GOLDEN POINTS: Boston Bruins vs New York Rangers

Rangers 4 - Bruins 3 SOL

Bruins Goals: Krejci (4), Horton (4), Marchand (7)

Rangers Goals: Hagelin (4), Stepan (2), Stralman (1)

Man, oh man.  For about 90% of this game there wasn't much good to be said, except for the delicious dinner that was prepared for me!  A lot of the B's looked off (see below) and they didn't seem ready to play.  As angry as this game made me, you get the feeling that the Bruins are always in it.  They never give up and you can tell that whenever they get down a goal or two (or three) they still believe they have a chance to win.  While they didn't win, they earned an improbably point out of this one.  I'll take it!!

And my thoughts:

• I thought Chara had a poor game again.  He was making awful decisions.  Someone needs to piss him off.  Hey Marchand, go poke the big guy a little bit.  Get him angry.  When he plays angry he gets back into it.
• Another bit of negative feedback from me is for Peverley.  Definitely his worst game of the year.  Him and Chara must've gone to lunch together and ate some funky clam chowder because their games were just off.
• Last bit of negativo coming from me, Rask.  The second and third goals need to saved.  This is a big game and in big games, we need to see Rask make some big saves...and some easy saves.  It's not going to be perfect, so I'll let Rask have this one.  Let's just hope he can turn it around.
• Alright, some positive stuff.  Despite playing what I thought was a poor game, they still managed 40 shots on Lundqvist and eventually pulled a miracle right out of their asses.  You don't see this very often at all, but they were able to score 2 goals with Rask pulled.  Yes, if there was a camera on me I would've looked like Jack Edwards....and GET OVER IT... I KNOW HE'S A HOMER... you tell 'em Jack.
• I hate/love Nash.  It still boggles my mind Columbus couldn't do anything with him.  It's a shame.  It'll be a shame if NYR can't do anything with him either.  Look at his shootout goal.  Just dumb.

Next Up: Buffalo Sabres

GOLDEN POINTS: Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres

Bruins 3 - Sabres 1

Bruins goals: Marchand (6), Bergeron PPG (2), Lucic ENG (3)

Sabres goal: Ennis (5)

After Snowstorm Nemo found New England and brought upon us snowmagedan we got treated to a divisional matchup with Sabres.  I don't know what it is about them, probably just the fact they have Ryan Miller and Tomas Vanek, but no matter how bad they are it's always a tough game against them.  

The Sabres handed the B's their only regulation loss of the season last time they played (and it was a pretty awful loss), but since the B's are 2-0 allowing only one goal.  Not too shabby!  There was no revenge for Scott beating up Thornton, and I didn't think their should be.  It was a fair fight and Scott just crushed Thornton.  I think the goal should be to keep Scott on the ice as much as possible, dude sucks.

• Ahh, the return of the Gnat.  Usually it takes a game or two to get back up to speed after missing so many games, but Marchand picked up exactly where he left off: scoring goals and pissing people off in the process.  He scored his team leading 6th goal last night and baited Ott into an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  Booyeah.
• Hamilton finally shows that he's a rookie.  I've been pumping this guys ego thus far, so I feel obligated to also mention when his play is only great not super amazing.  This was the first game that I've watch where I noticed multiple mistakes on Dougie's part (the cross ice pass that got intercepted and a way too eager pinch up the boards that he got burned on).  Luckily, neither led to goals (or I don't think they did).  Kids learning.
• Ryan Miller is a damn stonewall.  He made some incredible saves, especially the one on Horton comes to mind.  He was the only B's killer that showed up last night.  I didn't even notice Vanek out there.  Good job by the B's to contain him.
• Speaking of goalies, need to give some love to Khudobin as well.  He's showing he's ready any time he's called upon.  Only allowing one goal and also making his share of great saves.  I'm really liking this goalie tandem and quite frankly it helps ease the pain for the downward spiral off this Earth that Thomas went through.
• Do I really need to complain about the power play?  And don't point to Bergeron's goal.  Yeah it was nice, but the PP still sucks.  I'm done.

