"Finding Their Identity"
November 1-20

Game 11 v. Buffalo (11/1/07):

The Bruins opened up the November portion of their schedule at home against Buffalo Sabres, war still try to find themselves in the wake of the free-agent departures of Briere and Drury. This was the Bruins first game since Patrice Bergeron went out of the line up a few days earlier, and his short-term prognosis did not look good. So the team ought to have a long-term view of playing out the year of without him in the lineup. To fill Bergeron's spot, Brandon Bochenski was given a regular turn after a two-game conditioning stint in Providence. Prior to the start of the game, Bruins fans were thrilled to greet the Red Sox ownership group who brought out the World Series trophy. That's probably as close as the Bruins will get to championship glory this year, or in the foreseeable future.

It was also announced that Manny Fernandez would be out of the lineup indefinitely having encountered a knee strain that kept him out for the second half of last year in Minnesota. So, for the time being, it's Tim Thomas against the world. Jordan Sigalet was recalled from Providence to be the backup.

After a scoreless first period, the Bruins got rolling in the second on an early power-play goal from Glen Metropolit, who banged in a slapper for the first goal of the game. Buffalo came right back in with two glorious opportunities that Tim Thomas denied. At 7:39, Phil Kessel put the Bruins ahead by a pair on a rebound from Marco Sturm. But the Bruins are a team that is still learning how to play with a lead. 10 minutes after Kessel's goal, Maxim Afinogenov scored for Buffalo courtesy of a defensive breakdown and the teams retired to the dressing room with the Bruins holding a one goal lead. In the third period, Brian Campbell scored the tying goal on an early power-play. Marc Savard came back a minute later with a goal to put the Bruins ahead 3- 2. Andrew Alberts was called for tripping at 7:05 and the Sabres wasted no time getting the equalizer, as Paul Gaustad tipped in a rebound and it was a brand-new game.

On to overtime: just as it appeared that the game would be settled by a shoot out, and Marco Sturm tipped Aaron Ward's shot from the point behind Ryan Miller, and the Bruins came away with a very satisfying 4-3 overtime win.

Game 12 at Ottawa (11/3/07):
Two nights later, the Bruins traveled to Ottawa for the first leg of a home-and-home weekend series with the Senators. Prior to the game, Peter Chiarelli announced that the severity of Patrice Bergeron's concussion may keep him out for the remainder of the season. Much was made comments made in the Canadian press during the week as to placing blame on Bergeron for what happened. Naturally, this provoked a war of words in the media between Chiarelli who condemned such thoughts, and Bob McKenzie from TSN. This one is very hard to simply "get over". The Bruins have lost arguably their most talented player indefinitely while the perpetrator, whether intentional or accidental, was suspended for two games. That's pretty tough to swallow. While the propriety of Mr. Jones' actions and his degree of culpability may remain a question of debate in certain circles, let us not lose sight of the fact that a 22-year old young man with a future as bright as the stars has been seriously hurt. The business of hockey moves on, but prayers and best wishes go out to Patrice and his family.

With a record of 11-1-0, Ottawa has been playing like a team on a mission. Having come so close to winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Senators will settle for nothing less than a return engagement. This would be a big test for the Bruins as well. So far, the team is played above expectations and it would be great to see how the team would perform against one of the NHL's elite teams. Ray Emery is still recovering from surgery and working his way back into the lineup, so Martin Gerber got the start in goal. The game kicked off in fine fashion as Shawn Thornton and Brian McGrattan had an early go of it with McGrattan winning slightly on points.
The other thing that came out of this game is that the Bruins penalty killing unit and needs a lot of work. Senators scored all three of their goals on the power-play, and their offense was amazing, putting 45 shots on Tim Thomas, who spent the better part of the night standing on his ear. The Bruins got two goals early in the second period from Chuck Kobasew, who has played pretty well all year. Other than that, the offense was pretty anemic, putting up a grand total of 19 shots for the game.

