Bruins on Fire, Win Ninth Straight

With the Bruins having cruised through their recent schedule, by feasting on some lesser foes tonight's game was supposed to be a test to see where the Bruins stood.

The answer, right where we thought they were; at the top. The final score was 5-2 Boston but this game certainly wasn't easy. The Penguins were the first team on the board tonight as Petr Sykora knocked a loose puck into the goal.

The goal couldn't be faulted on Tim Thomas as he initially stopped Dustin Jeffrey and Ruslan Fedotenko. The defense failed to clear another rebound and Sykora was the beneficiary. The first period came to a close with the Penguins leading 1-0.

Less than five minutes into the second period the Bruins found themselves on the power play and PJ Axelsson split the Penguins box finding Zdeno Chara streaking backdoor for the equalizer.

Just before the half way point of the game, Boston found themselves on another power play. It was a four-on-three PP and it was David Krejci finding Marc Savard who roofed the puck over Fleury's shoulder. The assist gave Krejci nine straight games with at least one point.

With just under five minutes to play in the second period, Zdeno Chara coughed up the puck and Sidney Crosby dished to Pascal Dupuis, who ripped a slap shot over Tim Thomas, top drawer. (Wicked shot)

Just 90 seconds later, Phil Kessel stuffed home his 23rd goal of the season and the Bruins regained their lead. Kessel received a pass from Savard and buried into the open goal.

The third period began with the B's leading 3-2. The Penguins were scrapping and trying to even the score on the power play, but then the script flipped. Martin St. Pierre intercepted an attempted pass by Pittsburgh and Marc Savard broke with St. Pierre for a two on one opportunity. Savard fed St. Pierre, who beat Fleury to the short side, giving the Bruins a two goal advantage.

A cherry on top for the Bruins was Dennis Wideman who fired a shot past Fleury for a 5-2 Bruins lead.

With three minutes left in the game Tim Wallace took it upon himself to stir things up. He dropped the gloves with Milan Lucic who was able to handle Wallace. Wallace was undoubtedly trying to set the tone for the rematch on Thursday.

Nine in a row heading into the New Year. Could you really ask for anything more?

Happy New Year Everyone! Here's hoping for a successful 2009.

GAME DAY: B's & Pens News and Notes

This morning the Bruins had an optional morning skate. Yesterday worked the troops real hard for more than an hour and installed in them that Pittsburgh is the best team they have played in weeks. Now on to the notes...

*Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice this morning, indicating he'll start tonight against the Penguins.Tim Thomas (11-2-1, 2.09) vs. Marc-Andre Fleury (11-6-2, 2.86)

* Matt Lashoff will most likely be the healthy scratch.

* Hal Gill is expected to appear in his first game tonight since Dec. 6. Gill was sidelined with a shoulder injury With Hal Gill back in the lineup, the Penguins will dress seven defensemen, with Alex Goligoski taking some shifts up front.

* David Krejci brings an eight-game scoring streak into tonight.

* Patrice Bergeron has not been placed on injured reserve yet.

*The B's are 97-50-21-3 all-time against Pittsburgh and have won 11 of their last 16 contests against the Penguins.

*The Bruins are 13-1-0 since Thanksgiving.

*The B’s have scored an NHL-high 130 goals and allowed a league-low 76.

*Boston leads the NHL in even-strength goals with 88.

*Michael Ryder leads the NHL with seven game-winning goals.

*The B’s have three defensemen with at least 10 points: Dennis Wideman (22), Zdeno Chara (20) and Matt Hunwick (15).

*The Bruins have not allowed a power-play goal in three straight games, going 12-of-12 on the penalty kill.

*Aaron Ward returned to action Sunday against the Thrashers after missing 10 of 11 games because of an ankle injury.

*The Penguins have lost three straight home games and are just 8-7-2 at Mellon Arena this season.

*Pittsburgh ranks 15th in the NHL on the power play (18.4 percent) and has scored just two goals in 13 opportunities over their last five games, including going 0-for-13 in their last three contests.

*Penguins center Evgeni Malkin leads the NHL with 59 points (15 goals, 44 assists), and Sidney Crosby is tied for second with 49 (15, 34).
Crosby is tied for second with Alex Ovechkin in points. Right behind the dynamic players in fourth is the Bruins Marc Savard with 43 points.

*Phil Kessel is fourth in the NHL in goals with 22. Kessel is four goals behind league leader Jeff Carter of the Flyers.

*Tim Thomas is T-2 in Save % with a .935 %. He is third in GAA with a 2.04, right behind his partner in crime, Manny Fernandez who has a 2.02 GAA. Thomas is also tied for 5th in wins with 15 and T-3 with shut outs, (3).

*The top five +/- players in the NHL will be on display tonight with Marc Savard owning the league's top mark as a +23. In a log jam in second with a +22 rating are the Bruins, Dennis Wideman, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci along with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.

“We’re getting pretty good and creating a lot of offense. We’re doing what we do best and not trying to be too handsome.”--Michael Ryder, in USA Today, after the Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Thrashers

Tonight's expected lineup:
P.J. Axelsson - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Milan Lucic - Stephane Yelle - Chuck Kobasew

Vladimir Sobotka - Martin St. Pierre - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez

Ryder Helps Bruins Run Streak to Eight

The Bruins and the Thrashers isn't exactly a game that hokey fans get amped up for and early it looked like the Bruins felt the same way. In the first two minutes of the game Atlanta was all over Boston, testing Manny Fernandez with four early shots.

The Bruins escaped the early fire and the rest of the period went a long with the Bruins holding a slight edge in the play. Both teams had their opportunities on the power play, Atlanta with a five-on-three toward the end of the period, but nobody was able to pot a goal.

That is until the final minute when Bryan Little beat Manny Fernandez on a breakaway. Little was able to pick the Bruins pocket and get a back breaking goal, putting the Thrashers up one heading into the dressing room.

Even with the Bruins down by one heading into the second period they were not holding their heads. Not only are the Bruins used to playing the come back game, they also outplayed the Thrashers for most of the first period and were a few bad bounces away from having the lead.

The Thrashers came out blazing again in the opening minute of the second but the Bruins quickly turned the tide as Phil Kessel got the puck at the top of the circles and put it through Kari Lehtonen to tie the score. The goal was number 22 on the season for Kessel.

The rest of the period was back and forth and included a breakaway for each side. Fernandez had to make a dandy of a save to keep the game tied and the two teams played out the period still knotted at one.

The Bruins had the first few opportunities of the third period but it was Atlanta who looked like they were going to take the lead. The Thrashers had three straight shots on Fernandez that Manny was able to kick aside.

With just over six minutes remaining in regulation David Krejci came down the left wing and found Michael Ryder down the middle for Ryder's 14th goal of the season. After a miserable start for Ryder in terms of production, he has really done a 180 and is sizzling hot.

With the goal Ryder now has 11 goals in the last 14 games. The 14 goals equal Ryder's season total from last season.

In the final minute of the third period, Fernandez had to make one last spectacular save to ice the game for the Bruins. With the 2-1 victory the Bruins extend their winning streak to eight.

Thoughts...

Michael Ryder is hotter than a pistol right now in the old west. This guy was under the gun early with his slow start. Ryder had only three goals after the first 22 games and everyone thought that this guy was a major bust. However, since being paired up with David Krejci and Blake Wheeler, Ryder is on a tear and looking like his 30 goal self of two years ago.

GAME LOG:

Scoring Summary:

First Period- Atlanta, Little 18, 19:45.

Second Period- Boston, Kessel 22 (Savard, Wideman), 1:43.

