What a difference 24 hours can make after NFL free agency begins. Last night, Patriots fans were all understandably pissed as Aqib Talib bolted for big money in Denver. The Broncos didn't stop there as they also added defensive end DeMarcus Ware this afternoon and let's not forget young safety T.J. Ward too. Was New England going to respond at all to the best team in the AFC?
As always, the lesson with this is we need to have a little patience. Last time I checked, the Super Bowl isn't won in March. So yes, we all want the Pats to be more aggressive and spend additional money while Tom Brady is still playing and Bill Belichick remains the head coach. Tampa Bay released franchise cornerback Darrelle Revis this afternoon and immediately the Revis to the Patriots rumors gained some traction. Fast forward to tonight: he signed a one-year deal with New England worth $12 million.
Even if you're not a Patriots honk, you have to appreciate the value (yes, that overused word in Foxborough) that they got on Revis. By waiting for the smoke to clear and not freaking out, the Pats were rewarded with the best cornerback in the NFL who turns 29 in July. It's not hyperbole to say that he can completely change their defense since he'll shut down one side of the field from day one.
The Broncos are New England's biggest rival in the JV conference but let's not forget how much this has to kill the Jets-their main rival in the sorry AFC (L)East. Revis made his money with the Jets: in four of his five seasons in NY, he played 16 games and he was an All-Pro three times.
All recovered from a torn ACL, he played in all 16 games for the Buccaneers last season after being traded there. For his career, he's amassed 21 interceptions, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, three touchdowns, 109 passes defended, 284 solo tackles and 60 assists. Revis is an old school cornerback in that he can actually tackle and he's not just a track star or guy afraid to tackle and help out in the run game. Plus he's got legit size (5-11, 198 pounds).
Let's be clear: the Patriots need a bunch more talented players (DE, TE, WR and S to name a few positions) but this is a perfect start. He'll be motivated to get a long-term deal and his name value should help attract other quality free agents to join him in a run at the Super Bowl. I don't want to get ahead of myself but this could have been the night that the Patriots finally got their mojo back thanks to Revis.
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Thursday, March 13, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
No More Having to Watch the Panthers for the Rest of the Season!
The Bruins have to be sad to bid farewell to the hapless Panthers for the rest of the season. This evening, Boston (42-17-5) beat Florida (24-33-7) 5-2 at the old BB&T Center. The B's took all five games with the Panthers in 2013-14, by a cumulative score of 22-8. Oh and the Bruins bumped up to first place in the Eastern Conference on idle Pittsburgh.
Boston was playing in a back-to-back but they still seemed like the fresher squad. BC's Jimmy Hayes was able to put a rebound past Chad Johnson (20 saves) at 7:00 of the second period for a surprising 1-0 Panthers lead. Of course, the Bruins recovered as newcomer Andrej Meszaros scored a power play goal at 9:58 on a laser from the point. His sixth goal of the season was assisted by Reilly Smith and Patrice Bergeron.
It was 1-1 heading into the third but did anyone actually think that Florida would pull it off? I don't think so. Krug scored his 13th goal of the season at 7:38 on pretty assists by Marchand and Bergeron. Boston cashed in another power play opportunity as Bergeron slammed in a low slap shot by Roberto Luongo (37 saves) at 11:21. That was Bergeron's 18th goal of the season with assists to Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg.
Hayes cut it to 3-2 with a garbage goal after the puck was stuck in Johnson's skates. Jarome Iginla added his 20th goal of the season on a wide open blast from the slot at 12:13. Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara provided the helpers on career goal No. 550 for Iginla.
Chris Kelly wrapped this all up with an empty netter (his 6th goal of the season). About the only bad thing to come out of this for the B's is that Daniel Paille left after his first shift of the game in the first period. He was hit awkwardly into the boards, left and never returned. Is that Jordan Caron's music?
Boston concludes this three-game trip in Montreal (35-24-7) on Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN). The Canadiens are one of the only teams to impose their will on the B's this season, they are 2-0 and now they also have Thomas Vanek (shits pants).
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Boston was playing in a back-to-back but they still seemed like the fresher squad. BC's Jimmy Hayes was able to put a rebound past Chad Johnson (20 saves) at 7:00 of the second period for a surprising 1-0 Panthers lead. Of course, the Bruins recovered as newcomer Andrej Meszaros scored a power play goal at 9:58 on a laser from the point. His sixth goal of the season was assisted by Reilly Smith and Patrice Bergeron.
