Bruins Report #2

At the beginning of the season, most Bruins fans had high hopes of earning a playoff berth. People would have been thrilled with an 8 seed and a “three n’ out.” After the first nine games, it appears that attaining such a modest goal will be a challenge. While Buffalo and Atlanta have gotten off to torrid starts, the B’s languish at the bottom of their division and tied for last the Eastern Conference with Philadelphia. Speaking of which, they fired their coach last week and the legendary Bobby Clarke stepped down (burned out) as GM. It is hard to think about the Flyers without a picture of Clarke (giving someone a two-hander across the ankles) immediately coming to mind. Just as Eddie Shore defined what it meant to “be a Bruin” for generations to come, so did Clarke for the Flyers.

A pretty good reason for the Bruins disappoint start, is the old “Injury Bug” finding its way back town. Andrew Alberts separated his shoulder and is out indefinitely, LW Marco Sturm went down with a leg injury, and D Brad Stuart broke a finger. The last two were the guys MOC brought in for Thornton last year, so that’s a big piece of the puzzle that’s been recently unavailable. Chara continues to be immense, turning out Bourque-like minutes. Paul Mara has been a -6 (!), Marc Savard has been a disappointment, but with every game Phil Kessel’s confidence is beginning to grow.

Turning now to the last four…Game 6 The Home Opener vs. Calgary (10/19/06): the Bruins desperately needed home cooking, and played a terrific 60-minute two-way game, beating the Flames 3-2. Brad Boyes scored (2) 18 seconds into the game. Murray followed (3) eight minutes later. Calgary picked up a score late in the second, but “One-Timer” Murray (4) hit on the power play to make it 3-1 after forty minutes. The Flames’ Tanguay pulled it to within one midway through the third, but the defense held tight and good goaltending from Toivenen, stopping 26 out of 28 Calgary shots. All in all, a highly satisfying return home for the Bruins.

Next up Game 7 vs. Buffalo (10/21/06) was a Saturday night matchup with the undefeated Sabres. Buffalo has returned to their old blue and gold color scheme, but the new logo (a tadpole with a buffalo head) and unis suck. Too bad, because the way these guys play, it wouldn’t matter if they were flying around in burlap bags. The Bruins, as presently constituted, are not even in the same league with Buffalo, as the result showed. Final Score: Buffalo 6, Bruins 2 (and it wasn’t even that close). Buffalo got an early lead, the Bruins tied it two minutes later on Wade Brookbank’s (1) slapper from the point, and the scoresheet indicates that the score remained that way for about another five minutes. From then on, Boston could not compete with the Sabres’ onslaught. Three unanswered Buffalo goals later, the Bruins were buried. Phil Kessel (1) scored his first NHL tally on a pretty play in the second, but Buffalo pushed across two more to “ice” it…when they allow a team of this caliber eight power plays, what sort of result should they reasonably
expect?

Game 8 vs. Montréal (10/26/06) How is it possible to lose a game with 1.2 seconds remaining? How? The good news was Matt Lashoff (’05 #1 Pick) made his NHL debut and comported himself quite well. The bad news was that it was his penalty with 45 seconds remaining that led to the last second goal (prompting the “Gahden Faithful” to litter the ice with cups and assorted trash --- way to go, numbskulls!). Montréal started quickly on Ryder’s first minute goal. Phil Kessel (2) tied it midway through the first. Canadiens pulled ahead on Higgins’ power play goal, Bruins countered with a power play goal from Chara (1) late in the second. In the third, the awful officiating came to bear. With about a minute remaining, Lashoff steamed down left wing and was completely manhandled by the defense. The referees saw fit to keep their whistles in their back pockets. Fair enough non-call; why allow even such an egregious foul to put anyone in a power play advantage so late in a tie game? Fifteen seconds later, why then whistle down a Bruins player on a holding play that in no way approximated the degree of mischief as had been perpetrated on the other end of the rink? Simply mind-numbing…

Game 9 vs. Ottawa 10/29/06: Well how ‘bout that for a nice comeback? The Bruins put together another solid two-way effort beating the Senators on a late power play goal. Final Score: Boston 2, Ottawa 1. Tim Thomas rebounded from Thursday night’s loss with a terrific performance in goal, turning away 20 of 21 Senators’ shots. It’s always good to see someone who really persevered to get to the NHL playing well. The game was hard fought, scoreless through the first 57 minutes, when Heatley pushed across the game’s first goal on a scramble in front of the Bruins’ goal. Things weren’t looking well for the Black N’ Gold until P.J. Axelsson capitalized on an Ottawa misdirected pass, scooping up the puck and beating the Sens’ goalie dead to right on a beautiful wrist shot. Halfway through the third, Ottawa was given a two-man advantage for 1:22, but the B’s held the fort. A few minutes later, Ottawa got caught on an interference call and Chara converted on the power play on a blast from the point, 2-1 Boston. The Senators pressed hard, but in the end, the B’s defense held.

Maybe Chiarelli and Lewis ought to think about just wingin’ it with the kids. They are finally developing some intriguing prospects in the minors and so far, the rooks (Kessel and Lashoff) haven’t looked out of place. Perhaps slowly the Bruins are on the rise.

Overall Team Grade (after 9 games): C-