B’s stretch point streak to 15 games, best Pens in Pittsburgh

How Benny got his groove back

Claude Julien may disagree, but tonight’s game was billed as a measuring-stick match that would tell the Bruins if they were for real. Were they as good as their win streak makes us all believe, or were they just playing more than a few troubled teams and preying on the weak? Tonight, they went to Pittsburgh to take on Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the Penguins, and they came out of the CONSOL Energy Center with a win against the league’s top team in the standings. Let it be known, however, that the Penguins’ record is 16-7-4, and the Bruins’ is 16-7-1, and the B’s have three games at hand on the Penguins, and haven’t lost in regulation since October 29. Tim Thomas hasn’t lost a game since October 27 (of course; I was at that game). Three of Pittsburgh’s top 6 defensemen did not play tonight – Kris Letang, Deryk Engelland and Zbynek Michalek were all out due to injury — and it was obvious the Penguins were missing something.

After a physical, back-and-forth first period, the Bruins came out flying in the second, scoring their first two goals of the night. At 2:57, Greg Campbell took a feed from Danny Paille, who was behind the net, and beat Fleury with a wrist shot. At 7:18, the somewhat-maligned-but-oddly-clutch Benoit Pouliot beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot from the right circle after Rich Peverley began a rush from a Brooks Orpik turnover. The 2nd period was an interesting one, with the B’s having to kill two 5-on-3s, one of which was a minute long.

Going into the third period, the Bruins were up 2-0; the Black ‘n Gold are 13-0 when leading after 2. At the start of the period, Jordan Stall was called for interference, putting the B’s on the man advantage. Patrice Bergeron came bombing up the right wing past two of Pittsburgh’s D, and floated a pass to Tyler Seguin, who banged in a one-timer while on one knee for an absolutely gorgeous goal, and his tenth in his last 14 games.

Former Northeastern Husky Joe Vitale set up a Matt Cooke goal to erase the shutout, before running into Thomas later in the the third. After Vitale’s ill-advised goaltender interference, he and Greg Campbell dropped the gloves.

 

 

WILL UPDATE IN A BIT!

Bruins, Krejci agree on 3-year contract extension

Re-signing Krejci was a mustl the bear needs motivation to work out.

According to the Bruins’ website, David Krejci, last year’s leading scorer in the postseason, signed a three year contract extension.

Krejci, the team’s top centerman, is inked through the 2014-15 season. Per Bruins policy, the financial terms were kept under wraps, but the Boston Globe has confirmed that his deal is worth $5.25 million, and includes a modified no-trade clause in the second and third years. Krejci has apparently given Chiarelli a list of teams he will not play for.

It sounds like the Bruins are overpaying, but after seeing what the likes of Jason Spezza, Ville Leino, and Mikko Koivu are being paid, I’d say Chiarelli did what he had to in order to keep Krejci on the roster.

B’s best Leafs, take Northeast’s top slot

This will be updated in a few hours!

‘Patches’ suspended 3 games; Montreal police not opening investigation

Uh oh, Letang better not take that shot. I mean, he better keep his head up. Yeah, that's it. Pacioretty nailed Eaton from behind. (heh heh)

 

 

 

 Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty has been suspended without pay for three games for delivering an illegal headshot to Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang. 

 

The saintly Patches, the Joan of Arc of Habs Hockey, will forfeit $26,351.34, which will be contributed to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund. Pacioretty will miss the following games: November 30 at Anaheim, December 1 at San Jose, and December 3 at Los Angeles, and will be eligible to return December 6 vs. Columbus.

 

The hit occurred at 16:46 of the third period, and no penalty was assessed to Pacioretty on the play. Letang’s nose was broken, but he had a pin inserted, came back to play, and scored the overtime game winner. Some people say Letang had his head down; of course he did, he was taking a shot. I don’t think Pacioretty’s hit is horribly dirty, either; it may have even been incidental, however, these hits are precisely what the NHL is trying to remove from the game, and thus, it warrants a suspension regardless of what team the offender plays for – just ask Daniel Paille about his hit on Dallas’ Raymond Sawada back on February 3.  