Third Period- Boston, Ryder 14 (Krejci, Wheeler), 13:56.

Shots on Goal:

Boston 14-10-4-28.

Atlanta 10-11-12-33.

Fernandez to start: Ward likely to go

Aaron Ward will most likely return to the lineup tonight against the Thrashers. While Claude Julien said he'll make his decision after warm ups, it looks like Ward will take Matt Lashoff's place on the blue line.

Manny Fernandez will get the start tonight in goal. This is as expected as the Bruins have made it clear they don't want to over work Tim Thomas. Granted it was only two games in a row, but the Bruins have emphasized neither goalie will see more than three straight starts. With the back to back games, this is just par for the course.

Game Day: Bruins vs. Hurricanes

Game day and why not start with a Patrice Bergeron update since I know that has been the topic of discussion lately.

According to Claude Julien, Patrice Bergeron continues to improve, noting that he felt better today than he did yesterday. Earlier in the week, Bergeron was still complaining of headaches from last Saturday's concussion.

Other Bruins and Game Notes:

Aaron Ward and Petteri Nokelainen were both seen traveling with the team and are day-to day. Both will not be in the line-up tonight. Ward looks very close to returning.

Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice. Look for him to start tonight against Carolina.

Julien said Marco Sturm (knee) is getting better and that the swelling is going down. Surgery is still a possibility for Sturm.

Andrew Ference skated yesterday for the first time since suffering his fractured tibia on Nov. 13. Ference skated for approximately 20 minutes and is still in need of a few weeks to be game ready.

Sturm and Ference are the only Bruins currently on injured reserve.

Carolina did play last night, a 5-4 win over Atlanta.

With Phil Kessel's point streak over at 18 games, Milan Lucic now has the longest point streak at eight games.

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone here at BruinSpace a very Merry Christmas. We'll be back reporting on the B's this weekend! Hope Santa was good to everyone.

Bergeron out three weeks - Agent: Patrice Home and Resting

From Boston.com--

Patrice Bergeron, concussed on Saturday for a second time in a little over a year, remained home at his downtown condominium today, surrounded by his parents, who drove down from Quebec City as planned on Sunday to celebrate the NHL Christmas break with their 23-year-old son.

According to Bergeron's agent, Kent Hughes, the hard-luck center isn't likely to comment to the media for a few days, opting instead to spend a quiet week with his parents and hope that his all-too-familiar symptoms dissipate quickly.

''He's laying low,'' said Hughes, who spent time with Bergeron Saturday night, in the hours after the collision, as well as on Sunday when Bergeron was released after overnight observation at Mass. General Hospital, ''and I guess you could say he's probably frustrated.''

Bergeron was in the midst of his 12th shift of the afternoon on Saturday when he met up with the onrushing Dennis Seidenberg as the Canes defenseman lugged the puck through the neutral zone. After seeing his season come to an end last Oct. 27 due to a Grade 3 concussion, Bergeron on Saturday, playing his 31st game of the season, looked active and sharp, much more resembling his pre-injury form.

As Bergeron converged from Seidenberg's right, and Boston right winger Chuck Kobasew from his left, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound blueliner straightened his stance as he came to the mid-ice redline. As Seidenberg pulled up, the oncoming Bergeron, intent on trying to strip the puck, inadvertently drove the left side of his face smack into Seidenberg's padded shoulders.

NHLers typically wear hard-shell padding on their shoulders, which not only protects their own bones but also can serve to smack their opponents.
''One of things [Bergeron] said to me was, 'Geez, I felt it was my best game so far','' recalled Hughes. ''He just started to feel like he was getting into it. So something like this--mentally, physically and psychologically--it makes the timing of it really tough, and I think that makes his frustration pretty understandable.''

The Bruins confirmed on Sunday that Bergeron suffered a concussion in the collision, which means he must miss at least a week, in accordance with standard NHL protocol.

Based not only on his severe (Grade 3) concussion last year, but also on the club's conservative approach in his return from that injury, it's highly unlikely that he would suit up again until early- or mid-January at the earliest.

''Really, there is no way to gauge that, or predict,'' said Hughes. ''With my experience with other clients, as well as Patrice, I've learned that it's impossible to predict the recovery process.''

From what I've been picking up in hockey circles it looks like Bergeron will be out at least three weeks. Three weeks will be January 12. On January 13 the Bruins will face off with the Habs at the Garden. Is that not a good night for an uplifting return?

One thing has to be said here and that is get well Patrice. As we all know Bergeron now has a history of concussions. This reminds me a lot of one of my old favorites back in the day, number 88, Eric Lindros. Lindros suffered his first two concussions and then after that it was almost a seasonal occurrence. Let's hope this isn't the case here.

Bruins Beat Blues in Wideman's Return to St. Louis: Have Now Won 10 of 11

The Boston Bruins just defeated the St. Louis Blues 6-3. It was the Blake Wheeler show early for the Bruins as Wheeler potted the first two goals for the Bruins. The first Wheeler goal was a nice one timer tally. The Bruins executed a three on two well with Michael Ryder finding David Krejci in the middle who put it in Wheeler's wheel house for the goal.

Wheeler's second was a great individual effort as he was working the filthy stick-work and found the back of the net past Manny Legace. Just over a minute later the Blues got on the board on a Brad Winchester goal, beating a screened Manny Fernandez.

Towards the end of the period the Blues Jay McClement picked the Bruins defensemen's pockets and scored his third of the season on a breakaway. McClement put a blistering wrister over Fernandez's left shoulder to tie the score, 2-2.

Just 53 seconds later, still on the power play, Shane Hnidy erased the tie by finding a hole through a screen and beating Legacy for his second of the year. Phil Kessel had an assist on the play, extending his point steak to 18 games. The Bruins headed into the locker room after 20 minutes with a 3-2 lead.

The first tally of the second came from old friend Yan Stastny, who picked up a rebound off of a Keith Tkachuk's shot and stuffed it home, 3-3.

The Bruins wouldn't allow the Blues to take the lead however, as Michael Ryder picked up a pass from P.J. Axellson and jammed it into the back of the net, 4-3 Boston.

With a few minutes left in the second period a large momentum shift took place. The Blues were inches away from evening the game but Dennis Wideman scooped a puck out of the crease behind Manny Fernandez and led the Bruins up ice. Milan Lucic threw the puck up the boards to Phil Kessel who passed it to Marc Savard for his 11th goal of the season. Savard waited for Legacy to slide across the crease before firing it back side for the goal.

The final goal of the night cam from Vlad Sobotka who grabbed the puck in front of the St. Louis goal and pulled a spin-o-rama for the goal.

The Bruins doubled up their second straight opponent by the score of 6-3 and will now head to New Jersey to face the Devils on Tuesday night. This will be the Bruins last game before the Christmas holiday. With the win Fernandez is 11-1-1 in his last 14 games.

One final note here is that this was Dennis Wideman's first game in St Louis since he was traded for Brad Boyes.

Three shopping days til' Christmas, good luck if you still have some Santa duties to take care of.

Bruins Statement Regarding Patrice Bergeron

Boston, MA – Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli issued the following statement today regarding Bruins center Patrice Bergeron:

“After first being treated at the TD Banknorth Garden yesterday, Patrice was diagnosed as having sustained a concussion, and was admitted to Mass General Hospital under the care of Dr. Peter Asnis.

"Since being admitted to MGH Patrice has undergone extensive testing, and all of the results have come back normal. When examined this morning, his condition had improved greatly over last night, and he was released from the hospital. There is no timetable for his return to the ice.”