It was 1-1 heading into the third but did anyone actually think that Florida would pull it off? I don't think so. Krug scored his 13th goal of the season at 7:38 on pretty assists by Marchand and Bergeron. Boston cashed in another power play opportunity as Bergeron slammed in a low slap shot by Roberto Luongo (37 saves) at 11:21. That was Bergeron's 18th goal of the season with assists to Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg.
Hayes cut it to 3-2 with a garbage goal after the puck was stuck in Johnson's skates. Jarome Iginla added his 20th goal of the season on a wide open blast from the slot at 12:13. Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara provided the helpers on career goal No. 550 for Iginla.
Chris Kelly wrapped this all up with an empty netter (his 6th goal of the season). About the only bad thing to come out of this for the B's is that Daniel Paille left after his first shift of the game in the first period. He was hit awkwardly into the boards, left and never returned. Is that Jordan Caron's music?
Boston concludes this three-game trip in Montreal (35-24-7) on Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN). The Canadiens are one of the only teams to impose their will on the B's this season, they are 2-0 and now they also have Thomas Vanek (shits pants).
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Sunday, March 9, 2014
For Whatever Reason, The Bruins Owned the Lightning This Season
The Lightning are a good team or so I've been told: they are 10 games over .500 and Ben Bishop is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. With that said, Tampa Bay (34-24-6) couldn't figure out a way to beat Boston (41-17-5) in the 2013-14 regular season. The B's rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 4-3 shootout victory tonight at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Reilly Smith won it in the seventh round with the only goal of the entire shootout.
We'll give pity points to Tampa Bay for at least putting up a fight this time, the other games were 3-1, 5-0 and 3-0 so this was something to be more proud of. Still, what is the deal? This was the perfect time to get two points against the B's. The Lightning opened up a 2-0 lead in the second period thanks to goals by Ondrej Palat and Mark Barberio (something that doesn't happen every day) but then they proceeded to immediately cough it up.
Daniel Paille cut it to 2-1 at 6:58 on his ninth goal of the season. Gregory Campbell and Johnny Boychuk assisted on Paille's no-look backhander that squirted through Bishop's five-hole (29 saves). Chris Kelly sprung Carl Soderberg on a breakaway and the Swede calmly put a backhander of his own between Bishop's legs at 8:29 for his 11th goal of the season.
Tampa Bay seemed to bounce back as Valtteri Filppula was wide open in front of Tuukka Rask (17 saves) and was able to put it top shelf at 9:31. Both teams settled down from the frenetic pace but the Bruins were able to tie it at 8:11 of the third period on Johnny Boychuk's blast from the point. Soderberg and Loui Eriksson assisted on his third goal of the season.
Boston started off poorly but later in the contest they hit the post on three separate occasions and also had a goal wrongfully disallowed so them pulling it out felt like cosmic justice of some sort or another.
The Bruins have a back-to-back as they travel to face the Panthers (24-32-7) tomorrow (5, NESN) at the BB&T Center. Expect Chad Johnson to get another start vs. Florida as Boston tries to sweep them as well (5-0).
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We'll give pity points to Tampa Bay for at least putting up a fight this time, the other games were 3-1, 5-0 and 3-0 so this was something to be more proud of. Still, what is the deal? This was the perfect time to get two points against the B's. The Lightning opened up a 2-0 lead in the second period thanks to goals by Ondrej Palat and Mark Barberio (something that doesn't happen every day) but then they proceeded to immediately cough it up.
Daniel Paille cut it to 2-1 at 6:58 on his ninth goal of the season. Gregory Campbell and Johnny Boychuk assisted on Paille's no-look backhander that squirted through Bishop's five-hole (29 saves). Chris Kelly sprung Carl Soderberg on a breakaway and the Swede calmly put a backhander of his own between Bishop's legs at 8:29 for his 11th goal of the season.
Tampa Bay seemed to bounce back as Valtteri Filppula was wide open in front of Tuukka Rask (17 saves) and was able to put it top shelf at 9:31. Both teams settled down from the frenetic pace but the Bruins were able to tie it at 8:11 of the third period on Johnny Boychuk's blast from the point. Soderberg and Loui Eriksson assisted on his third goal of the season.
