Bruins Vs Sabres

            At the start of this 5 game home stand, the Bruins were beginning to make their fans forget about their slow start, their undisciplined play, how they couldn’t score goals and how their defense was full of holes and miscues.  Now, after dispensing with the Buffalo Sabres 6-2, they have not only made us forget that curiously horrific start to the season but they have played their way above the .500 mark for the first time this season, beginning to creep their way up the standings.  The team has found their identity, scoring touch, defense and their fight.

            Saturday night’s game against Buffalo wasn’t just another regular season game between two Northeast Division rivals.  The game became a measuring stick for both teams, each coming in with 4 game win streaks on the line, who were trying to rectify their respective troubles.  For Buffalo, all star goalie Ryan Miller has been struggling recently.  Miller began the season losing only one game out of the first five.  It has been the complete opposite from there, going into Saturday’s game against the Bruins he had only won one game out of five and in that one win against the Winnipeg Jets, he still allowed 5 goals.  For Boston, even though they were on a very dominating 4-game win streak, there were still questions remaining on their physical play, taking undisciplined penalties, as well as who, besides Seguin, was going to provide the scoring.

            If these questions were to be answered against the Sabres, those answers weren’t going to be found in the beginning of the first period.  The Bruins did not come out playing as if they still had something to prove.  Their passing was off, they kept turning the puck over and they weren’t playing physical, allowing Buffalo to skate around at will and scoring the first goal of the game.  It wasn’t until 6:48 left in the first period did the Big Bad Bruins started to rear its ugly head around when Milan Lucic had a breakaway, charging up the ice with the puck causing Ryan Miller to come out of his goal to cut the puck off.  Lucic didn’t quit however, charging into Miller knocking him to the ice.  This not only got the fans going but set the tone for the rest of the game, giving everyone a preview of what was to come.  Lucic received a two minute penalty for charging on the play and a scolding from Miller after the game, with Miller calling Lucic “gutless”. 

Here’s my two cents on the hit.  When a goalie leaves the crease to play a puck in open ice, he’s fair game.  Any goalie or player who bitches and moans about getting hit like that needs to start playing badminton if it’s too much for them.  I still don’t know why Lucic received the penalty because it didn’t seem like a charge to me.  The only thing gutless about that hit was that Miller’s teammates didn’t respond, they didn’t hit back or make their presence felt during the rest of the game.  It was as if they didn’t want to upset the big bully that was walking all over their best friend.  If a player ever hit Bruins goalie Tim Thomas like that, there would be retribution, starting from Thomas himself!  A player was quoted after the game that if any team hit their goalie like that, they would take care of business.  But there was nothing from Buffalo!  They continued to play as if they were hoping for a nice, quaint little game of ice hockey.  It allowed the Bruins to play their physical game for the rest of the match, flexing their collective muscle, dictating the play.  Rule #1 of hockey: if you get hit, hit back.  It’s as simple as that.

Needless to say, the Bruins owned the rest of the game.  Rich Peverly scored his fourth goal of the season on a beautiful move to the front of the goal and put it through the legs of Miller as well as getting an assist in the third period on Chris Kelly’s goal.  Tyler Seguin scored twice and had an assist, extending his point streak to 6 games.  Bergeron, as usual, was playing his game, always in the middle of developing plays and doing the dirty work to set up scoring chances for Seguin and Marchand.  Miller was pulled after the second period but Enroth didn’t have the answer in stopping the Bruins.

The defense threw their bodies around, letting the Sabres know this game wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought.  Chara anchored a well designed defense with Johnny Boychuk doing the dirty work; putting the other team into the boards and then retreating back to cover his position.  There were great hits on the Sabres throughout the game causing a lot of after whistle scrums to develop.  There was a lot of smack talking going on between the players, mostly with Shawn Thornton and Marchand.  It’s this style of play that ALWAYS makes the Bruins a difficult team to beat, when they hit the other team, not allowing them to skate around freely with the puck and when they’re talking trash in between plays.  Players like Thornton, Marchand, Chara, Boychuk and Lucic who have that attitude “if you want to go, stop talking and let’s go” may not intimidate the other team but makes them rethink their game plan.  This helped them crush the Sabres.

The Bruins defeated the Sabres Saturday night by playing textbook Bruins hockey.  The physical and disciplined play of Lucic, Boychuk, Marchand and McQuaid allowed them to dictate the play of their game without drawing unnecessary penalties but also had Buffalo questioning their game plan.  The offense had everybody involved with not only getting goals from Seguin, Peverly, Kelly, Horton and Marchand but getting assists from Bergeron, Chara and Boychuk. 

The Bruins have two games left in their five game home stand against the New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets.  If they stick to the script of Saturday night’s win against Buffalo, there’s nothing to stop this win streak from reaching seven.  I think it’s safe to say the Bruins team that we love so much and that won it all last season are back on track. 

For Ryan Miller…buy him a dress.

