche, not happening with their nightmare of a goaltending situation. Marchand snuck to the post and scored again at 14:59 from Bergeron. Then Gregory Campbell (1st of the season) closed it out with his first of the playoffs at 17:39 after a nice pass from Krejci. Daniel Paille also assisted on Campbell's goal.

No doubt about it, the Flyers will play much better in Game 2 tomorrow night. They can't afford to go back to Boston down 0-2 so they'll throw everything they have at the Bruins. Conversely for the Bruins, there's no way they'll perform as well as they did yesterday but if they can somehow manage another win, they'll be in great shape moving forward.

Mariners beat Red Sox for the second night in a row

After a 6-3 road trip, the Boston Red Sox seemed to have finally turned the page on their horrific start to the 2011 season.

On second thought, maybe not. Now, Boston (11-15) has lost four of its last five games as its offense has gone completely silent yet again.

Last night at Fenway Park, the Mariners (13-15) shut out the Red Sox 2-0.

Seattle starter Doug Fister (2-3) got the win after 5.2 innings of work. He allowed five hits, five walks and four strikeouts.

He was facing an AL West team so John Lackey (2-3) pitched well. He went six innings, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts.

For the game, Boston went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Still crazy Milton Bradley had an RBI double in the third which scored Ichiro Suzuki (2 hits, 2 walks, 2 steals, run). In the same inning, Bradley was thrown out for arguing a call at first base. Don't ever change Milton.

Jack Wilson drove in Jack Cust with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and that was it.

Closer Brandon League gave up a hit in the ninth but got three outs for his seventh save of the season.

The only positives for the Red Sox was the work by the last two guys in its bullpen: Hideki Okajima and Dan Wheeler. Okajima got five outs with no outs and a strikeout. Wheeler got four outs, allowed one hit and struck out one.

Clay Buchholz was scratched from today's start and Tim Wakefield will oppose Felix Hernandez. Just my luck that I will be in attendance and I get Wakefield. I can't complain though since I get to see King Felix. Boston will try to avoid the sweep.