Boston started off poorly but later in the contest they hit the post on three separate occasions and also had a goal wrongfully disallowed so them pulling it out felt like cosmic justice of some sort or another.
The Bruins have a back-to-back as they travel to face the Panthers (24-32-7) tomorrow (5, NESN) at the BB&T Center. Expect Chad Johnson to get another start vs. Florida as Boston tries to sweep them as well (5-0).
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Friday, March 7, 2014
Bruins Blank No-Show Capitals 3-0
Tonight might as well have been a scrimmage in practice since the Bruins didn't really have to do anything (other than show up) to beat the Capitals 3-0 at TD Garden. Washington (29-25-10) had lost the night before in Philadelphia and they played like a team with no energy or spirit. In fact, Braden Holtby (40 saves) had been pulled against the Flyers but he was outstanding against Boston (40-17-5).
This had to be the easiest shutout of Tuukka Rask's career, at least with the black and gold. He only was called on to make 16 saves for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season. Showing you how non-descript it was, he didn't earn any of the three stars for the game and that didn't even cause you to blink.
The B's got all the offense they would need in the second period. That goal-scoring machine Gregory Campbell tipped Patrice Bergeron's shot at 3:05 for his seventh goal of the season. Matt Bartkowski had the second assist. 5:15 after that, the Swedes connected as Carl Soderberg found Loui Eriksson out in front of the net. Eriksson displayed great hands to lift it over Holtby with little room to maneuver. It was also his seventh goal of the season with Kevan Miller picking up the second assist.
Washington pulled Holtby early to try and generate some offense but predictably that blew up in their faces. Brad Marchand scored an empty-netter, his team-leading 21st goal of the season at 18:26. The teams split the first two meetings and they'll settle things, in the regular season at least, on March 29 in DC.
Like the Red Sox and snow birds from around New England, the B's are lucky enough to get out of here this weekend to enjoy the sun and warmth of Florida. Of course, it's still technically a business trip as they go to Tampa Bay (34-24-5) to check in with Ryan Callahan and Steven Stamkos on Saturday (7, NESN) then its off to Sunrise to play the Panthers (23-32-7) on Sunday (5, NESN). The Lightning are fading fast, they've lost their last three games to fall 12 points behind the Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division.
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This had to be the easiest shutout of Tuukka Rask's career, at least with the black and gold. He only was called on to make 16 saves for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season. Showing you how non-descript it was, he didn't earn any of the three stars for the game and that didn't even cause you to blink.
The B's got all the offense they would need in the second period. That goal-scoring machine Gregory Campbell tipped Patrice Bergeron's shot at 3:05 for his seventh goal of the season. Matt Bartkowski had the second assist. 5:15 after that, the Swedes connected as Carl Soderberg found Loui Eriksson out in front of the net. Eriksson displayed great hands to lift it over Holtby with little room to maneuver. It was also his seventh goal of the season with Kevan Miller picking up the second assist.
Washington pulled Holtby early to try and generate some offense but predictably that blew up in their faces. Brad Marchand scored an empty-netter, his team-leading 21st goal of the season at 18:26. The teams split the first two meetings and they'll settle things, in the regular season at least, on March 29 in DC.
Like the Red Sox and snow birds from around New England, the B's are lucky enough to get out of here this weekend to enjoy the sun and warmth of Florida. Of course, it's still technically a business trip as they go to Tampa Bay (34-24-5) to check in with Ryan Callahan and Steven Stamkos on Saturday (7, NESN) then its off to Sunrise to play the Panthers (23-32-7) on Sunday (5, NESN). The Lightning are fading fast, they've lost their last three games to fall 12 points behind the Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division.
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Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Honestly, How are the Panthers Still in the NHL?
I won't waste your time for too long talking about a 4-1 Bruins laugher over the Panthers at TD Garden. David Krejci scored a hat trick for Boston (39-17-5) and Chad Johnson made 23 of the easiest saves in his life. Florida (23-32-7) is now 0-4 against the B's this season, with one more chance to get something in the win column on Sunday (not likely).