Julien quotes after game on Bergeron

"The doctors have been looking at it," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "They haven't given us any indication as far as the severity of it. Obviously, he went down a little dazed. We're not able to give you a verdict. That's all I can tell you about that situation."Julien said he spoke to Bergeron after the second period and added his player was alert.
"He got dinged pretty good," the coach said. "He was speaking to me and then I took off and coached the third period."

Julien made it clear the Bruins, who open a five-game road stretch in St. Louis on Sunday night, weren't blaming Seidenberg. "It was not a cheap shot by any means. It was a collision," he said.

Bruins double up Canes 4-2: Bergeron's stautus still unkown: St. Pierre recalled for ailing Sturm

As the puck dropped this afternoon the Garden crowd seemed to be sleeping. The same could have been said for the Bruins as less than five minutes into the game Joni Pitkanen was able to get the Bruins back on their heels and beat Manny Fernandez on the power play.

The first half of the period was dominated by Carolina but things leveled out by the end of the stanza and the Canes headed into the locker room with a one goal lead.

The Bruins carried the play for the first seven minutes of the second period and were rewarded with a bit of luck. Phil Kessel threw a pass into the middle that went through Milan Lucic and two Carolina defensemen. Marc Savard picked up the puck in the slot and showed a lot of patience, waiting for Cam Ward to go down and then flipped it over his outstretched right leg.

With Kessel flipping the pass to Savard it extended Kess' point steak to 17 games. The longest for a Bruin forward since Adam Oates had a 20 game point streak back in 1997.

The building was back into the game and starting to make some noise, but that would all change just 90 seconds later.

Patrice Bergeron tried to lay a hit in the neutral zone but ended up taking the brunt of the hit. Bergeron went down, not getting up and the sell out crowd went silent. Bergeron was able to get up after a while and with the help of Chuck Kobasew and Savard was able to get off the ice. Bergeron was able to walk down the tunnel under his own power.

The period continued and the Bruins had some good chances, however, none were able to find the back of the net. With just seven seconds left in the period old friend Sergei Samsonov was able to step into the zone and ring a wicked wrist shot off the post. The second period horn sounded and a big sigh of relief went through the Garden as the teams hit the locker room tied 1-1.

The third period got under way as both teams were looking for the lead giving goal. Then on a simple pass off of the board from Shane Hnidy, Vladimir Sobotka grabbed the puck on the right side and sent a backhand pass to David Krejci who was waiting on the doorstep for the go-ahead-goal.
With the score 2-1 Boston with just over eight minutes left to play, Shawn Thornton twirled out from behind the net with the puck and blazed a shot over Ward's shoulder, 3-1 Bruins.

About three and a half minutes later the Hurricanes were able to cut the Bruins lead to one again as Ray Whitney gathered a loose puck in the crease and stuffed it by Fernandez.

The Bruins had to kill off a penalty to Thornton late in the game but did a fantastic job of it as the clock ticked under two minutes.

The Hurricanes pulled the goaltender and tried to tie the game late but weren't successful. PJ Axellson fed Stephanne Yelle for the icing on the cake with two seconds remaining and the Bruins won their thirteenth straight at the Garden, 4-2.

After the game everyone was asking about Bergeron and how he was doing. From what the buzz is around the club it looks like Bergeron was shaken up but OK. As a precautionary measure it is very possible that the Bruins may keep Bergeron in Boston over the holidays. The Bruins next home game is on New Years day and that would be an appropriate thought for a return date for Bergeron.

The Bruins did not release whether or not Bergeron had suffered a concussion but will announce that tomorrow.

With the win the Bruins moved their point total to 50 and are 9-1 over their last 10 games. The Bruins are now four points ahead of the New York Rangers for supremacy in the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins also made some news during the game when they reported they placed Marco Sturm on the Long Term Injured Reserve and recalled Martin St. Pierre from the Providence Bruins. St. Pierre is the baby B's leading scorer and is second in the AHL in points.

Sturm, Ward and Nokelainen all ruled out for tomorrow's game

*Marco Sturm will not play tomorrow because of an undisclosed lower-body injury.

It looked like a knee injury to me. From what I'm hearing Sturm won't be suiting up for the Bruins before Christmas.

* Aaron Ward (ankle) and Petteri Nokelainen (upper body) took to the ice after practice with strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides.

Both Ward and Nokelainen are being ruled out for tomorrow's game against Carolina and it is still unknown whether or not they will travel with the team to St. Louis.

Ward a no go: For Sturm, same old story

The Bruins practiced today and it was the same old story for Marco Sturm. It will be a game day decision for Sturm on whether or not he will suit up for the black and gold. Sturm skated on the fourth line and participated in power-play and shootout drills today, and was apparently feeling good.

Coach Claude Julien commented on Sturm after practice saying, "He's felt pretty good the last few days," "He's willing to give it a try, but I think we'll wait to see how he feels and make that decision on game day."

The decision on Sturm might not come until game time, but if Sturm were to suit up you could expect Vlad Sobotka to be the healthy scratch.

Aaron Ward missed practice again today which would lead you to believe that he is out for tomorrow night's tilt.


The lines will look like this in all likelihood tomorrow.

Milan Lucic -- Marc Savard -- Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson -- Patrice Bergeron -- Chuck Kobasew
Blake Wheeler -- David Krejci -- Michael Ryder
Sturm/Sobotka -- Stephane Yelle -- Shawn Thornton

Mark Stuart -- Zdeno Chara
Matt Hunwick -- Dennis Wideman
Matt Lashoff -- Shane Hnidy

Manny Fernandez/Tim Thomas

Happy hump day to all. Just six shopping days til' Christmas.

Sturm and Ward's status in question vs. Leafs

The Bruins got back on the ice today for practice after taking the day off yesterday. Patrice Bergeron, out for Saturday's win over Atlanta with flu-like symptoms, was one of the first players onto the ice this morning.


Marco Sturm was also on the ice this morning as one of eight Bruins to participate in an optional practice. Sturm is still considered day-to-day, though given what has been seen from Sturm lately he is doubtful for Thursday's game with the Maple Leafs.

Aaron Ward didn't skate today, but Claude Julien said the defenseman is making progress. Ward is doing everything off of the ice as usual but the ankle injury is still slowing him a bit on the skates.








On one final note Glen Murray's grievance hearing has been pushed to Jan. 16. It was originally scheduled to be held today in Toronto. If you forgot the Murray situation and what the hearing was for let me refresh your memory.
In November 2008, Glen Murray had ankle surgery. Since Murray claims this is a result of an injury he sustained during play of the 2007–2008 season, his agent has filed a claim against the Boston Bruins. This could nullify the original buyout, as the NHLPA does not allow a team to buy out an injured player. This is controversial, since Murray shopped himself to other teams during the 2008 off-season claiming to be "healthy", which could hurt his chances to win the claim. If Murray wins the claim, he will be placed on LTIR (Long Term Injured Reserve) and receive his full 4.1 million dollars this season instead of 1.38 million dollars for each season for the 2008-09 and 2009–10 NHL seasons.

Caps end Bruins five game win streak

Whenever you face-off against the Washington Capitals you know it will be exciting. The reason for that is number eight in red, (at least in Washington) Alex Ovechkin.

It wasn't long before Ovechkin would make an impact in this one. On an early power play for the Capitals on an interference call to Stephane Yelle Ovechkin powered a wrist shot toward Manny Fernandez that Nick Backstrom was able to tip into the net, 1-0 Washington.

The Bruins started to pick up their play after the goal and got some quality shots on Brent Johnson. Johnson stuffed both Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew from in tight which was a sign of things to come.