In the second half of the game, Ottawa was simply dominant and the Bruins had no response for them once the Senators were on the power-play (which happened to be rather frequently). Dany Heatley tied the score in the second and Mike Fisher bank in the game-winner midway through the third period. It wasn't the case that the Bruins weren't trying, they were in simply on their heels all night as Ottawa pressed the attack from the get-go. There was a little rumble at the end of the game, but nothing of consequence. Tim Thomas was simply brilliant in goal, without him to score may have been 12-2.

Game 13 v. Ottawa (11/4/07):
24 hours later, it was back to Boston, where the teams hooked up again. This was a different game altogether, is the Bruins came out on the attack and played significantly better than they had the night before. Andrew Ference did not play after having been diagnosed with an "upper core" injury, while Milan Lucic did not dress. In their place, Bobby Allen and Jeremy Reich got rare opportunities to see some ice time. Additionally, David Krejci was sent back to Providence, and Petteri Nokelainen was recalled. Nokelainen came to the Bruins in the off-season from the Islanders in exchange for Ben Walter and a conditional draft pick based on the number of games that Nokelainen plays for Boston over the next two seasons.the Bruins have high hopes for Krejci, who played very well in the five-game road trip to open up the season. But the quality of his play and his ice time has diminished in the last month; it became apparent that he's not quite ready for prime time.

Chuck Kobasew scored early in the first and the B's held the 1-0 until Antoine Vermette scored a shorthanded goal early in the third period. The borough is really hurt their chances in the first and second periods by getting called for six penalties. They allowed the Senators a five-on-three opportunity early in the second that they were lucky to get out of without any goals have been scored. In the third, they had to power-play opportunities of their own that they failed to capitalize on. The game went through a scoreless overtime and onto the shoot out, where the senators prevailed in scoring on both of their chances, while the Bruins failed on their two attempts.

On the whole, the Bruins played the sort of game fans were really hoping to see. It's a shame that the opening of the game, coincided with the end of the Patriots game, because the Garden seats were largely empty. They were on the attack most of the night and did not seem the least bit intimidated by Ottawa, so although it was only one point gained out of a possible four over the weekend, they have to feel that if they maintain this level of pace in the future has to look much brighter than the recent past.

Prior to Wednesday night's game in Buffalo, the Bruins made a little noise around town when called up goaltender Tuukka Rask from Providence. Rask is considered by one and all to be the Bruins' goaltender of the future (see Raycroft, Toivonen, et. al). But we've been down this road so many times before, with so many can't miss prospects that it's like a broken record. Whether this is indicative of a more severe injury to Manny Fernández knee then was originally reported is unknown. The Bruins are becoming very much like the Patriots regarding players' injuries as if they were state secrets. Whether Rask gets to see any ice time is also unknown. The Bruins are in the midst of a number of back-to-back games and although Tim Thomas has been outstanding and goals so far, one would hope that the coach would not burn him out as occurred last season. Ideally, it would be great if Rask were able to get at least one of the starts in the midweek games.

Game 14 at Buffalo (11/7/07) (7-5-2-16-6th Eastern Conf.):
On Wednesday the seventh, the Bruins traveled to Buffalo for a date with the Sabres. In the first period, the Bruins came out firing on all cylinders.Marc Savard scored at 8:07 on a terrific pass from Glen Murray as the Bruins certainly had the better of it in the early going. However, maintaining momentum is always a challenge for this year's team. In the second period, slowly but surely, the Sabres starter to get the edge in play. The Bruins reverted to their physical style ended ended up costing. Zdeno Chara was whistled for interference at 15:25, and 25 seconds later Ales Kotalik banged in a slap shot from directly in front of the net to tie the score. The third period was relatively quiet, though the Bruins survived a late shorthanded situation when Aaron Ward was called for high sticking at 17:25. The game went into overtime with the Bruins seemed to be overwhelmed throughout. At
3:16, Clarke MacArthur floated in from the blue line and snapped the puck over Tim Thomas' shoulder for the game-winner. Certainly an overtime loss is disappointing, but at least they came out with a point on the road, and that's not the worst thing of the world. Tim Thomas had another great night in goal for the Bruins turning aside 27 of 29 shots, and overall the team showed spark and fire throughout the game. However, there's no rest for the weary as Montréal comes to town on Thursday night and they've had a terrific start to season today with an 8-3-3 record.

