Bruins Weekly Report – Games 9-13

Game 9 v. Montreal Canadiens (10/27/11):

After four days off, the B’s returned to the Garden for the first of a home and home with Le Club de Hockey Canadien for the 712th time. Last time we saw the Habs it was Game 7 of the Eastern Quarterfinals, in which Nathan Horton’s overtime goal was the difference maker. The B’s and Montreal currently sit at the bottom of the Northeast Division with six points. Tim Thomas started in goal against Carey Price. The B’s pressed hard in the offensive zone in the early minutes. PK Subban went off at 2:49 for roughing but the B’s couldn’t do much with the power play. Travis Moen had a wide open net in front of Thomas but the puck bounced over his stick. Thomas then made three quick saves but the B’s came back to crash the Habs’ net and Paille just missed connecting on a pass. Midway through the period, Krejci had a point blank chance that Price knocked away. Nokelaenen was sent off for interference at 14:05. Bergeron scored a freak goal right off the faceoff as his stick broke and the puck rolled through the unprepared Price’s legs to put the B’s ahead. Plekanec then went off for interference at 16:37. Although the power play didn’t produce much, the B’s continued to pressure heavily in the offensive zone.

Max Pacioretty had a quick one-timer in the opening seconds of the second period that Thomas knocked away. Campbell went off for tripping Nokelaenen at 3:35. Campbell did not go to the penalty box but to the dressing room for repairs. At 4:48, Seidenberg went to the box for slashing giving the Habs a 5-on-3 opportunity. Thomas made a save of Cammileri’s shot from the right point. Cole tried to jam a loose puck into the net but Thomas covered up the rebound. Pacioretty was then sent off for tripping at 5:40. Corvo fired a bomb from the point that Price covered. Thomas then denied Cammilieri on a turnover breakaway with an acrobatic save. Cole went off for slashing at 8:13. The B’s weren’t terribly effective on that power play. Cole, coming through the high slot, scored on a tip in of Spacek’s shot from the point to tie the score. Subban and Marchand then briefly squared off before it was broken up at 13:47. Peverley then had a breakaway from the red line on a pass from Bergeron, but Peverley’s shot bounced off Price’s blocker. Once both combatants left the penalty box, they decided to renew acquaintances but they were quickly broken up and sent off again for matching delay of game penalties. Once out of the box, this time the referees let the two have at each other. Subban threw several wild rights and failed to connect and the bout was a draw. In the exchange, the B’s ended up on the power play when Georges went off for holding at 17:55. Price went out of his net and had to scramble to get back to save a shot by Bergeron. The B’s played a sloppy period and would need to play much better in the third.

The B’s opened the third with sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Paille fed Campbell in front of the net but the puck passed through too quickly. Subban followed up with a blast from the point that Thomas covered. Gionta then tried to pick the top corner but his shot went over the net. Boychuk fired a rocket from the point and the B’s crashed the net but Price covered the puck. Plekanec scored at 10:46 on a rebound of a shot that bounced off McQuaid’s skates after a turnover in the neutral zone. Seguin then broke in and fired a backhander that Price turned aside. The Canadiens then controlled the play in the B’s end as the B’s couldn’t get out of their own way futilely trying to move the puck past the red line. Late in the period, Horton then put a good shot on goal that Price knocked aside. Thomas was pulled with about a minute left and Lucic made a shot from in close that Price stopped with his left pad. The B’s crashed the net again as Seguin fired a backhander into traffic to no avail. With the loss, the B’s fell into last place in the Northeast.

Game 10 at Montreal Canadiens (10/29/11):

Two nights later, the 3-6-0 B’s traveled to Montréal for a La Soirée du Hockey date with Canadiens. Saturday night in Montréal has always been a big deal, especially when an Original Six opponent arrives in town. The Canadiens have owned the B’s in the regular season in the past few years. Jordan Caron started in place of Benoit Pouliot, who was injured. Tuukka Rask started in goal against Carey Price. The B’s put the fourth line out to begin the game. Gregory Campbell fired a shot on goal in the opening seconds on which Price made a sparkling save. Peverley broke in toward the goal with the puck on a pass from Bergeron but his backhander rang the iron. Plekanec followed up with a shot that went just wide. Gorges fired a shot on goal that Rask tipped aside. Over the first five minutes, the B’s turned over the puck four times. Every time Chara touched the puck he was lustily booed by the Centre Bell crowd. Rask made a nice right pad save of Gionta’s shot. Midway through the period, both teams were playing at a furious tempo. Rask came back to make another nice save. Boychuk was sent off for cross checking at 14:12, giving Canadiens their first power play. Brian Gionta put Candaiens ahead at 15:26 on a tip in of Plekanec’s slap shot from the blue line on which Rask was screened. Lars Eller made it 2-0 at 16:42 as as the B’s turned over the puck in the neutral zone and he fired a drag slap shot from the left circle that beat Rask. Lucic and Krejci each had hacks at the puck in front of the net that Price knocked away. Ference was sent off at 19:49 for tripping Gionta.

