Bruins beat Sabres, play Panthers tonight

Wednesday night the Bruins were down 4-3 after the 1st period to the Sabres. But the 2nd and 3rd periods were owned by the Bruins outplaying the Sabres in every way just like their previous meeting. The Bruins won the game 7-4. Zdeno Chara and Chuck Kobasew each finished the game with 2 goals apiece (Chara now with 4 goals and Kobasew with 3 goals this season). Marc Savard finished the game with a goal (his 7th goal of the season) and 3 assists. David Krejci had a goal (his 4th goal of the season) and an assist. Marco Sturm didn't play because of an upper body injury, so Petteri Nokelainen played. Manny Fernandez started the game not to good, but got better as it went on. He made 25 saves on 29 shots, getting the win and is now 5-1-1 with a 2.55 GAA and a 91% save percentage.

And it's a joke not seeing Tim Thomas on the All-Star ballot, being 7-2 with a 1.78 GAA and a 94.4% save percentage, with 2 shutouts also.

The Bruins host the Florida Panthers tonight at 7pm EST. Expect Sturm to be out tonight and Nokelainen to play again. Saturday the Bruins play at Montreal which should be a good one. On Monday the Bruins are suppose to unveil their new Reebok third jersey. Read more about the new third jersey unveiling.

Game 1 tonight, get ready to rumble

Later tonight the Bruins and Canadiens will faceoff against each other in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Marc Savard practiced yesterday and is expected to return to the Bruins lineup. Earlier this week, Patrice Bergeron was cleared by doctors for physical contact but he won't be playing in game 1, and I wouldn't expect him to play in this series at all. Defenseman Andrew Ference is ready to return so look for him, Mark Stuart, or Shane Hnidy to be a healthy scratch tonight.

For the Montreal Canadiens, captain Saku Koivu is going to miss game 1 because he broke a small bone in his left foot while blocking a shot during a game March 28 in Buffalo. The Canadiens are the favorite for this series and they have all the pressure, and the Bruins are the underdog.

Good and bad injury news

Well there is some news about the Bruins injuries and there is some bad news and some good news. First the bad news. Forward Chuck Kobasew who got hurt in the game against Toronto on Tuesday, has a fractured tibia and will be out anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks depending on how fast it heals. This is really bad for the offense-struggling Bruins as Kobasew has been a big offense provider for most of the season. Defenseman Andrew Ference is still day-to-day with a knee injury. No news on defenseman Andrew Alberts but don't expect him to come back this season or for the playoffs. Center Marc Savard will be evaluated after the weekend.

Some good news on Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron had a neuro-psych test earlier this week which he passed. There is still no timetable on when/if Bergeron will come back to play this season/playoffs.

Source

Bruins youngsters bring it vs Toronto

Tonight the Bruins won a big game against the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2. With Marc Savard and Andrew Ference already out for this one, Chuck Kobasew got hurt in the first period after taking a puck off one of his feet. But the Bruins youngsters and character players stepped up and helped the Bruins offense score six goals.

David Krejci had a goal and an assist. Matt Lashoff had two assists. Phil Kessel scored the fifth goal of the game which came at a good time. Milan Lucic had two assists, one which was a nice pass to Shawn Thornton where Thornton deked around Vesa Toskala to score his 4th goal of the season. Jeremy Reich scored an empty net goal to end the game, his 2nd of the season. Glen Murray and Marco Sturm added the other two goals in the game for the Bruins. I will try and post the Shawn Thornton goal and the Jeremy Reich goal.

Savard and Ference injury updates

The Bruins Bear Essentials blog says that center Marc Savard and defenseman Andrew Ference are injured. Marc Savard was injured on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens when agitator Steve Begin cross checked him in the back, and the referees didn't call a penalty when Savard was down, obviously hurt and in pain. Savard will not play in the next two games, which is a huge blow to the already low-scoring Bruins.

"Savvy's situation is a result from the crosscheck the other night," he told the media gathered in the Ristuccia Center on Monday. "He's having a CAT scan done today and we'll probably know more later on today.

"But he will not be making the trip, there is no doubt about that."

As for Andrew Ference, he also will not play in tomorrow's game against the Maple Leafs.

"With Ference it is a leg injury and that happened last game, as well," said Coach Julien. "He's day-to-day. And will definitely not be making the trip with us for tomorrow's game.

"But after that, he'll be a day-to-day situation."

This is bad news for a team that needs points desperately and needs veterans like Savard and Ference in the lineup. Hopefully someone steps up in their places.

Savard and Lucic named to 'Stars' games

First, Bruins' center Marc Savard was named to the Eastern Conference All-Stars team. From BostonBruins.com:

This marks Savard's first appearance in an NHL All-Star Game in his 10-year-career. Savard leads the Bruins with 47 points this season, having posted 11 goals, a team-best 36 assists, and a +5 plus/minus rating in 43 games.