The Bruins needed a game like this to take their mind off of the impending trade deadline. So far, they surpisingly haven't made any moves. All we know is that they scratched Loui Eriksson with a mysterious injury and Jordan Caron was in the lineup (on the 3rd line no less). Hmmmmm. Caron doubled his point production with his first assist of the season (he has one goal) so I'm thinking maybe they can flip him for Sidney Crosby or at least Evgeni Malkin.
Tim Thomas (35 saves) can still make highlight reel saves but behind a team that has given up, it's hard to tell how good he can be these days. Oh and the Panthers traded for Roberto Luongo this afternoon so good luck with that guys! Krejci tallied his 14th goal of the season at 7:29 of the first period. He simply stole the puck behind Florida's goal then came around and beat Thomas.
Iginla put the B's up 2-0 at 11:01 on Thomas' juicy rebound. His 19th goal of the season was assisted by Caron (who took the initial shot) and Chris Kelly. Krys Barch appeared to be the only Panther to give a shit about anything. He fought Milan Lucic in the first and Shawn Thornton in the second so props to him.
Krejci found himself all alone in the slot, again, and he sniped it over Thomas' shoulder with 48 seconds left in the second for a commanding 3-0 lead. Kevan Miller had the lone assist.
Congrats to Florida though for avoiding the shutout (something that Boston hasn't done to them in 2013-14). Brian Campbell's weak backhander somehow deflected off Matt Bartkowski's stick and in the net at 12:47 of the third. No problem, Krejci notched his third career regular season hat trick (don't forget two in the playoffs as well) on an empty-netter.
This is the worst week of the season thanks to the schedule makers having Boston play Washington and Florida twice apiece. The Capitals (29-23-10) won 4-2 at the Garden on Saturday so naturally they come right back here on Thursday (7, NESN). After that, the B's hit the Sunshine State for spring training, I mean games at Tampa Bay on Saturday and Florida on Sunday. At least the Lightning are a good and exciting team despite their recent struggles.
UPDATE 3/5: So far, all the B's have done is claim defenseman Corey Potter off waivers from Edmonton. In 16 games this season, he has five assists and 21 penalty minutes. He was a fourth round pick of the Rangers in 2003 and he went to Michigan State (like Torey Krug). He's a Lansing, MI native.
The Bruins made one other move: they traded for Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros. He's 28 and a former first round pick that has five goals and 12 assists in 38 games this season. He's left-handed which they like but the knock on him is that he's injury prone and soft despite his good size (6 foot 2, 223 pounds). He's Slovakian and has played on the last three Olympic teams with Zdeno Chara so there is that. Granted all he cost was a third-round pick.
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The Bruins needed a game like this to take their mind off of the impending trade deadline. So far, they surpisingly haven't made any moves. All we know is that they scratched Loui Eriksson with a mysterious injury and Jordan Caron was in the lineup (on the 3rd line no less). Hmmmmm. Caron doubled his point production with his first assist of the season (he has one goal) so I'm thinking maybe they can flip him for Sidney Crosby or at least Evgeni Malkin.
Tim Thomas (35 saves) can still make highlight reel saves but behind a team that has given up, it's hard to tell how good he can be these days. Oh and the Panthers traded for Roberto Luongo this afternoon so good luck with that guys! Krejci tallied his 14th goal of the season at 7:29 of the first period. He simply stole the puck behind Florida's goal then came around and beat Thomas.
Iginla put the B's up 2-0 at 11:01 on Thomas' juicy rebound. His 19th goal of the season was assisted by Caron (who took the initial shot) and Chris Kelly. Krys Barch appeared to be the only Panther to give a shit about anything. He fought Milan Lucic in the first and Shawn Thornton in the second so props to him.
Krejci found himself all alone in the slot, again, and he sniped it over Thomas' shoulder with 48 seconds left in the second for a commanding 3-0 lead. Kevan Miller had the lone assist.
Congrats to Florida though for avoiding the shutout (something that Boston hasn't done to them in 2013-14). Brian Campbell's weak backhander somehow deflected off Matt Bartkowski's stick and in the net at 12:47 of the third. No problem, Krejci notched his third career regular season hat trick (don't forget two in the playoffs as well) on an empty-netter.