With roughly seven minutes remaining in the first period the Bruins went down a skater but had a golden opportunity to tie the contest. PJ Axellson had a short handed break away but put the shot right into Johnson's bread basket and the Capitals kept the lead.

The Bruins had some good chances in the latter third of the period but Johnson stood tall and Washington took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Coming out in the second period the Capitals had the lead but didn't out play the Bruins in the first, but that soon changed. For the first five minutes of the period the Capitals were on the offensive and took it at Manny Fernandez. At the 4:52 mark the net crashing paid off. Tom Poti's original shot was stopped by Fernandez but the rebound was not taken care of and Alexandre Giroux potted the Capitals second goal.

When it looked like the Bruins would enter the third period down two goals they were finally able to catch a break. Zdeno Chara forced a turnover and Phil Kessel took the puck off the side boards and fed Milan Lucic who knocked the puck into an empty net. It was a very well executed 2-1 by the Bruins, and with the goal Kessel extended his point streak to 13 games.

Early in the third period the Capitals had a shot to extend their lead on a Giroux penalty shot but Fernanez was up to the challenge.The rest of the third period was full of back and forth action and some solid opportunities, but Johnson was a wall for Washington.

The Bruins tried to tie the game late but with the net empty for the B's Ovechkin was able to pot an exclamation point.

Washington with the W, 3-1.

NEWS AND NOTES

*Although the Bruins recalled Vladimir Sobotka to the big club he didn't get to lace them up tonight. Stephane Yelle was able to play tonight despite originally thinking he would miss the game with a middle-body injury. Stephane Yelle's ribs aren't broken, according to x-rays and it is believed to be just a muscle spasm. Expect Sobotka to head back to Providence.

*Aaron Ward missed his fourth straight game, while Marco Sturm missed game number 10 in a row tonight.

*The Bruins next play a home and home series against the Atlanta Thrashers with the next game coming Friday night in the ATL. On paper this looks like a mismatch as the Bruins are first in the conference with 42 points while Atlanta sits in the thirteenth spot with 22 points.

Bruins bring early thunder, knock out Lightning: Bruins lose Yelle, recall Sobotka

The Bruins are on quite a roll. With the win the Bruins have won their fifth straight and tenth straight at home. The Bruins took it to the Lightning in the first period and left the ice with a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.

After that the Bruins went through spurts and let the Bolts back into the game. The Lightning cut it to 4-3 late but the Bruins were able to add an empty netter with 10 seconds to play and took the game 5-3.

During the game the Bruins lost Stephane Yelle, who suffered an upper-body injury in the second period. The irony of this is that Yelle ran into a linesman and took the worst of it.

Yelle is experiencing muscle spasms and from reports it looks as though Yelle will be out Wednesday against the Capitals. However, according to head coach Claude Julien Yelle is not seriously hurt.

After the game the Bruins recalled Vladimir Sobotka from Providence on an emergency basis. Sobotka will practice tomorrow and may very well play if Marco Sturm isn't ready to get back in the lineup.

Neither Aaron Ward nor Marco Sturm played tonight. Today was Ward's second day back on the ice since suffering his left leg injury last Saturday night. Sturm had a setback but said he's hoping things restart in the right direction. Both Ward and Sturm are expected to travel to Washington tomorrow for the start of the club's two-game road trip. Ward looks like the closer of the two to a return.

Manny blanks Panthers, Bruins roll:

When the Bruins headed for Florida it was expected that they would return with four points. Mission accomplished. The Bruins were able to pound the lesser competition of Tampa Bay and Florida by a total of 7-1.

Tonight's message was clear, get off to a good start and don't be forced to play from behind. With 11:02 remaining in the first period the Bruins passed this test as well.

It was Michael Ryder who was able to pot the Bruins first goal of the evening on a great effort. Ryder warded off a hard stick check and snapped a shot through a screen past Craig Anderson giving the Bruins the lead for good.

Early in the second period, Phil Kessel struck again. Kessel was able to fly through the Panther defense and snap a wrister over Anderson's left shoulder and it was 2-0 Boston.

The Bruins kept their foot on the pedal in the third period and an unlikely Bruin gave them the three goal advantage. Shane Hnidy was able to wrist one top drawer from the blue line and you knew it was the Bruins night. Just for good measure Blake Wheeler netted his ninth of the season on a nice feed from Chuck Kobasew to give the Bruins a 4 goal victory.

On the other end it was another great night for goaltender Manny Fernandez. Fernandez made some difficult saves and was able to pitch his first ever shutout as a Bruin. The shutout may have been his first but it sure wasn't his first when it came to wins. Fernandez is red hot, snapping off seven straight victories. The guy is finally healthy and is showing that he is not the bust that Boston credited him as.

Some final notes here as Dennis Wideman was back in the line-up after his one game absence after sitting out with a middle-body injury. Marco Sturm missed his eighth straight game with whiplash and is listed as day-to-day. By the talk around the room Sturm doesn't sound so confident about a quick return but we shall see.

With the win the Bruins are in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bruins Bruise Bolts 3-1: Where's Wides?

The Boston Bruins didn't bring their A-game down to Tampa Bay, but even without a top-flight performance the Bruins were able to pick up two points.

Two Bruins defensemen were forced to make their 08-09 NHL debuts Thursday night as both Aaron Ward and Dennis Wideman were held out of the action due to injury. Now we all knew Ward had a leg injury, but what about Wideman? I still haven't heard an update as of yet but I would expect Wideman is suffering from groin issues. I commented on this, this week but I didn't think this was a serious issue. Stay tuned.

Now to the game. In the first two minutes the Bruins did something they've done a lot lately, fell behind. A neutral zone mishap by Zdeno Chara let Vincent Lecavalier break down the left wing and slide the puck to an uncovered Martin St. Louis who put the puck into the vacant net.

The first seven minutes were dominated by the Lightning with the Bruins failing to generate any offensive pressure. It was very similar to the Bruins start against the Red Wings Saturday night. The Bruins started to play a little better at the end of the period but still went into the locker room down a goal.

The Lightning came out buzzing again to start the second and probably should have taken a two goal lead but missed a golden opportunity. The Bruins turned the tide and started getting offensive zone pressure. About eight minutes into the second, Phil Kessel driving down the right wing beat Mike Smith to the far side but clanged the iron.

Fear not, as less than five minutes later Kessel was able to find the back of the net. Kessel kept the puck in on the right wall, filtering the puck down low to Marc Savard. Savard found a streaking Kessel in front of the goal and it was 1-1. The Bruins controlled most of the second periods remains and skated into the locker room with the momentum.

About five minutes into the third Tim Thomas was able to stone Steve Downie on a clean look and was bowled over for his efforts.

Later in the period the Bruins found themselves on the penalty kill but have no fear, David Krejci is here. Krejci received a breakout pass from Blake Wheeler, curled and dragged past a Lightning defender and put the puck in the back of the net. Talk about a back breaker, a shorty in the ladder half of the third period to take the lead.

The Lightning had some late pressure but the Bruins were able to pull it out. Kessel was able to slide in an empty netter with under a second to play and the Bruins took the first half of the Florida swing, 3-1.

Questions surround Bruins: Ward back within a week? Sturm or Nokey? Lashoff or Boychuk?

The Bruins are on their way to Florida while we are in for a few days with highs in the 30's. Talk about a good time to head south.

*Aaron Ward is said to have a sprained ankle and was seen walking around the room without his walking boot. It is said that Ward is progressing with his injury and he could return as soon as next Wednesday in Washington.Claude Julien did say that Ward could start skating again by Sunday.