Game 15 v. Montréal (11/8/07) (7-6-2-16-6th Eastern Conf.):
Prior to Thursday night’s game, Patrice Bergeron met briefly with the English and French media. He stated that he fully intends to return to the team but at the moment suffers from dizziness and fatigue. He also said, "If you see a number, if you see the back of a player, just don't hit. We need to realize, and think about the consequences when you go for a hit like that. Hitting is part of the game, but not from behind. Throughout the league, as players, we need to respect each other a little bit more. I think something maybe needs to be done.”

And then…the B’s took a bad turn, though at the start it didn’t seem as such. The last time these teams got together, Canadiens basically pushed the Bruins around like the schoolyard bully. Tonight, they started Carey Price in goal while Tim Thomas came back for the second time in as many nights. In the opening minutes it seemed as if the B’s were incapable of moving the puck out of their end, but they were hustling and taking the body. This was the first time Bruins fans were able to see Price, and he was outstanding, easily setting aside 9 shots in the period.

The Bruins had their chances, especially late. But disaster struck when Kessel’s pass in the Canadiens’ end was picked by Bouillon, who flipped the puck to Kostitsyn. Chara was caught out of position and Kostitsyn streaked down left wing, flipped the puck to Plekanec who put a wrist shot on Thomas that trickled through Thomas’ pads and wobbled past the goal line. Kovalev skated toward the net and pushed the puck in for the first goal of the night.

The up-tempo play continued in the second. Kobasew sent Streit ass-over-teakettle with a devastating check early on. Reich and Steve Bégin has a wee tussle, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then, the same line that scored Canadiens’ first goal struck again. At 8:07, Plekanec grabbed a pass from Kostsitsyn (who was the recipient of a beautiful touch pass from Kovalev) and flipped a wrist shot past Thomas to put Canadiens up by a pair. To their credit, the B’s didn’t decrease their level of intensity. At 14:12, Marco Sturm grabbed a rebound in front of Price and backhanded the puck through the scrum into the net and it was once more a one-goal game.

Then, disaster struck in the third. Both teams maintained their levels of intensity, but at the 13-minute mark the B’s were handed a golden opportunity when two Canadiens were called for penalties giving Boston a two-man advantage for 1:57. The B’s did nothing, and to make matters worse, as Boullion was exiting the penalty box he collided with Aaron Ward, and Ward was knocked out cold. In a scene all-too reminiscent of just a week and a half earlier, the stretcher was brought out but Ward was able to be dragged off the ice by a couple of his mates.

Whether the hit was incidental or intentional was a matter of whatever team you were rooting for. The Francophone sports network RDS had replay coverage showing Bouillon with elbows high as he crossed paths with Ward while the local coverage on NESN missed the play entirely and it wasn’t until Ward was face down that the cameras picked up the scene. The net result is that the B’s have yet another player out indefinitely with a concussion.

The final moments of the game played out, but after blowing an incredible opportunity to tie the score and seeing one of the team leaders knocked into next week, the B’s were done for this night, final score 2-1 Montréal.

Injury Update:
Bergeron placed on LTIR, Fernandez (knee strain) and Shawn Thornton (broken foot) were placed on the IR. Ward (concussion) out indefinitely, Ference (status unknown).
Last night’s game confirmed the notion that Julien brought the dreaded neutral-zone trap game from New Jersey. However, the last time I checked, the Bruins defensive and goaltending compliments are not in the same league as New Jersey’s. Right now, the only system that appears to be employed is just to throw the puck around, bang the boards and hope for a lucky bounce. The power play sucks (15.8%). Murray has one goal so far this year. One goal! And he’s on the books for $4+M! That’s completely unacceptable.