 

Brendan Shanahan’s ‘Shanaban’ video can be seen here, for those of who can’t fathom how a Montreal Canadien could ever deserve a suspension:  http://cbsboston.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/107785152-e1299780806101.jpg?w=300 

 

Montreal fans are once again convinced that there is some sort of conspiracy because there is no way a Hab could ever do something dirty enough to be suspended – of course, Pacioretty’s hit on Eaton doesn’t count if you ask them. Nope, Patches has never made a dirty play; he is merely a victim of the league’s anti-Hab and pro-Bruin bias. The Colin Campbell Conspiracy is alive and well. 

 

For the record, Zdeno Chara’s hit on Pacioretty was not a headshot. Chara didn’t hit poor baby Patches in the head; the stanchion did. Maybe Habs fans should call the police about the designer of the Bell Centre instead. Also, the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise and its fans understand that physical play is a part of the game, and thus are not calling their Congressmen or the Feds. Good people, those Pittsburghers.

 

If you ask a Habs fan, this never happened.

 

Kelly nets 2 in 4-2 win, B’s unbeaten in regulation in November

Chris Kelly notched his 8th and 9th goals tonight.

The Bruins’ 10-game winning streak may have ended yesterday with a shootout loss to Detroit, but after a sloppy start tonight, our boys got back on the horse and remain undefeated in regulation in November. This was the first time the Bruins faced the Winnipeg Jets  since December 31, 1995.

Most of the first period was choppy  on the Bruins’ part; they were down 2-0 by the ten minute mark due to goals by Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien, which were scored over the span of 39 seconds. Kane’s goal came from a 2-on-1 feed from Byfuglien, and Byfuglien’s tally resulted from a slapshot from the point which was allowed due to sluggish play by the Bruins in their own end. Luckily, Tim Thomas was lights-out for the rest of the night, and the B’s were able to pull themselves together.

At 16:00 of the first period, Byfuglien was sent to the box for an interference minor, sending the Bruins on their first powerplay of the game. They got on the board when Zdeno Chara let a slapper go from the top of the right circle and beat Pavelec on the short side.

In the second period, the Bruins looked much better. First, there was a seemingly slow-motion 3-on-1 by the KHL line, immediately after which, Nathan Horton was assessed a tripping minor. The B’s were shorthanded when the Jets turned the puck over in the Bruins’ end, and Rich Peverley moved it quickly up the right wing, beating Zach Bogosian and wing-turned-defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to netminder Ondrej Pavelec. As Pavelec hugged his left post, Peverley deked around him and tried to backhand it into the net. He got the best of Pavelec, but the puck bounced around a little in the crease, and Peverley was knocked off his feet. Luckily, Chris Kelly wasn’t far behind to knock it in for a shorthanded goal, and his 8th tally of the season.

Who has two thumbs and played a hell of a game tonight? This guy.

At 16:26 of the second period, Chris Kelly scored again, with a slapshot from the right circle. Rich Peverley skated the puck almost up to the left corner from the Bruins’ defensive end, passing it back to Benoit Pouliot, who sent it across to Kelly for his 9th of the season, and second of the night. At the end of the second, both teams had made 26 shots on goal, but the B’s were leading, 3-2. The third period was full of scoring chances by both sides, with Tyler Seguin hitting the post, and Evander Kane landing in the Bruins’ net. With a little over a minute remaining in the third period, Brad Marchand won a footrace to the puck, and scored an empty net goal.