Plekanec opened the second period with a blast from the point that Rask snapped away with his glove. Other than that one shot, the B’s did a good job keeping the puck out of danger. Rask then made a nice save of Nokelanen’s deflected shot. Minutes later, Rask made another nice stop of Kostitsyn’s shot. Thornton and Moen then had a go after a scrum in front of the B’s net but the combatants were quickly broken up. Kelly then broke in alone but was denied on the forehand with the blocker. Seidenberg was then sent off for holding at 8:41 after he grabbed Gionta who broke in with the puck. It was a highly questionable call. Marchand buried Yannick Weber with a heavy hit. Desharnais fed Cole in front of the net but Rask made a big stop. Ference was then sent off for a small scuffle with Subban, who instigated the incident. Bergeron then had a key breakaway and crashed the net but Price made the stop. Subban then fired a rocket from the point but it went wide of the net. At 12:23, Desharnais made it 3-0 as he pounced on a loose puck out in front of the net and banged it home. Eller then missed an open net on the doorstep as Gionta fed him directly out in front. Lucic (finally) put the B’s on the board at 16:28 as he took a pass from Horton at the right circle and fired a bomb that whistled past Price’s right shoulder. Pacioretty then broken in alone but Rask came out of his net and sent Pacioretty flying. Lucic and Subban got into a scrum and (once again) a Bruin was assessed with the penalty as Lucic went off for giving Subban a two-hander in the back of the legs at 18:51. There was some pushing and shoving in front of Rask as the period came to a close.

Eller was sent off for tripping at 1:05 of the third as the referees finally saw fit to call Canadiens for a penalty. Gionta then was sent off for a trip giving the B’s a 5-on-3 for 56 seconds. Krejci hit the post on a feed from Lucic. There was another scuffle off to the side between Horton and Gill and Horton went off for a cross-check at 3:38. The B’s power play simply evaporated in thin air and Canadiens went back on the power play for the sixth time. Subban snapped his stick in two on a one timer as the B’s killed off the power play. Rask made a great save on Eller’s wrist shot after a perfect feed by Kostitsyn. Ference then broke up a 2-on-1 with Gionta and Plekanec. Late in the period, Boychuk fired a bomb from the point that Price covered. Rask went to the bench with 1:45 on the clock. Seguin scored at 19:06 as he took a pass from Chara and squeezed the puck past Price. Thomas went in net and quickly went back to the bench and then Plekanec scored on an empty net at 19:48 to make it 4-2. The 3-7 start by the B’s is the worst of any defending Cup champ since 1994. Two goals a game ain’t gonna cut it, boys. Changes will be coming forthcoming…

Game 11 v. Ottawa Senators (11/1/11):

Winners of their last six, the Senators traveled to the Garden for a Tuesday night date with the last-place B’s. Tim Thomas started in goal against Craig Anderson. Sergei Gonchar was sent off for hooking at 1:46. Foligno then put the Sens ahead at 5:19 on a backhand after Stephane DaCosta crashed the net. Zenon Konopka and Shawn Thornton then had a viscous fight with no clear victor. Marchand then broke in alone with the puck but his shot went wide of the net. Lucic tied the score at 7:12 on a backhander while the B’s were on the power play. 16 seconds later DaCosta scored on a backhanded drop pass from Nick Foligno directly out in front of the net.

Milan Michalek put a backhander on net in the opening moments of the second period that Thomas covered. Peverley followed up with two shots on goal as the B’s pressed hard in the offensive zone. Bergeron tied the score at 4:21 as he took a perfect pass from Seguin in the high slot and fired a one-timer past Anderson. Krejci had a great rebound of Seidenberg’s bomb from the point but Anderson tipped the puck away. Kelly was then robbed by Anderson after the Sens turned over the puck in the offensive zone. Seguin was then tripped by Spezza out in front of the net at 6:30. After the Sens killed off the power play, they crashed the net and put tremendous pressure in the B’s zone with Thomas made a great stick save off of Michalek’s shot. Horton then planted Zach Smith face first into the boards and was sent off at 11:32. Krejci had a shot from directly out front that was deflected away. Chris Neil was then sent off for goaltender interference and tried to pick a fight on his way to the box. Lucic then tried to tip in a rebound of Bergeron’s shot but Anderson knocked it away. Horton then fired a shot that popped loose and appeared as if it would bounce in but Horton was unable to stuff the puck home. Chris Kelly then scored at 18:00 on a pass from behind the net by Peverley. Gonchar was then sent off for slashing at 19:14.