With Aaron Ward out of the lineup indefinitely with a concussion and Bobby Allen having suffered an arm injury, the Bruins recalled the defensemen Matt Hunwick and Matt Lashoff from Providence.

Game 16 v. Buffalo (11/10/07) (8-6-2-18-6th Eastern Conf.):
Before a packed house at the Garden, Buffalo came to town on the 10th and after their overtime win just a few days earlier, thought that the Bruins would be easy pickings. Early in the game, their forwards decided to crash the net, only Tim Thomas was not in a trifling mood. Jason Pominville took a run at Thomas and got a face full of the goalie's blocking glove for his trouble. The Bruins spent the better part of the first period killing penalties, and after the first 20 minutes the teams retired to the dressing room without any goals have been scored. Due to all of the power plays, Buffalo really had the edge of play in the first period. In the second, Buffalo maintained their pressure in the Bruins' end of the rink, but Marco Sturm drew first blood at 18:16 when he scored on a tip in and after two periods of play the Bruins were ahead by a goal. To that point, the Bruins had been out shot 32-13.

In the third period, Pominville was called for tripping at 7:55 and the Bruins had a golden opportunity and to go up by a pair. However this team does not seem to do well with golden opportunities and the woefully inadequate power-play unit once again gave up another shorthanded goal, this time to Daniel Paille at 8:13. Given the fact that the team was already without two of their regular defenseman, and that Buffalo was pressing in the Bruins end all night, it seemed as if the Sabres would momentarily score the go-ahead goal. But the Bruins hung in there. While they were still on the power play, there was a scrum front of the Buffalo goal. The puck bounced in the air where Chuck Kobasew was waiting and backhanded it in the net before it hit the ice. It was really a remarkable play, for more importantly, it put the Bruins ahead by a goal. The Bruins went back on the power play again to no avail, but it helped diminish the pressure. At 9:46, Pominville inadvertently struck Bochenski in the face with his stick and drawing blood and receive the four-minute high-sticking minor. Again, the Bruins were no great shakes offensively by playing a man down for a lengthy stretch stymied any momentum that the Sabres could try to put together in the closing moments of the game.

The Bruins skated away with a hard-earned 2-1 win, but once more the honors went to Tim Thomas, as he set aside 45 out of 46 shots on the night. Although things on the offensive side of the rink still leave a lot to be desired, the kids from Providence did not at all out of place. Although the season has not quite reach the quarter pole, it’s pretty safe to say that the Bruins are playing with far more discipline in their own end of the rink and have a spirit that was sorely lacking last year. They basically need to continue to work hard and the breaks will bounce their way. The team has a few days of rest and practice before Toronto comes in on the 15th.

Game 17 v. Toronto (11/14/07) (9-6-2-18-7th Eastern Conf.):
Anytime an Original Six rival comes to town it’s a big deal. Too bad that “good seats were still available” because folks missed out on watching the B’s play one of their better games of the season. After next Friday’s matinee, the team will be hitting the road for a lengthy stretch. The walking wounded are slowly making their way back to the lineup as Andrew Ference returned to the defense while Aaron Ward was still out.

The Bruins wasted no time getting on the board as Marc Savard grabbed a passed from Murray and banged the puck past Raycroft at 19 seconds. A couple of minutes later Lucic and Bell had a memorable go and Lucic clubbed Bell big time, so the atmosphere picked up considerably. Mark Stuart went out for hooking at 10:51 and Kyle Wellwood scored on a backhand of a fluke rebound that bounced off the glass behind Thomas. Rube Goldberg could not have drawn it up any better as Leafs tied the score. But not for long…32 seconds later, at 11:40, Marco Sturm picked a pass from Kessel and slid the puck past Raycroft and the B’s were up 2-1.

