Hurricanes 4 - Bruins 1
8 Golden Points:
1. This game turned real ugly and real embarrassing REAL quick. Yes, I do believe the officials made some poor calls (Seidenberg's "boarding" and Chara's phantom high stick), but the Bruins need to keep their cool. You aren't going to win games when you are playing down one man for an extended period of time, let alone 2 men. It's nice to see Claude show some emotion and get ejected, but this team has to find a way to play some consistent hockey.
2. No matter how frustrating the game, it's embarrassing to see fans throw stuff onto the ice. There are only 2 times that's acceptable: hat trick (hats/lingerie...winky face) and a big playoff victory (rally towels). A cup full of your dip spit?!... get the heck out of here. Any of those people real hockey fans? Boo, curse, punch your friend in the arm, whatever. Don't throw stuff. Not cool
3. Although Chara couldn't play for 15 minutes (5 minutes for fighting and a 10 minute misconduct) afterwards, I appreciate what he was trying to do. For some reason this team can't stay focused for an entire game. He saw an opportunity to try and provide a spark for his team. Unfortunately he got slapped with a 10 minute misconduct because the Hurricane's don't know how to fight. Well I guess I can't blame Harrison, I'd turtle too if I saw Big Z coming my way.
4. While I was thoroughly amused watching Horton toss Gleason around like a rag-doll, it was completely uncalled for. Gleason's an agitator and could see Horton was about to boil over. A little cross check from behind and that set Horton off (combined with the fact Gleason wouldn't drop the gloves with Lucic moments before). At that point in the game the Bruins were starting to get momentum back as they just scored a power play goal (hip-hip-hooray!) and it was only a 2-1 game with plenty of time left. But that set off a chain of events where we were 1 or 2 men down for the next 7 minutes. Are you kidding me?! Can't cost your team the game like that.
5. TnR said this morning that Kelly has been getting hammered because he dropped a guy with a sweater over his head. Watch that fight again. When the sweater gets pulled over Sutter's head, Kelly stops. Sutter then continues to throw punches. What is Kelly suppose to do?! Exactly what he did. Get his arm free from his sweater and deliver the knock out punch. Plus the Hurricane's sweaters are white, he could see through it. Kelly's not a fighter, so seeing him accept the challenge is always nice to see.
6. Claude gave Bartkowski some shifts early with Ference. He did not earn much more than that. He struggled early, looking a bit silly on the first goal and made poor decisions on the back end. Ference was scrambling early to cover for his weak or off the mark passes. He's just the band aid until the Dude comes back, but it's clear Bartkowski needs some more time in Providence.
7. I have to give credit where credit's due. The Bruins gave it to the 'Canes early and Cam Ward put up the stonewall. They became frustrated with their inability to score and then were goated into taking stupid emotional penalties. Ward was the best player on the ice last night, though he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut... or not pick a fight with the biggest player in the league.
8. Tuukka Rask. He wasn't as good as he was against Colorado, but he still played a pretty damn good game. He kept them in the game until the 'Canes went on what felt like a period long 5v3 advantage. It's pretty hard to stop that. Maybe one day the Bruins will show up when he's in net. We also almost saw our second goalie fight in recent memory! Instead Ward used his impeccable persuasive skills to convince Rask he was merely discussing politics with the big fella.
Next up: Toronto
No comments:
Post a Comment