On Tuesday, Bruins' rookie power forward Milan Lucic was named to the Eastern Conference YoungStars team. From BostonBruins.com:

This year, in his first NHL season, Lucic has tallied four goals and five assists, while registering 59 penalty minutes in 39 games.

Before joining Boston this season, Lucic's previous two campaigns were spent with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Last season, Lucic led the Giants in regular season scoring with 30 goals and 38 assists and 147 penalty minutes in 70 regular season games. During the Giants run towards the 2007 Memorial Cup Championship, Lucic added 19 points and 26 penalty minutes in 22 games and was named the Giants Most Valuable Player, the team’s Humanitarian and Service award winner and the 2007 Memorial Cup MVP.

It's good to see Savard and Lucic awarded for their good play so far this season.

A night of firsts for a few Bruins

Last night's game was a wild scoring-fest with the Bruins and Kings going back and forth in the third period with goals. It's a good thing that Marc Savard played in this game as he played well and picked up 5 points, 1 goal and 4 assists. It was definitely a night of firsts for some Bruins' players. Rookie Milan Lucic picked up his first NHL goal, and had a Gordie Howe hat trick in this game. You can see Lucic's fight with Kings' enforcer Raitis Ivanans and Lucic's first career NHL goal down below. Phil Kessel recorded his first NHL hat trick. B's goalie Manny Fernandez picked up his first win as a member of the Bruins, even though the Bruins' defense did not play well. Later tonight the Bruins play at the San Jose Sharks, against former Bruins Joe Thornton and Kyle McLaren.

Milan Lucic vs Raitis Ivanans


Milan Lucic scores his 1st NHL goal


Lucic scoring his first NHL goal, image courtesy of Getty Images

You can download clips of Lucic's fight and goal on my hockey forum.

Savard is out tonight vs Ducks

Bruins' center Marc Savard will not play tonight against the Anaheim Ducks as he has a groin strain. Also Tim Thomas will be starting in goal for the Bruins tonight. Tonight will be a good matchup for the Bruins to see how they play against last season's champions, although the Ducks are missing quite a few players from last season.

Bruins get some revenge with win over Sabres

The Bruins played hard and physical hockey for most of the game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. They did blow a two goal lead in the second period though. That is something they have to work on fixing. The game went to the shootout and in the 8th round Petr Tenkrat, who hasn't done much at all this season, scored the winner against Ryan Miller. The Bruins got an energy boost early when Jeremy Reich dropped the gloves with Sabres' Adam Mair. Mair, who knocked out Bruins' rookie David Krejci on January 30th with a late hit, exchanged punches with Reich, and Reich got in more punches on Mair to get the decision in that bout.

Reich talks about the fight after the game:

"It was just a matter of letting them know that we're going to be playing physical, too. And you want to let other teams know that. Any time there's a fight, it brings a little energy to the building. If that's what I have to do to get things going, then that's fine."

Later in the first period Bruins' defenseman Andrew Ference and Sabres' forward Jochen Hecht were sticking each other and cross-checking each other in front of the Bruins' net. They then dropped the gloves and had a good spirited fight. Ference landed some good shots on Hecht and Hecht landed one big punch, but the win goes to Ference in that fight. You can watch both the Reich-Mair fight and the Ference-Hecht fight on our Bruins Videos page.

Marc Savard did take a bad unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second period. Savard needs to stop taking bad penalties and control himself. He had that reputation with the Atlanta Thrashers as well. He has 68 PIMs this season, most if not all have been two-minute penalties (he might have got a 10 misconduct this season, I can't remember). For a guy who doesn't fight, those PIMs are too high, especially since he's the Bruins' points leader. On BostonHerald.com it said that Savard took the team out to dinner later after the game (probably to make up for that bad penalty).

The Bruins play against the Philadelphia Flyers later tonight. The Flyers are coming off a physical tough game against the New York Rangers. Watch for the Flyers to play physical tonight against the Bruins and there may be a scrap between Jeremy Reich and Todd Fedoruk or Ben Eager.

Bruins beat Hurricanes in overtime

The Bruins won last night's game 4-3 in overtime against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, with a goal by Zdeno Chara (he scored on a wicked slapper). But what irritates me is that the same stuff happened that Bruins' coach Dave Lewis said needs to be corrected, such as standing up for a teammate.