In the second period, both teams toned down the intensity. Glen Metropolit scored at 10:16 to put the B’s up by a pair, then the defense let down their guard and got sloppy and were skating around aimlessly in their end. As a result, Ponikarovsky scored on a wrist shot from directly in front of the Bruins’ goal at 11:57. At that point Leafs really started to press things, and the B’s picked up their level of physicality. Chara leveled Devereaux late in the period then Nokelainen popped Tucker but good behind the Leafs’ net. Tucker tried to goad Nokie into a fight but Reich stepped in and Tucker backed off. With a minute remaining, Savard set Murray up on a 2-on-1 with a perfect pass that Murray flubbed. Ugh!

On to the third and Leafs decided to pull out the stops offensively. The B’s maintained their poise on defense and Kobasew slipped a pretty pass in the Leaf zone to Peter Schaefer who came down left wing and slid the puck low right past Raycroft, 4-2 B’s. Schaefer wasn’t finished yet. Following an unsuccessful (and nearly disastrous) power play, the Leafs tried to toss the puck into the Bruins’ end. Wideman knocked down the puck, retained possession and moved into the Leafs’ zone. He flipped a backhand pass to Savard, who saw Bochenski streaking down right wing uncontested. Savard passed to Bockenski, who tried to put the puck behind Raycroft but was denied. But Schaefer was standing to Raycroft’s left completely unattended and just waiting to bang the rebound to give the B’s a 5-2 lead. Leafs went on the power play and peppered Thomas with a barrage of shots but he withstood the challenge. Later on, Leafs went back on the power play and had a few more chances that Thomas turned aside. All told, Toronto put 36 shots on goal including 19 in the third period. This was a very nice win for the team. Now it’s on to Montréal Saturday night.

Game 18 at Montréal (11/17/07) (9-7-2-20-7th Eastern Conf.):

There've been many so Saturday nights in the Boston Bruins’ history when they've traveled to Montréal full of piss n’ vinegar, only to leave with their hats in their hands. At least this time they played much better than they did in their previous meeting on the 8th but the results were pretty much the same. Prior to the game, the Canadiens announced that Larry Robinson's number 19 would be retired next week. When it comes to pregame ceremonies, nobody does it better than the Canadiens. Robinson was a nemesis of the Bruins and the backbone of all of those Cup-winning teams in the late 1970s.

The Bruins ended up losing this game 7-4, but in actuality the score was meaningless, as you knew that Canadiens were going to win no matter what. Historically, the B’s have won maybe 15-20% of the games played there in the last 80 years, and the Habs have pretty much had the B’s number in the recent past.
Mark Stuart went out on a slashing penalty at the two-minute mark, and Saku Koivu scored just 40 seconds later to put Canadiens ahead 1-0. The Bruins came right back on Glen Murray's second goal of the year less than a minute later. It was a spin-around wrist shot that was a trademark of Murray when he was in his prime. Midway through the period, play started to get chippy with a number of crosschecking and roughing calls. The Bruins were still quite angry over Francis Bouillon's dirty hit that leveled Aaron Ward a week earlier and did not want to Montréal to think that they could push them around with impunity.

In the second period, things really began to heat up. Dandenault went out on a high-sticking call at 1:05, and once again, the Bruins' crack penalty killing unit allowed a shorthanded goal by Kostopoulos just 14 seconds later. It was turning out to be a typical Bruins game in Montréal after all. The Bruins didn't stop skating: Chara scored on a slap shot from the point at 3:11, but tonight was just not Tim Thomas' night. Kostitsyn put Montréal ahead at 4:59 on a play that was very similar to the first goal that was scored when Canadiens won at Boston a week earlier. Kovalev was called for a slash at 9:57 and the Bruins wasted no time when Marco Sturm scored on a wrist shot in front of the net at 10:43. As the game neared the latter stages of the second period, both teams played it straight and it was the only sustained period of good two-way hockey during the night. The Canadiens kept up the pressure in the Bruins' end and Latendresse scored the go-ahead goal at 17:30.