Five minutes into the third, the Sens crashed the net after Thomas smothered the puck, leading to some pushing and shoving. Jared Cowen tied the score at 5:04 on a deflection on a shot from the blue line that went through Thomas’ pads. The B’s went back on top at 6:41 as Boychuk fired a “Johnny Rocket” from the right point that had eyes as it whistled into the net. Paille then scored 37 seconds later on a clean break on a pass at center ice from Thornton. Paille skated in alone and buried the puck. Midway through the period, Thomas made a nice save off of Butler’s shot from in close. Marchand was then sent off for holding the stick at 12:03. At 17:18, Campbell and Smith then had a go with a few punches thrown but no clear winner. Anderson was then pulled at that point and Thomas made a good glove save as the Sens crashed the net. Seguin then made a nice defensive move clearing away a loose puck with about a minute to go. Thomas came up with a good glove save on a shot from the point through traffic. Spezza was sent off for tripping Marchand with 12 seconds left. The losing streak ended as the B’s put forth a complete team effort tonight.

Game 12 at Toronto Maple Leafs (11/5/11):

On Saturday night, the B’s traveled to the Air Canada Centre and ended up blowing out the first-place Leafs 7-0. Tyler Seguin recorded his first career hat trick and Milan Lucic chipped in two goals. It was a dominant two-way effort for sixty minutes as the Leafs had perhaps a couple of legitimate chances on Tim Thomas. It was the first time all year that the B’s won back-to-back games as they made the slow crawl out of the Eastern Conference basement.


Game 13 v. NY Islanders (11/7/11):

Two nights after demolishing the Leafs, the B’s returned to the Garden for a rare Monday night date with the Isles, who come into this one at 4-5-2, tied for dead last with the B’s in the Eastern Conference. Tuukka Rask started in goal against Evgeni Nabakov. The B’s got on the board at 1:32 as Benoit Pouliot scored his first Bruin goal when he tipped in Jordan Caron’s centering pass. The goal was set up by Chris Kelly’s aggressive forecheck that caused a loose puck in the offensive zone that Caron pounced on. McQuaid and Martin then had a big go as several punches were traded and McQuaid won on points. Matt Moulson tied the score at 5:52 when he redirected Staios slap shot and Rask was defenseless to stop the deflection. Blake Comeau came back to fire a slapper on Rask from the left circle that was knocked away. Travis Hamonic was sent off for cross-checking at 12:11. Marchand’s backhander went just wide. Nathan Horton made it 2-1 on a rebound of Chara’s slapshot from the point at 13:38. Seguin made it 3-1 just 28 seconds later as Marchand took a pass from Bergeron as Seguin broke for the net in the high slot. Seguin was wide open out in front and buried the puck. Al Montoya then replaced Nabakov in goal for the Isles. Kelly then went off for slashing at 14:35, but the B’s did a good job killing off the penalty. Michael Grabner made it 3-2 at 18:25 as he took a pass from John Tavares in the high slot and whistled the puck past Rask. Grabner actually set up the goal by tipping a loose puck back to Tavares near the blue line and then wheeled around to take Tavares’ pass in an impressive move. At the end of the period Lucic and Hamonic had to be separated as they engaged in some pushing and yelling at each other.

Lucic had a backhanded attempt five minutes in but was spun off the net. Lucic then went off for roughing at 5:32. It was more a case of Lucic using his size and muscle behind the net than any ill intent. The Isles had two chances in front of Rask, again the PK unit did a pretty good job keeping the puck out of danger. The Isles maintained the pressure in the B’s zone for a minute or so after the power play concluded. Seguin then had a wide open left corner and his flip shot hit the side of the net. Marchand came back to crash the net but Montoya covered up and Staios covered the crease area. Thornton then crashed the net and there was some pushing and shoving out in front of Montoya. Mark Streit made a really nice play trying set up Martin, but his pass across the low slot was chipped away. Seguin then hit the other side of the net on a feed from Marchand. Chara went off for hooking Brian Rolston at 14:28. Ference then fired a shot on goal that Lucic tipped but Montoya covered. Krejci followed up with two quick shots from in close that Montoya cleared away. Rolston then fired a shot from the left circle that Rask snared. With six seconds left, Lucic swung around from behind the net and fired a low shot that Montoya covered.

Three minutes into the third, Paille took a slap shot directly in the face and required immediate medical attention. Lucic scored at 4:34 on a pass from Krejci. Horton then made it 5-2 just 49 seconds later as he backhanded in a feed from Seidenberg. Midway through the period, Marchand nearly tipped in a shot on a leading pass from Seguin, who has explosive speed entering the offensive zone. Krejci then broke in on a 2-on-1 with Lucic and fired a wrist shot that Montoya snared. With four minutes left, Montoya was pulled as the Isles decided to go for broke. Krejci then scored an empty netter at 17:11 on a backhand from the left circle and Montoya immediately returned to his post. With the win, the B’s moved out of the basement of the Eastern Conference.