Mikey D.

State of The Bruins

​Boston Bruins fans did not only wait 39 years for the team to win The Cup but also waited to see how they would react to winning it. There were all kinds of questions for this season: will the fight still be there? Will the shortened off season have an impact on the players? How will the new players fit into the team’s chemistry? Will there be a power shift in goal? How good is our defense? Is this the year Tyler Seguin breaks out into a star? How will losing Mark Recchi’s veteran presence affect the team’s discipline and play? We are thirteen games in and while most of these questions do need some time to sort out to answer, what we do know is that there really is such a thing as a “cup hangover” and the Bruins are feeling it right now.
​The Bruins are currently 5-7-0 and sit dead last in the Eastern Conference, behind the Islanders and the Winnipeg Jets, and you can certainly tell they are cellar dwellers just by watching them play. One of the main reasons the Bruins beat Vancouver in the series was because they played physical and asserted their presence by not backing down from the opposing team no matter who they were. (the image of Marchand landing six unanswered punches to the face of Daniel Sedin never gets old) So far this season, that physical play hasn’t been there. They look hesitant to lay a hit on someone and frankly, that’s the only way the Bruins can be successful, is if they play physical and plant guys into the boards. That’s the only way Lucic, Boychuk, Chara, Seidenberg and Thornton are effective, that’s how they create plays that lead to scoring opportunities.
​The fight that we saw in the postseason is still there however, they’ve become very undisciplined. The Bruins are 2nd in penalty minutes in the league with an average of 17.5 minutes per game, slightly under the NY Rangers. In their 4-2 loss to Montreal on Oct. 29th the Bruins’ lack of discipline allowed them to completely waste a 5-3 powerplay. If there is ever an area where Mark Recchi’s absence is so clearly defined, to me this it.
​The goaltending is still pretty solid for the Bruins. Tim Thomas ranks 12th in the league in GAA with 2.25 and Tuukka Rask is holding steady with a 2.71 GAA. Thomas usually gets better as the season progresses (barring injury) so for him to rank where he is, for me, is a good sign. Tuukka is another story. All I’ve been hearing about is how the Bruins have two number one goaltenders and I’m just not sold on that yet. I still consider Tuukka a solid backup goalie. He’s too inconsistent. On a good day he’ll give up one or two goals, but then his next start he’ll give up four. Yes, he’s still young and he doesn’t get a whole lot of playing time since Thomas is just a beast in net. However, on the flip side of things, the inconsistencies may not be all Tuukka’s fault. The job of a goalie is to keep your team in a position to win, and with only on one exception this year (granted, he’s only made three starts so far) he’s done that. It’s the lack of offense and defense the team provides for him. In his first start of the season against the Avalanche, the Bruins were out shot 36-30 and lost 1-0. His second start against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins outs hot the ‘Canes 34-23 but lost 4-1, giving up two powerplay goals and committing 72 penalty minutes that includes 4 ten minute misconducts, two fighting majors and one abusing the officials penalty. (see above paragraph) The point I’m trying to make is that they didn’t help their goalie out at all by taking all those penalties. The last game against Montreal Tuukka did his job and kept them in a position to win. Sure, he gave up three goals (one empty netter in the 3rd) but they got off to a slow a start in the first period of that game allowing Montreal to score twice. By the time they managed to score a goal the game was well in the control of the Canadiens.
​Now, let’s not be all negative here because there are some bright spots. Tyler Seguin has started off smoking hot this season, making believers out of everyone that this could be a breakout year for the kid. He’s shown great progress from last season, seeing plays develop better to make a great pass, as well as playing more physical although he still looks a little scared of taking a hit in the corners. As of right now he leads the team in goals (7), points (14), plus-minus (+10) and is tied for the lead in assists (7). The organization and coaching staff has really done a wonderful job developing this kid. It’s going to be exciting watching him for years to come.
​Another bright spot for this team is the talent. Those that have started off slow include Krejci, Horton, Pouliot and Chara and its really hard to believe that these guys will stay cold as the season progresses. The team also has Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski and Steven Kampfer, who all have experience playing with the team from last season that they make very solid backups in case of injury.
​The team looked great in their last game against Toronto, becoming a nightmare for Phil Kessel who has still yet to show up for the games against his former team. If they can keep that up during their 5 game homestand against the Islanders, Oilers, Sabres, Devils and Blue Jackets they’ll be able to get some momentum and help their fans forget their slow start. It’ll be interesting to see how the Bruins play against the Oilers and Sabres, two very formidable teams this season that have a lot of promise to them, especially the Oilers.
​The team has started the season suffering from a Stanly Cup hangover and has only recently begun playing without the glare of the Cup hindering them. In order to compete with the teams that are playing at a higher level and to work their way up the standings at this point in the season, they need to work together to be more disciplined, productive and physical. They have the talent and they have the coaching staff to pull themselves out of this funk, the question is when is it going to happen?

-Mikey D