*Marco Sturm's status for the game tomorrow night is still in question. Claude Julien said he will make up his mind during tomorrow's morning skate. If he isn't ready to go Petteri Nokelainen will skate on the fourth line instead of Sturm.

*A last note out of today's practice is that coach Julien has not decided whether Matt Lashoff or Johnny Boychuk will get the call tomorrow. My instincts tell me it will be Boychuk but the verdict is still out. We'll probably find out tomorrow afternoon as well.

*One final note, Glen Murray's grievance hearing is scheduled to take place in Toronto on Dec. 16. Oh yes, old friend Glen Murray and his chance to get more money before he admits that he is over the hill. As a refresher, Murray is claiming the Bruins improperly bought him out because of an existing ankle injury.

With Ward out baby B's must step up

TODAY'S PRACTICE

Marco Sturm, who has missed the last six games because of a concussion, was back on the ice for practice this morning. Sturm was skating with Stephane Yelle and Shawn Thornton, indicating that Sturm may skate on the fourth line when he comes back. Sturm is probable for Thursday night's game against the Melroseless Lightning.

Those missing from practice were Aaron Ward, Patrice Bergeron, Dennis Wideman, and Shane Hnidy.

Dennis Wideman is said to have a sore groin and was given the day off to rest the injury. Look for Wides to be fine as he fought through this injury last year.

AARON WARD TO MISS AT LEAST TWO GAMES

Ward, who didn't practice today, was wearing a walking cast on his left foot. The coaching staff declined to disclose the specifics of Ward's injury. All that is known at this point is that it is a leg injury. The next two games are down in Florida for Boston (Lightning on Thursday, Panthers on Saturday) and Aaron Ward will miss both contests at the minimum.

LASHOFF/BOYCHUK RECALLED

With Aaron Ward out for at least the next two games, the Bruins recalled Johnny Boychuk and Matt Lashoff from Providence.

People may think that Lashoff is the obvious choice for a sixth d-man plug in but not so fast. Boychuk leads Providence in scoring with four goals and 19 assists. However, Boychuk has less NHL experience.

FERENCE TO LTIR

To make room for Matt Lashoff and Johnny Boychuk, the Bruins have placed Andrew Ference on long-term injured reserve. The Bruins are $1.54 million under the cap at the moment.

Bergeron bothered by muscle pull: Ward to be re-evaluated tomorrow

For those who were wondering why there was no Tim Thomas tonight, it was because Tim Thomas has been slowed by a cold. With the Bruins off until Thursday look for Thomas to be recovered to play against the Lightning in Tampa. The Bruins are off tomorrow. They will resume practicing on Monday at 11 a.m. at Ristuccia Arena.

BRUINS NOTES

*Aaron Ward suffered a leg injury in the first period when he checked Derek Meech. Julien said Ward will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

*Julien revealed that Patrice Bergeron had been bothered by a muscle pull that became aggravated whenever he took faceoffs. This really doesn't look like a big thing for Bergeron as he looks fine and actually took seven faceoffs tonight, winning five.

*Dennis Wideman was an absolute beast tonight playing more than 28 minutes. With Aaron Ward going down the Bruins played with five d-men for most of the night.

Bruins hunting Jay Bouwmeester?

Something worth noting is that the Bruins have reportedly been one of nine teams sending scouts to look at Panthers defensemen Jay Bouwmeester. With Andrew Ference out at least another month and Aaron Ward's health in question (left game with a leg injury) you would think the Bruins may look for another defensemen. The only problem is trying to clear cap space for him. Bouwmeester makes $2.25 million a season. The Bruins have less than a million available dollars and would need to deal someone like a PJ Axelsson to acquire Bouwmeester. I don't think this will happen as the Panthers are apparently looking to acquire a center in a potential deal. Also, I don't think the Bruins should break up their great team chemistry. Hopefully Ward will be fine and this is all water under the bridge.

Bruins down Detroit 4-1

The Bruins were able to beat the defending champs tonight in front of a sell out crowd at the Garden (17,565). With a 4-1 final one would think the Bruins dominated the Red Wings but that was not the case.

The Red Wings came out blazing, dominating the Bruins for the first 12 minutes of the first period. Then, one odd man rush later the Bruins had took the lead to stay. Blake Wheeler found the back of the net on a nice feed from Michael Ryder and on the Bruins first shot of the game, they had a goal.


With 3:49 to go in the period Phil Kessel was able to pot one from out near the blue line and the Bruins took the two goal advantage. At periods end the score read 2-0 Bruins but things easily could have favored the Red Wings.


Eight minutes into the second period Patrice Bergeron was able to play the role of pick pocket and find a streaking Chuck Kobasew in the slot to give the Bruins a three goal lead. The Garden was going nuts at this point.


The Red Wings got the next goal on the power play but even the goal that they did score went in off of Marc Savards skate. Manny Fernandez was a wall tonight and at one point there were even Manny chants at the Garden. It reminded me of Fenway Park when number 24 used to step up in a key spot.


In the third period the Bruins kept their foot on the throttle and gave themselves breathing room. David Krejci handled a rebound in the slot and fired passed Chris Osgood who had replaced Ty Conklin after the Bruins third goal.



The Bruins played the second half of the period in kill the clock mode and were able to keep the Red Wings off the board, defeating Detroit 4-1.

The Bruins finished November with a record of 11-1-1 after a 5-3-3 October. With the win the Bruins catapulted themselves into first place in the Eastern Conference. Both the New York Rangers and Boston have 36 points but Boston has two games in hand.

What to watch for tonight

* While the Wings have only 263 penalty minutes, fifth-fewest in the NHL, they recalled bruiser Darren McCarty from Grand Rapids yesterday. So we might see a throw down despite Detroit's history of staying away from the rough stuff.

* Detroit has the No. 1 power play in the league, humming at a 32.3 percent efficiency rate.The Bruins on the other hand are 11th in the NHL with an 82.8% kill rate.

* The Bruins and Red Wings are both in second place in their respective conferences. The Bruins are two points behind the Rangers while the Red Wings are five points behind the Sharks.

FERNANDEZ TO START

Manny Fernandez will get back to back starts and will be between the pipes tonight against Detroit. This was apparently expected in Bruins circles as Tim Thomas has been reporting fatigue recently. This is why I say that Manny is crucial as Thomas isn't that Mart Brodeur who can play 70 games a year, though few are.

Tonight's lines...
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Petteri Nokelainen - Stephane Yelle - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Manny Fernandez

Tim Thomas

Fernandez will be up against Ty Conklin (6-2-0, 2.48 GAA, .914 save percentage) tonight. Fernandez of course is hot going 6-0-1 in his last seven starts. Fernandez has a 2.26 GAA and a .920 save percentage over that stretch.

Detroit's expected starters
Tomas Kopecky - Pavel Datsyuk - Marian Hossa

Mikael Samuelsson - Henrik Zetterberg - Johan Franzen

Jiri Hudler - Valtteri Filppula - Dan Cleary

Kirk Maltby - Kris Draper - Darren McCarty

Brian Rafalski - Nicklas Lidstrom

Niklas Kronwall - Brad Stuart

Brett Lebda - Andreas Lilja

Ty Conklin

Chris Osgood

Bruins vs. Islanders game notes: Sturm doubtful against Red Wings

*Michael Ryder scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins to a 7-2 win today. Ryder now has five goals this season as he broke a scoring slump in which he had scored only once in the previous 12 games.


*Blake Wheeler and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist in the win. Ryder was added to the line and the three really clicked and were plus-nine in the game.