Next Up: New York Rangers Part III

Tim Thomas traded to the Islanders!

Thank you, Garth Snow!!  Thank you!

I found myself stewing with mixed emotions as I heard the news.  The first reaction was pure joy.  Not because Thomas is gone (well sort of), but because his $5mil cap hit is gone.  That was a significant chunk of dead weight we were carrying on the books.  Pooof!  Gone.  We received a conditional 2nd round pick in either 2014 or 2015, but really who cares.  The most valuable part of this trade is the CAP SPACE!  If we put Marc Savard on long-term injury reserve, I think I heard on the radio that we would then have $11mil in cap space.  Let that sink in.  $11mil of cap space to play with.  That is a tremendous amount of room to add a stud player or two.

A caller on the radio had the same thinking as me: JAROME IGINLA.  For the love of hockey gods, please,  let's bring this guy to Boston.  He's on a horrible Calgary team and is nearing the end of his career.  He has one more year left on his contract, and his cap hit is $7mil.  Yes that is high, but the B's have the room and he's a FA after this year.  He's scored 30+ goals 11 straight seasons, scoring 50 or more goals twice.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CALL THEM.

I don't know what they'd want in return.  Dougie and Seguin are off limits.  I'd be hesitant to offer a player on  our roster.  I'd offer up draft picks (yes multiple) and then a pick out of our top prospects: Jared Knight, Ryan Spooner, Jordan Caron, Alex Khokhlachev, etc.  Since he'd be a "rental" player, I don't think the B's would have to give up too much, but hey, make them take our offer.  Load it up now and make a run for another Cup!!

That was my giddiness.  Remove the White House snub, the Facebook posts, the Chick Fil A support, etc, and I'm a little sad this is how the Tim Thomas era is ending.  This guy had one of the greatest sports stories in recent memory.  He fought his way through Europe and the minors to finally be a starter on a team and then basically single handedly ended the B's 39 year Cup drought.  I mean take a look at this video.  Without a majority of those saves, the B's don't even make it out of the 1st round let alone the Finals.

Farewell, Thomas.  It's officially TUUKKA TIME!!

GOLDEN POINTS: Boston Bruins vs Montreal Canadiens

Bruins 2 - Habs 1

Bruins goals: Seguin (2), Krejci (3)
Canadiens goals: Subban PPG (1) 


While we didn't get the pleasure of listening to Jack and Brick call the first B's/Habs game of the year, I actually thought NBC Sports did a nice job on the whole "Rivalry Wednesday" theme.  If you tuned in at 7ish you got treated to some video montages of the rivalry through the decades and some sound bites taken from interviews with old players.  If you don't like two teams that hate each other, then it wasn't for you.  But for me, good stuff!

Every season divisional games obviously mean more than others.  You win the division, you are a top 3 seed.  In a shorten season they mean even more.  It's still early in the year, but the B's had a chance to either put 3 points between them and the Habs (and remain on top of the East) or allow the Habs to leap frog them to the top of the division.  The Habs are playing well this year, combined with the fact that it's never easy going to the Bell Centre (like the little Canadian flip of the "e" and the "r"...I'm so cultured), I wasn't too sure if the B's would pull off the double U.

Then the game started and I REALLY didn't think the B's were going to get a shot on goal, let alone a victory.  They played just awful hockey in that first period.  Luckily we have a good goaltender or it would've been a long night.  It was also a surprisingly uneventful game in terms of fisticuffs/face washes/scrums.  Not necessarily a bad thing, for while it was a fairly clean it was still entertaining.  Maybe the B's are waiting for them to come to the Garden to rattle their cages a bit.

Anyhoo...