This is the worst week of the season thanks to the schedule makers having Boston play Washington and Florida twice apiece. The Capitals (29-23-10) won 4-2 at the Garden on Saturday so naturally they come right back here on Thursday (7, NESN). After that, the B's hit the Sunshine State for spring training, I mean games at Tampa Bay on Saturday and Florida on Sunday. At least the Lightning are a good and exciting team despite their recent struggles.
UPDATE 3/5: So far, all the B's have done is claim defenseman Corey Potter off waivers from Edmonton. In 16 games this season, he has five assists and 21 penalty minutes. He was a fourth round pick of the Rangers in 2003 and he went to Michigan State (like Torey Krug). He's a Lansing, MI native.
The Bruins made one other move: they traded for Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros. He's 28 and a former first round pick that has five goals and 12 assists in 38 games this season. He's left-handed which they like but the knock on him is that he's injury prone and soft despite his good size (6 foot 2, 223 pounds). He's Slovakian and has played on the last three Olympic teams with Zdeno Chara so there is that. Granted all he cost was a third-round pick.
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Sunday, March 2, 2014
Bruins Hang Six-Pack On Rangers at Madison Square Garden
It only took one game for the Bruins to calm nerves around New England. They allowed the first goal for the third straight game but scored the next three en route to a 6-3 win over the Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden. Boston (38-17-5) avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season and swept the season series (3-0) with New York (33-26-3) in the process for the first time in 31 years.
Tuukka Rask (39 saves) got the start for the second consecutive day and he helped carry the B's in the first period when they were outshot 20-9 yet found themselves tied 1-1. Rangers rookie J.T. Miller had a breakaway and made it 1-0 at 3:20 of the first period. More worrisome for the Bruins, it was the direct result of another careless turnover by one of its players (in this case David Krejci). All was forgiven though as Jarome Iginla tied it at one at 18:07 of the first. Iginla's 18th goal of the season was assisted by Krejci and Dougie Hamilton.
Not surprisingly, Boston looked like a different team in the second period. They opened up a two-goal lead thanks to strikes by Hamilton at 4:07 (his 7th of the season from Milan Lucic and Iginla) and Carl Soderberg at 9:34 (his 10th of the season from Loui Eriksson and Hamilton). Soderberg became the ninth Bruin this season with 10+ goals and only one (Brad Marchand) has reached 20.
New York gained some life at 16:53 when Brad Richards cut it to 3-2, remember when he was in John Tortorella's doghouse last postseason? Good times, he has 16 goals on the goal-challenged Rangers this season so I'd say he still has something left in the tank.
Gregory Campbell of all people helped Boston immensely by potting not one but two goals to start the third, changing it from a tight game to a blowout. He scored a shorthanded goal at 9:04 from Eriksson and Johnny Boychuk. That preceded a redirect from Daniel Paille that went off his skate and in. It was reviewed but stood up for his fifth goal of the season when the refs ruled that he didn't kick it.
Ryan McDonagh's power play goal at 15:18 made the score a little deceiving but Lucic answered with a garbage time goal of his own at 18:24. His 19th goal of the season was assisted by Matt Bartkowski and Krejci.
The B's return to TD Garden for a game on Tuesday (7, NESN) vs. Washington (29-23-10) then hapless Florida (23-31-7) on Thursday (23-31-7). Do I smell two wins and four points at home this week coming Boston's way?
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Tuukka Rask (39 saves) got the start for the second consecutive day and he helped carry the B's in the first period when they were outshot 20-9 yet found themselves tied 1-1. Rangers rookie J.T. Miller had a breakaway and made it 1-0 at 3:20 of the first period. More worrisome for the Bruins, it was the direct result of another careless turnover by one of its players (in this case David Krejci). All was forgiven though as Jarome Iginla tied it at one at 18:07 of the first. Iginla's 18th goal of the season was assisted by Krejci and Dougie Hamilton.
Not surprisingly, Boston looked like a different team in the second period. They opened up a two-goal lead thanks to strikes by Hamilton at 4:07 (his 7th of the season from Milan Lucic and Iginla) and Carl Soderberg at 9:34 (his 10th of the season from Loui Eriksson and Hamilton). Soderberg became the ninth Bruin this season with 10+ goals and only one (Brad Marchand) has reached 20.