*Chuck Kobasew, Phil Kessel and Dennis Wideman also scored for the Bruins.


*Manny was Manny today at the Garden. Fernandez stopped 22 of 24 shots and is now 6-1-1 this season.



Sturm Update
From Boston.com--
Marco Sturm said he suffered a concussion against Chicago on Nov. 12. Sturm played the next three games but felt especially poor against Toronto, leading to his five-game sit down. But Sturm said he's feeling better and should be back on the ice soon.

I would not expect it to be tomorrow night against Detroit. Sturm has not been skating and I would expect he would miss his sixth straight game tomorrow night.



Bergeron Knicked Up
From Boston.com--
Patrice Bergeron, the team's best face off man, didn't take a single draw for the first time this season. Bergeron took only two face offs against Buffalo on Wednesday. Bergeron suffered an injury against Montreal that has prevented him from taking face offs in the last two matches, but Julien declined to disclose the ailment. Julien said Bergeron (20 shifts, 18:53 of ice time) is good to go in all other areas of the game.

Thanksgiving Day Notes

Some quick notes...

*Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has assigned defense man Matt Lashoff to the Providence Bruins. He was a healthy scratch for the last three Bruins games. This demotion means that the Bruins defense men are feeling well. Matt Hunwick, the teams sixth defense men has also been on a tear collecting three goals and six points on his current five game point-scoring streak.

*Look for Manny Fernandez to get the nod in net for tomorrow's matinee vs. the Islanders. With Thomas playing Wednesday night and the defending champion Red Wings coming in Saturday night (which you would expect Thomas to start) look for Manny to go Friday afternoon. The game starts at noon and if you are attending the sell out make sure to wear black.Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

*Marco Sturm is questionable for tomorrow afternoons game against the Isles. It is leaning more towards a no go for Sturm.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Bruins debut third jersey: Sturm questionable for Wednesday

If you haven't seen the new third jersey they are sweet. It is right over there to the left if you haven't seen it. The Bruins put their third jersey on sale today at 2 p.m. at the TD Banknorth Garden pro shop. I don't know if you were there or you saw the lines but WOW. They even had to turn people away it was so packed. Bruins fever it back baby!

A list of the dates the Bruins will sport the new unis:

Nov. 28 vs. New York Islanders

Nov. 29 vs. Detroit

Dec. 13 vs. Atlanta

Dec. 20 vs. Carolina

Jan. 3 vs. Buffalo

Jan. 10 vs. Carolina

Jan. 19 vs. St. Louis

Jan. 21 @ Toronto

Jan. 29 vs. New Jersey

Feb. 10 vs. San Jose

Feb. 24 vs. Florida

Mar. 5 vs. Phoenix

Mar. 15 @ Pittsburgh

Mar. 31 vs. Tampa Bay

April 2 vs. Ottawa

April 7 @ Ottawa


PRACTICE REPORT

Marco Sturm--Sturm has been sidelined the last three games with an upper-body injury and didn't practice today. Claude Julien said Sturm is improving, although he wasn't sure whether the left wing would practice tomorrow.

-If I had to guess I'd say he misses Wednesday's game. Although, if he practices tomorrow you never know.

*There were maintenance days for Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron (they will be back at practice tomorrow)

*Dennis Wideman was back home for personal reasons and is expected to practice tomorrow.

SAVARD NAMED FIRST STAR OF WEEK

*The NHL announced today that Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard was named the First Star of the Week for the week ending Sunday, November 23.Savard had eight points which led the NHL for the week. Savard had two goals and six assists.
The Bruins had four wins this week and put themselves into first place in the Eastern Conference, two points clear of the New York Rangers. Their Northeast Division lead increased to seven points over the second place Montreal Canadiens.

Bruins earning recognition

Last night I chose my player of the game as Phil Kessel due to his all around good effort. However, let's look at three other stars of the game.

*Tim Thomas

Thomas kicked away 33 of the 35 shots that he faced to pick up his ninth victory of the season. With the win Thomas now owns a 9-2-3 record so far this season. Thomas has been brilliant between the pipes and is leading all starting goalies in the NHL with a 1.80 goals against average and .944 save percentage.

*Milan Lucic

Looch scored his sixth goal of the season last night on a nice feed from Phil Kessel. Lucic now has six goals and seven assists in 21 games this season. Last season, Lucic only tallied 27 points in 77 games last season. If Lucic keeps his current pace he will be looking at a 50 point season.

*Matt Hunwick

Hunwick now has a four-game points streak by potting the Bruins second goal. Hunwick is getting second power-play ice time and is getting better game by game. The rookie has been a nice surprise stepping in for the injured Andrew Ference. People were worried he would be a liability for the B's.

Bruins spoil Roy's night in Montreal, win in SO

The Boston Bruins did it yet again by outlasting the Canadiens 3-2 (SO) Saturday night. Heading into the game everyone expected that they would see some fisticuffs. However, that didn't happen. That's not to say that Georges Laraque didn't want it to happen though. Laraque went after Milan Lucic on the first shift, following him up and down the ice, then getting in his face. Lucic declined and went back to the bench. Later in the period Laraque offered again at the face off circle but Lucic seemed to want none of it. I thought this was as expected since Lucic had just had a tough bout with Nick Boynton last night, cutting his hand.

I think the funniest part of the game had to be that the Habs fans were so upset with Lucic that they forgot to do their ritualistic booing of Zdeno Chara. The Luuu-cic chants were priceless. Even more priceless was Milan Lucic's reaction when he potted one to tie the game at one.

At the end of the night the Bruins were able to spoil Patrick Roy night by defeating the Canadiens in a shoot out. With the win the Bruins moved into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference and have the next few days off before lacing them up again against the Sabres, Wednesday night in Buffalo.

BRUINS GAME NOTES:
GOAL SCORERS: LUCIC (6), HUNWICK (2), (WHEELER - SO)

ASSISTS: KREJCI (9), KOBASEW (7), KESSEL (6), YELLE (5)

SAVES: THOMAS - 33

PENALTY MINUTES: 5 penalty's - 10 mins

STAR OF THE GAME: Phil Kessel: Kessel was all over the ice tonight and even got physical with a few of the Canadien players. He made the play to set up the Bruins first goal and was creating all night.

Bruins first quarter marks

Well, the Bruins are in between their twenty and twenty first game which signifies that one quarter of the season is over. That also means that it's time for me to give my marks for the first quarter of the season.

Let's start with the man in charge, coach Claude Julien. Coach Julien deserves nothing less than an A. Every button he pushes seems to be the right one and his team has fully bought into his system. The Bruins are prepared to play each and every night and are no longer just tough to play against but talented as well. Julien has been great with the kids on the team and has gotten more than what is expected. When you look at players like Lucic, Wheeler, Krejci and Nokelainen you have seen their games pick up almost nightly. This is a coach that gets very little respect and if the Bruins keep up this pace it will be the Julien for Coach of the Year campaign and not the Thomas to the All-Star game push.

Coaching Grade: A

I'll now jump to the offense where all I have to say is, wow! The Bruins were one of the worst teams in the NHL last year when it came to finding the back of the net but this year the Bruins are on fire. How good have they been? How about first in the conference in goal scoring.

The leader of course if Marc Savard who leads the way with 27 points. Savard has been so good that he has almost doubled Phil Kessel (15) for the team lead in points. Speaking of Kessel, he has scored 10 goals this season, leading the B's. Kessel, after being benched in the playoffs last year by Julien has been on a tear ever since and it looks like Kessel could be that 30 goal scorer the Bruins have been looking for, for years.

