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.