New York gained some life at 16:53 when Brad Richards cut it to 3-2, remember when he was in John Tortorella's doghouse last postseason? Good times, he has 16 goals on the goal-challenged Rangers this season so I'd say he still has something left in the tank.
Gregory Campbell of all people helped Boston immensely by potting not one but two goals to start the third, changing it from a tight game to a blowout. He scored a shorthanded goal at 9:04 from Eriksson and Johnny Boychuk. That preceded a redirect from Daniel Paille that went off his skate and in. It was reviewed but stood up for his fifth goal of the season when the refs ruled that he didn't kick it.
Ryan McDonagh's power play goal at 15:18 made the score a little deceiving but Lucic answered with a garbage time goal of his own at 18:24. His 19th goal of the season was assisted by Matt Bartkowski and Krejci.
The B's return to TD Garden for a game on Tuesday (7, NESN) vs. Washington (29-23-10) then hapless Florida (23-31-7) on Thursday (23-31-7). Do I smell two wins and four points at home this week coming Boston's way?
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We're Still Waiting for the Real Bruins to Stand Up
After losing in overtime to Buffalo on Wednesday (I mean really), you had to figure that the Bruins would bounce back in their first game back at TD Garden after the Olympic break. Turns out, Boston (37-17-5) played even worse as they lost 4-2 to Washington (29-23-9) this afternoon.
You'll never win by allowing a pair of power play goals to Alex Ovechkin or letting the Capitals open up a 3-0 lead midway through the game but that's the impossible path that the B's chose for today. Ovi hammered in a one-timer at 18:39 of the first period and made it 2-0 with a similar strike at 2:24 of the second period. Ho hum, he leads the NHL with 43 goals, no big deal.
You knew it wasn't Boston's day when Johnny Boychuk coughed up the puck to Joel Ward who skated in alone on Tuukka Rask and scored at 10:13. At that point, the Bruins finally woke up before they suffered further embarrassment. Patrice Bergeron started the ill-fated comeback attempt with a power play goal of his own, 41 seconds after Ward's crushing tally. It was Bergeron's 17th goal of the season from Dougie Hamilton and Reilly Smith.
The fourth line came through with a goal as Shawn Thornton threw it to Gregory Campbell for a redirect but the puck went flying past Braden Holtby (36 saves) off his defenseman Mike Green. Thornton's fifth goal of the season came at 17:32 from Daniel Paille and Campbell.
One last fatal mistake by a Bruins defenseman cost them as Torey Krug fell down, leading to a breakaway and goal for Eric Fehr at 10:53 in the third. In a weird scheduling quirk, these teams meet again in Boston on Thursday.
Before then, Boston travels to New York to face the Rangers (33-25-3) tomorrow night (7, NBCSN) then hosts the lowly Panthers on Tuesday. The B's need points and fast before the Atlantic Division becomes a race again.
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You'll never win by allowing a pair of power play goals to Alex Ovechkin or letting the Capitals open up a 3-0 lead midway through the game but that's the impossible path that the B's chose for today. Ovi hammered in a one-timer at 18:39 of the first period and made it 2-0 with a similar strike at 2:24 of the second period. Ho hum, he leads the NHL with 43 goals, no big deal.
You knew it wasn't Boston's day when Johnny Boychuk coughed up the puck to Joel Ward who skated in alone on Tuukka Rask and scored at 10:13. At that point, the Bruins finally woke up before they suffered further embarrassment. Patrice Bergeron started the ill-fated comeback attempt with a power play goal of his own, 41 seconds after Ward's crushing tally. It was Bergeron's 17th goal of the season from Dougie Hamilton and Reilly Smith.
The fourth line came through with a goal as Shawn Thornton threw it to Gregory Campbell for a redirect but the puck went flying past Braden Holtby (36 saves) off his defenseman Mike Green. Thornton's fifth goal of the season came at 17:32 from Daniel Paille and Campbell.
One last fatal mistake by a Bruins defenseman cost them as Torey Krug fell down, leading to a breakaway and goal for Eric Fehr at 10:53 in the third. In a weird scheduling quirk, these teams meet again in Boston on Thursday.
Before then, Boston travels to New York to face the Rangers (33-25-3) tomorrow night (7, NBCSN) then hosts the lowly Panthers on Tuesday. The B's need points and fast before the Atlantic Division becomes a race again.
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