The biggest thing with the Bruins this season is their depth. They have four lines that they can roll out there with confidence. With play makers like Savard, Patrice Bergeron and Krejci up the middle it is no wonder that the Bruins are lighting the lamp a lot more often this season.

OFFENSE: A

Now to the defense. The defense men on the Bruins were questioned from day one. Can Zdeno Chara live up to Norris trophy standards again? Could Dennis Wideman live up to his big off-season contract? Does Aaron Ward have anything left in the tank? Can the 4-6 defense men actually play?

The answers are in and you can answer with a resounding, YES. Zdeno Chara is a rock on the back line and though I'm not as impressed with Chara as I was last season he still is the glue of the defensive unit. Then there's Wideman. Wideman was getting a lot of negative press from the casual Bruins fan saying that he was a much overpaid back liner. However, at the quarter mark, Wideman is the leader in +/- for the Bruins D with a +11. Aaron Ward is getting older at age, 35 but he can still bring it with his famous forearm shivers. Ward is a +6 and looks like he still has enough in the tank to be a solid number three guy for the Bruins. The Bruins were horrible early on the penalty kill but have turned it around and are now getting back to a not great, but respectable 82% on the PK.

Defensive Grade: B+

Now to the goal tending. Leader in Save %, second in GAA, T-2 in shutouts. Those are some solid accomplishments right? Yea, I thought so. Tim Thomas has been a wall at the back line for the Bruins taking the NHL by storm and getting the respect he deserves, right? Wrong, Thomas was left off of the NHL All-Star ballot but due to stellar play is third in the Eastern Conference in All-Star votes for goaltenders. Thomas has been criticized for his unorthodox style but look who's laughing now.

The Bruins came into the season wanting to find a number one goalie and I'd say they found it in Thomas. Then there is the man who was fighting with Thomas for the number one job and was passed over, Manny Fernandez. Fernandez has been solid as well for the Bruins as a number two. Fernandez is 5-1-1 on the season with a GAA of 2.55, and a save percentage of .910. Out of your backup goalie, you can't expect more than that. Although, Fernandez's high cap number does lead one to believe that he should be starting somewhere. Look for the Bruins to try and ship Fernandez out of town at the deadline as his salary will be decreasing by the day. If he keeps up his solid play, a bubble team may be looking for a goaltender to carry them to the promise land. Then of course the Tukka Rask project would begin in the hub.

Goal tending Grade: A-

Well that's it folks the quarterly grades. I know they are high, but hey when you're in first place in the conference you deserve a little bit of love.

Tonight's projected lines

Projected Lines: Bruins vs. Canadiens

MONTREAL
Latendresse - Koivu - Tanguay
Higgins - Plekanec - Kovalev
A. Kostitsyn - Lang - Kostopolos
S. Kostitsyn - Begin - Laraque

Markov - Gorges
Hamrlik - O'Byrne
Bouillon - Brisebois

Price
Halak

BOSTON
Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Michael Ryder
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Chuck Kobasew
Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Petteri Nokelainen

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward
Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Tim Thomas
Manny Fernandez

Bruins vs. Habs pregame notes

GAME DAY --

As you all know today the Bruins will be up in Montreal on Patrick Roy night for round three between the B's and the Habs.

None of the Bruins skated this morning so that would indicate that we will see the exact lineups that we saw last night. Meaning that Marco Sturm will miss his third straight game and Matt Lashoff will be the healthy scratch.

Marc Savard's will play Saturday night after escaping a potentially serious knee injury Thursday when Florida's Keith Ballard hit Savard low on a questionable hit. Savard played sparingly the rest of the way but that was apparently just a precaution.

* A question I have for tonight's game is, who will be in between the pipes? Tim Thomas is the team's number one goaltender but it is a back to back so even in a big game like this I wouldn't be surprised to see Manny. Fernandez was in between the pipes when the Bruins thrashed the Habs 6-1 at the Garden in the team's last meeting.

* It has been reported that Guillaume Latendresse will not play tonight (undisclosed injury). Maxim Lapierre will take Latendresse's place in the lineup.

* This sounds like it could be one of the longer ceremonies tonight, things will kick off for Roy's ceremony at 6 p.m. Puck drop is scheduled for approximately 7:40 p.m.

* Everyone knows the Bruins recent success going 11-1-1 in their last 13 games. However, the Canadiens are just 5-4-1 in their last ten games.

* The Bruins did beat the Habs in their last meeting breaking a 12 game regular season losing streak. They will look to end another long losing streak tonight as they have not won a regular-season match at the Bell Centre since Dec. 4, 2006.

* Greg Kimmerly and Rob Martell will be the referees. Steve Barton and Ryan Galloway will be the linesmen.

* A Komisarek-Lucic rematch is not on the card. Defenseman Mike Komisarek is expected to miss 4-5 weeks with a shoulder injury suffered during a fight with Milan Lucic Nov. 13. If you are expecting a fight, and I am due to the beat down Montreal suffered in the last meeting expect it to be a Georges Laraque, Shawn Thornon tilt.

I'll have more later. Also coming will be report on the season at the quarter mark.

Bruins double up Panthers: 11 of 13 in win column

This game set up perfectly as a trap game for the Bruins, but this team is too focused for that to happen (especially on old time hockey night as the Bruins honored the movie Slap Shot). Playing the two teams chasing them in the northeast division sandwiched by the Panthers is as big a trap game as you may see all season long. However, the Bruins came out ready to carry over the momentum they owned in the Buffalo game.

Just over two minutes into the game Phil Kessel was sent in on a partial break away from the right side boards but Thomas Vokoun was able to stop Kessel's wrister keeping the game scoreless, at least for a moment.

The key word there was, for the moment. Kessel went on on his second breakaway in under a minute and this time was able to beat Vokoun, sliding the puck underneath his pads and the Bruins were on the board.

The play started when Dennis Wideman found Marc Savard in the middle of the Bruins zone. Savard turned up ice and found a streaking Kessel in behind the Panthers defense with a beautiful feed, sending Kessel.

With just under 12 minutes to play in the first period the Panthers were able to even things up when David Booth beat Tim Thomas cleanly. The play actually continued for another 20 seconds until the next whistle as the referees couldn't see that the puck had actually bounced back out off the twine.

Two minutes later the Bruins regained the lead, this time to stay as Patrice Bergeron tipped in a shot from the blue line by Matt Hunwick. The Bruins controlled much of the period and after twenty minutes the Bruins lead by one.
Entering the second period the Panthers controlled much of the play with two power plays in the early going. However the Bruins were able to kill them off swing the momentum.

That momentum swing came in the form a slowly executed three on one. David Krejci moved down the right wing wall and found a streaking Chuck Kobasew on the left side. Kobasew's shot hit a Panther in front but Krejci was there to pick up the loose puck and put the biscuit in the basket.

Less than two minutes later the Bruins broke things open when Savard made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone. Savard fed Bergeron on the left side who then headed for the net, Bergeron's initial shot was stopped but the rebound was collected by Savard in the slot who put it home into the empty net.

With the game getting out of hand the Panthers tried getting physical late in the second to swing the momentum. Milan Lucic was called out by old Bruin Nick Boynton and he was clearly ready for the challenge. While Boynton landed some good shots, it was Lucic who got the decision as Boynton left the scrum with his face a little on the bloody side.

With under three minutes to go Keith Ballard went low on Savard and Aaron Ward came in to rough up Ballard for the questionable hit on Savy. Savard went back to the locker room but was out there in the third period so he appears to be OK.