In the first period Bruins' defenseman Bobby Allen was drilled from behind into the boards behind the Bruins' net by Hurricanes forward Craig Adams, who is a tough energy player for the Canes. Jason York and Petr Tenkrat just stood there, York gave a few pushes to Adams but that was because Adams had the puck, and not in retaliation for the dirty hit. Then out of no where Marc Savard comes charging in trying to get at Adams but the linesmen come in quick to make sure nothing progresses. So the Bruins best player right now has to also stand up for teammates by himself? I was shocked and disgusted that nobody else did a dam thing. Adams and Savard got two-minute penalties. So I was thinking that Dave Lewis might want to make a statement now and put out newly brought up from Providence tough guy Jeremy Reich on the next faceoff. But no he doesn't put out Reich and that says it all. It tells not only the Canes but other teams that they can run all over the Bruins and take cheap shots because the Bruins won't fight back.

Another thing that upset me about last night's game is that Reich finished the game with a total of 26 seconds of ice time on 2 shifts. That is two shifts for 26 seconds! How is a player suppose to do his job and provide energy for the team when he can't even get on the ice for more than a minute. That 26 seconds was all in the first period as well. While I was watching the game I didn't see Reich on the ice at all so I must have missed those memorable 26 seconds.

The Bruins should get a tape of last night's game between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues. Both teams dress tough players and they are both teams that stand up for each other. Go to HockeyFights.com and download the fight videos of Krys Barch vs Matt Walker and Krys Barch vs Ryan Johnson. What you'll see is Krys Barch doing his job and checking people, which sometimes cause fights as you'll see. Barch layed out Ryan Johnson with a big hit and Walker came right over and they dropped the gloves and had a go. Later in that game, Barch layed out Blues' Captain Dallas Drake with a huge hit and Ryan Johnson, who is not a fighter by any means, came over and fought Barch. Now that is a team standing up for each other. Bruins need to get a tape of that game and watch it a few times.

In an article named "On Hockey: Where's the fight in the Bruins?" by Douglas Flynn/Daily News Staff on MetroWestDailyNews.com, there are some revealing quotes from Wayne Primeau and Brad Boyes basically saying that the Bruins need a tough guy/enforcer.

"It always helps to have a guy like that. There are times when you need a guy to drop the mitts and spark the team like that. Those guys definitely serve a purpose."
-Brad Boyes on having an enforcer

"It's not something I think about all the time. If it's there, I'm going to stick up for myself or stick up for my teammates. It's not something I look for, but in that situation it was something I felt obligated to do."
-Wayne Primeau on fighting and on the fight he had with Sabres' Adam Mair

"Sure, I'd like to have someone. Every team has one. Except maybe Carolina and... Atlanta? They have (Eric) Boulton. So, yeah, every team has one, so if they need to dress him they can. Maybe that would make a difference. That makes guys (play) bigger for sure. No doubt about it. I don't know. That stuff is out of our reach (as players). We can't worry about that kind of thing. That's why you have a general manager."
-Wayne Primeau on the Bruins not having an enforcer

"I'm trying to think, in Pittsburgh Mario (Lemieux) had all those guys, Buffalo always had a bunch of guys like Rayzor (Rob Ray), (Brad) May, Paul Kruse, (Matthew) Barnaby. So, no, I've always been on teams that have been pretty physical and had guys for that."
-Wayne Primeau talking about some of the tough guy teammates he has played with

Bruins get beaten up against Sabres

With the display that the Bruins showed on Tuesday it makes me sad and disgusting that I'm still a Bruins fan. The way that they are playing right now is a disgrace to the Bruins uniform. They were blown out by the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, outplayed, and pushed around all night and not one Bruin player did a thing about it. Rookie David Krejci made his NHL debut on Tuesday and only got to play three shifts for 2:07 of ice time because of a cheap high hit to the head by Sabres rugged winger Adam Mair. After the hit Andrew Alberts pushed Mair but that was about it as the Bruins didn't seem to care that a young rookie just got his clock cleaned. Krejci now has a concussion and will not play Thursday against the Sabres. Later in the game, Sabres Paul Gaustad hit Marc Savard from behind into the boards and not one Bruin came over to push/rough/attack or say a word to Gaustad. Savard may have embellished the hit a little but come on! Your best player gets hit into the boards from behind and nobody does a dam thing? What is that? Then later in the game Brad Stuart hit a Sabres player with a good hard clean hit, Mair came over to Stuart and gave Stuart a shot that knocked Stuart's helmet back. The play then went back into the Sabres zone and then someone finally went after Adam Mair, it was Wayne Primeau. Primeau followed Mair around the ice a little and challenged him to fight. They dropped the gloves and had an ok fight where not much landed by both guys. Nice to see someone finally show some emotion and do something to protect/stand up for a teammate. Even though Primeau did drop the gloves it looked like he wasn't that interested in fighting Mair at all.

The Bruins play the Sabres again Thursday night and I'm interested if the Bruins will do anything at all to send a message to the Sabres for payback for what happened on Tuesday. I hope they do but seeing the past few games I don't think that they will.