• TUUUuuuUUUUUUKKKAAA!!!  Number 1 star of the game, hands down.  He was the only player that showed up to play and if it wasn't for him, the B's would've been down a significant number of goals after the first few minutes.  Timmy who?
• I thought the defense played a very poor game, especially Chara.  This is one of the worst games I've seen Chara play.  He's a machine, so I'm sure he'll just shut down for 30 seconds, reboot and be back to normal...not very worried.  Dougie was easily the best out of the bunch last night.  Maybe he can...ready... teach 'em how to play defense!!  See what I did there...
• Claude Julien looked like a hockey Albert Einstein last night (minus the hair).  The offense struggled mightily all night, so coming out of the 2nd intermission he flips Seguin and Horton and the first line scores two goals right out of the gate.  Well played, Mr. Julien, well played.
• While they didn't get much playing time, I thought the rookie line (MacDermaid - Tardiff - Spooner) played pretty well.  Basically, they didn't f-- up, which is impressive considering the type of game and the environment they were playing in. 
• I hate Subban's flopping ways, but man does that guy have a rocket of a shot.  Grrr why can't he just suck so I can trash on him some more??  And, after typing this I'll have to go throw up, Carey Price had a good game too.  That's all the praise a Canadiens team can get right now without my B's card being revoked.
• And lastly, the power play BLOWS.  What is going on here?!?  I've tried to be patient, but this is just embarrassing.  It has to be all mental.  The players on the ice are very good players on a very good team and yet when they have an extra man on the ice they all fart in their brains.  I'm not talking SBDs, I'm talking loud clear the room farts in the brains.  I still feel if they can get a few in, they'll get on a roll and make it a dangerous part of their game.  They are just too damn good.

Next Up: SnowStorm Nemo Tampa Bay Lightning (6-3-0 12pts  3rd in East)  They play the Devils tonight so there position in the standings can change tonight.  Either way, it's another big game.

GOLDEN SPOKES: Boston Bruins vs Buffalo Sabres

Sabres 7 - Bruins 4

Boston goals: Marchand 2 (5), Peverley (1), Krejci (2)
Buffalo goals: Vanek 3 (6), Ennis (2), Sulzer (1), Hodgson (4), Pommonville ENG (5)

There have been games where the Bruins lost by more goals, but this has to be one of the uglier games I've witnessed in the last few seasons.  Midway through the second period it looked like the B's were going to steamroll this team, going up 3-1 and controlling the play.  After that, they decided they didn't like playing defense anymore and completely lost all momentum.  The 5 v 3 hurt, but even after that they had plenty of chances to tie or take the lead.

If I told you the B's had 42 shots in a game you would've thought they were the one's that won 7-4.  That makes it even more aggravating.  They had their chances, A LOT of chances, but they just couldn't put it in the back of the net.

• I hope the Sabres trade Vanek to the Swedish Elite league.  This guy is a B's killer...and that's an understatement.  Something about playing the black and gold gets this guy to play some top notch hockey.  Which is sort of fun to watch, until you realize he's smoking your own team. 3 goals and 2 assists.  Dahyum.
• If you go on over to TSN.ca and read the comments under the article that talks about Thornton's concussion, you'll probably get very upset.  Just remember, no Canadian likes the B's.  They are calling out Chara and Lucic for not fighting Scott.  Excuse me, Scott has 1 career goal.  No that is not a typo, that is the number uno.  That is a HORRIBLE trade off for Chara/Lucic to sit for 5 minutes while this goon sits for 5 as well.  Thornton is one of the best fighters in the league.  Yes, Scott is 6'8 and probably has 50lbs on Shawn, but Thornton knows is role on the team and gladly does it.  It's unfortunate that he got rocked like he did, but that happens when you're a fighter.  Hopefully he gets better soon!
• Time to start calling out Seguin.  This guy tore it up overseas and he's struggling to find the back of the net.  While he's playing well with Marchand and Bergeron, he needs to start finding the back of the net.  If he gets going and Marchand keeps scoring, this will be a VERY dangerous line.
• Speaking of Marchand, if you want to see possibly the only good thing about last nights game is his first goal.  Beautiful!
• I hate blogging about loses.

Next Up: Toronto Maple Leafs  #ThankYouKessell