With a little over three minutes to go, Ville Peltonen put in a garbage goal on a rebound in front. The Bruins didn't have a body on Peltonen and Thomas had to chance to make the stop.

The Panthers pulled the goaltender with two minutes to go but couldn't get anything going and the Bruins picked up the 4-2 victory. With the win the B's move to 11-1-1 in their last 13.

The Bruins will now head up to Montreal to play the Habs tomorrow night on Patrick Roy night. Man, do I hate Roy mainly because he was a Hab for the majority of his career but hey I'll even admit he is one of the best of all time and deserves this night.

The Bruins will start tomorrow night tied with the New York Rangers for first place in in the Eastern Conference (lead the tiebreak). Expect a doozy up there in Montreal tomorrow night, must see television.

Bruins knock out Habs

Are you ready yet? Ready for what you may ask? Ready to believe. The Bruins were tied for first place going into tonight's game against the Habs but people were still wondering whether or not the Bruins could skate with the Habs. The answer, a resounding yes!

This one shifted toward the Bruins early as Shawn Thornton capitalized on a Montreal defensive mistake under three minutes into the game. Thornton popped home his first of the season through the five-hole of Carey Price and the hurt was on.

The Canadiens had a few chances to get back into the game before the mid point of the period but Manny Fernandez held his ground and kept the puck in front of the goal line.

With about three minutes remaining in the opening frame the fourth line struck again, with Thornton making the key play. Thornton took the puck away from Saku Koivu in the neutral zone, resulting in a Bruins rush the other way. With the puck laying around the crease Stephane Yelle emerged, finding the back of the net for his second goal on the season.

The Bruins ended the period on the power play and with under seven seconds to play in the stanza Marc Savard was able to find a streaking Marco Sturm in the slot for another Bruins tally.

As the teams moved to the second period the Canadiens continued to shoot themselves in the foot as Price handled the puck in the restricted area behind the net and was called for a delay of game penalty. Just 13 seconds later Marco Sturm banged home a rebound off of a deflected Patrice Bergeron wrister for his second of the game and the "Caaa-rey" chants were on.

With the score 4-0 it looked as though the Bruins for a moment got a little complacent and Montreal was able to get on the board. Fernandez was able to make an initial stop on Koivu but couldn't control the rebound and Koivu stuck a backhander into the Bruins' net.

The Habs controlled the rest of the period and spent the final two minutes on the power play. The Bruins were able to kill the penalty to Savard and the Bruins took the three goal advantage into the locker room.

After Savard missed a bunny from a few feet away the Bruins were able to make good as Milan Lucic chopped in his fifth of the year. Off of a Phil Kessel face off win Lucic was in the right place at the right time and snapped one past a dazed Carey Price.

After some more of the same old song and dance between Lucic and Mike Komisarek with their usual jawing things finally turned physical. You could tell Lucic wanted Komisarek badly as he tuned up Komisarek like a fiddle.

After the fight Lucic was jumping and waving towards the crowd, completely stoked after putting a muzzle on Komisarek. Even when Looch went to the penalty box he was still revving up the crowd.

With just over 11 minutes remaining in the game Yelle put an exclamation point on this one netting his second of the game on a wrist shot from the right wing.

The Bruins finally got their victory over the Habs for the first time in the last 12 regular season games, and man does it feel good.

One final dap to the fourth line of Shawn Thornton, Stephane Yelle and Chuck Kobasew. These guys yet again set the tone early and put the Bruins out in front comfortably in the first period.

Let's also give some love to Manny Fernandez who picks up his second straight win pushing his record to 4-1-1 and dare I say it, is looking like the best back up plan in the league? Now it may be early, but like I've been saying since the day he got here, he's good. Now he is clearly the back up but he is a good one to have. If he keeps looking good as the season progresses he is also a great trading chip come the deadline.

Finally, the defense. I know we like to look at the low scoring that has been taking place for Bruins opponents and point at the goaltenders right away. However, let's give some love to the D who have really stepped it up over the past few weeks. It also helps when you're killing off penalty's at better than a 75% clip.

Tired? Suffering from a two games in two nights hangover? Not this team.

Bruins get fourth straight W: Where's the love?

The Boston Bruins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks tonight in a shootout by the score of 2-1. The story of the game had to be the amount of penalty's. The Bruins and Blackhawks combined for 19 penalty's. It was a game that was dominated by the goaltenders as well. Tim Thomas was stellar again stopping 31 of 32 shots but he might have been out shined by Nikolai Khabibulin who was outstanding stopping 38 of 39 shot attempts.

However, in the shootout Tim Thomas stopped two out of three biscuits shot his way while Blake Wheeler and PJ Axellson put pucks past Khabibulin and the Bruins get two big points. With the win the Bruins move into a first place tie with the Buffalo Sabres with the Montreal Canadiens sitting one point behind the duo. Of course I don't need to remind anyone that the Bruins and Habs will face off tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Now I understand that the Patriots and Jets kick off with first place in the AFC East on the line tomorrow night, but hey so do the B's. The Bruins and Habs are separated by one point in the division and it is the hated Habs first trip to the Garden this season.Now, I'm a realist and I know 94% of Boston will be watching the Jets and Pats but the football doesn't start until 8:17 so you could probably get two full periods under your belt before the Jets and Pats kick off, so tune in!Now as for tonight it was a game that Claude Julien will completely throw out the window. It was an ugly showing and the Bruins have a game tomorrow night which will dictate how future practices will be dictated.

To put a cap on tonight's game the Bruins weren't good early but had enough to sneak out with two points so they'll take it. At 9-3-3 the Bruins are at the top of the Northeast division and deserve to be recognized in the hub.

Fight night at the Garden just what Bruins need

My oh my, this turned out to be a doosie. Now when you show up at the Garden for a Bruins and Stars tilt you aren't exactly thinking it will turn into a battle royal but the signs were there. Entering last night's game the Bruins had only been in two fights in their first 11 games. Players like Milan Lucic and Shawn Thornton had been asked about it and said things would change given the opportunity and by golly was there an opportunity.

With resident mongrel Steve Avery in the house you could have expected Avery to tangle with someone, and he did. However, the real pessimist turned out to be Steve Ott. It was actually comical listening to Jack Edwards just bash the coward, Ott until the cow came home. Steve Ott gave cheap shot after cheap shot and would not settle it with anyone. When Andrew Ference laid Ott out in the neutral zone the building vibrated (sorry for a another Edwards reference).

The Bruins were flat after the first two periods and it was looking as though they weren't there after a tough road trip. Even though they headed into the locker room with a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes it still didn't look like a team destined for greatness, or heck even a win. Then it happened, the stars aligned figuratively and literally and the Bruins started acting like a team we saw last season. A team that was there for one another and would play gritty and tough and not let anyone push them around.

Now the storyline of the game was clearly the physicality of the Bruins and the melee that ensued but hey, let's not forget to mention that there were five goals scored. Granted, Marty Turco could have had a couple of them but regardless five goals is five goals. Phil Kessel for one had a great goal when he was able to come down the right wing and execute his patented toe drag through the defense man's legs and beat Turco.

Also not to be lost in the scrums was the fact that Marco Sturm scored two goals last night. Sturm had been struggling immensely and it was good to see him pop in a couple. As we all know Sturm is a streaky scorer so let's hope he can carry this hot trend on as the Bruins move forward.

One final note I would like to pass on to everyone is the fact that Tim Thomas is a beast. Thomas is first in the NHL in Save %, tied for first in the league in shutouts (2) and second in the league in GAA with a 1.83. You think this guy is a journeyman goalie anymore? I didn't think so.