 NOTES

• Rich Peverley looked great tonight, setting up two Chris Kelly goals, and always being in the right place at the right time. He seemed to always have the puck deep within the Jets’ end.
• Tyler Seguin seemed out of sorts, fanning on a shot and just looking a little off. Maybe he’s tired, maybe he’s still hurting from the slash he took yesterday.
• The Bruins are 11-0-1 in their last 12 outings, and they handed the Jets their first regulation loss in six games.
• Winnipeg is only 3 wins out of a playoff spot at the moment, trailing Washington’s 25 points with only 22 of their own.
• The Bruins are again at the top of the Northeast Division, and are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference, and are in third place in the entire NHL, behind only Pittsburgh and Detroit, and are sharing the same record as the Red Wings.
• Chris Kelly has now scored the second-most goals on the Bruins, with 9.
•  Evander Kane is leading the Jets with 10 goals on the season.
• Thomas saved 40 of 42 shots, with Pavelec stopping 32 of 35 shots.
• The Bruins will not practice tomorrow, and don’t have a game scheduled until Wednesday, when they will take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

B’s hope to regroup, take on Jets for first time since 1995

This is what the Jets looked like the last time the Bruins played against them. Also, that's Bruins goaltending coach Bob Essensa in net.

For the first time since New Year’s Eve of 1995, the Bruins will be playing in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. This is the only season (to our knowledge) that Winnipeg and Boston will be in the same conference, since there is an impending NHL realignment for next season.

The Bruins are currently 5th in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 13-7-1 and 1 game at hand over the Jets, and Winnipeg is in 12th place, with a 9-9-4 record. To be fair, they’re only five points out of playoff contention, and it’s still early for playoff talk. The Bruins’ goal differentia is +26, while that of the Jets is -6.

Special teams play should be interesting in this one, as the Jets are the holders of the league’s 10th-best power play conversion rate (19%), while the Bruins’ PP is 14th, converting 17.6% of the time. As for the penalty kill, the Bruins are 9th-best, with 85.2%, and Winnipeg is 18th, killing 81.3% of its penalties.

The Bruins win when they score first three quarters of the time, and conversely, the Jets win only a quarter of the time if they give up the first goal. If trailing, the Bruins have won 53.8% of the time.

Winnipeg is in the bottom third of the league in faceoff wins, winning 48% of theirs, while the Bruins are tops with 54.5% of their faceoffs won. The Bruins are also the best five-on-five team in the league, with a 1.82 goals for/against ratio, while the Jets’ ratio is 0.98. the Jets are pretty weak in net so far this season, with Ondrej Pavelec playing every game,  and brandishing a 3.21 goals against average. Basically, if the Black and Gold can stay disciplined, they should be able to take this one.

 

 

Can’t win ‘em all: streak ends at 10 games with Wings’ shootout victory

Todd Bertuzzi beat Tuukka Rask for the winning shootout goal.

The Detroit Red Wings extended their own win streak to four games by ending the Bruins’ ten game tear, beating them 3-2 en route to a shootout win.

The Bruins, who usually look sluggish during matinee games, came out flying and outshot the Wings 13-6 in the first period. Despite the Bruins’ domination, only Valtteri Filppula was able to light the lamp, and did so at 12:43 by redirecting a Henrik Zetterberg pass past Tuukka Rask. The period ended with Detroit leading, 1-0.

In the second period, Shawn Thornton checked Drew Miller, forcing him to leave his shift early, and allowing Nathan Horton to thread a pass to Daniel Paille, who backhanded it past Jimmy Howard to tie the game at 1 goal apiece. Just 35 seconds later, Johnny Boychuk got caught with his pants down in the neutral zone, and Pavel Datsyuk made a pass to Todd Bertuzzi, who was moving up the right wing. At the right circle, Bertuzzi made a feed past Zdeno Chara and David Krejci to Datsyuk, who beat Tuukka under his right pad. The second period ended with a 2-1 lead for the Red Wings.

At 7:52 of the third period, Patrice Bergeron forced Henrik Zetterberg to turn the puck over at the left circle in Detroit’s end, stole it, and went top shelf on Jimmy Howard for his 5th goal of the season. For the rest of the third period, the Bruins seemingly controlled the flow of the game and generated a few offensive chances, but just couldn’t put the biscuit in the basket. In overtime, the Bruins had a handful of of near-misses, but were unable to capitalize.

For the Red Wings, Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored in the shootout, and Nathan Horton netted a goal, also. Wings’ goalie Jimmy Howard made 41 saves in this afternoon’s effort, and improved his record to 12-5-1. The Bruins and Red Wings now share the same record of 13-7-1.