So far this year, when the Bruins head into the third period down by a goal they haven't earned a point. They tried valiantly to get the equalizer, but the outcome seemed moot when Roman Hamrlik scored on a wrist shot from the point at 4:23. After that, things got downright ugly on the ice. Midway through, the Bruins decided to crash Price in the Montréal net and it was the usual pushing and shoving and name-calling before things spilled over. First, Andrew Alberts put a whipping on Kostopoulos. Moments later, Stuart laid out Kostitsyn. Off the face-off, Glen Murray scored again (maybe this is a trend!) on a one-timer at 11:07 to pull the B’s back to a one-goal deficit. The guy has really been snake bit all year, and nobody could blame him for lack of effort. So was pretty special to see him score two goals. At 13:26, Latendresse and Chara mixed it up near the Montréal bench. Latendresse may be a big guy, but he's not six-foot nine, and he sure as shooting is not a fighter.

Chara appeared to have taken him out with a well-placed left-hand to the chops. Latendresse went down, and there was a lot of yelling and screaming that took place between the two coaches. The net result of this encounter gave Canadiens a five-minute power play. Alex Kovalev scored less than a minute later, and the Bruins were hopelessly out of it at 7-4. As the game went into the final minute Kostopoulos picked a fight with Stuart and ended up flat on his back in about four seconds. All told, Canadiens put 52 shots on goal...that's an incredible night's work for Tim Thomas. They need to give his guy a break real soon before last year repeats itself and he's burned out by the middle of January.

Game 19 at Toronto (11/20/07) (10-7-2-22-7th Place Eastern Conf.):
With Fernandez out of the lineup indefinitely and Thomas having already been used to the point of burnout, Tuukka Rask was recalled from Providence and inserted into the lineup Tuesday night in Toronto. After some early jitters, Rask proved equal to the task and the B’s came up with their first comeback win of the year with a very nice 4-2 win.

Bryan McCabe put Leafs ahead on a slap shot from the point on the power play at 15:10of the first, as the game was a typical hard-hitting (though slowly paced) Bruins-Leafs game. In the second, Mats Sundin scored on a slap shot from outside the blue line at 15:36; this was Rask’s only bad play of the night. The Bruins of recent vintage would’ve mailed it in after that, but this year’s edition doesn’t quit on themselves and the pace of their play picked up considerably. Late in the period, the B’s went on the power play and Phil Kessel scored his 7th of the year on a nice play in front of Toskala and the B’s were down by only a goal after the first forty.

The igniter in the B’s recent resurgence has been Glen Murray. Maybe his groin injury is finally healed because he no longer looks adrift out there, but a willing participant in the corners and in front of the net. In the third, both teams came out flying. Rask kept his cool despite a flurry of shots from the Leafs. Midway through, P.J. Axelsson scored his first of the year on a great pass from Savard. It was Murray who set up the goal by intercepting a clearing pass in the B’s end and flipped the puck to Savard. After scoring the tying goal the B’s were not to be denied. Chuck Kobasew banged in the game-winner at 16:29 then Leafs threw everything they had at Rask but Kobasew responded with an empty-net score with 27 seconds remaining to give Rask his first NHL win and the B’s first come from behind victory for the season.

The Bruins wrapped up this Northeast Division stretch of nine games in 20 days in pretty good shape at 4-3-2. Most fans thought that this would be the stage where the team would start tanking without their best offensive player and working their top goaltender nearly to the point of ruin, but they have hung tough and seemed to have jelled as a unit. At the quarter pole, the team has performed above expectations.

Team Grade: B

Three Stars:
1. Tim Thomas
2. Marc Savard
3. Glen Murray (finally)

On Wednesday, it was announced that the B’s long-time managerial assistant Hall of Fame Defenseman Tom Johnson passed away at age 79. TJ was a stalwart of the Canadien dynasty that won five straight Stanley Cups from ’56-60 before joining the B’s late in his playing career. He remained with the B’s thereafter as an assistant GM, Coach and was Harry’s mentor and confidante. His name has been engraved on the Cup as a player with Montreal and as a Coach with Boston so many times that his place in hockey royalty is secure. May he Rest In Peace.