Bruins Blow Two Goal Lead, Lose in OT

Boston and Philadelphia were back at it for the second time in four days Saturday afternoon at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Flyers were looking to avenge their 3-1 loss to the Bruins on Wednesday.

It didn't start well for the Flyers, however, as Marc Savard put the Bruins out in front less than four minutes in. Savard scored his 21st of the season off of his own rebound. The goal was a bit of a softy, as Philadelphia starter Martin Biron probably should have stopped the attempt.

With the lead, Boston didn't slow down as the Bruins were taking the physical play to the Flyers. However, the momentum would shift in a hurry.

At about the midway point of the period, Blake Wheeler went to the box on a holding call. Philadelphia didn't convert on their first powerplay but the penalty calls wouldn't stop there.

Dennis Wideman was the next Bruin called for a penalty, with a hook. Less than a minute later, Mark Stuart went to the box on a bit of a phantom tripping call.

The Flyers were able to take advantage of the five-on-three opportunity as Simon Gagne corralled a rebound off the left post and beat Fernandez.

The final minute of the first period was good to the Bruins as Boston would take the lead with one minute to go. It was Byron Bitz collecting his first career NHL goal off of a shot from the point had just clanged off the post and laid on the goal line. Bitz was in the right place at the right time and knocked in the loose puck.

Just eight seconds later the Bruins were able to pad their lead to two as Chuck Kobasew came down the right wing and beat Biron. The goal was another weak one let up by Biron and it would spell the end of his day.

In the second period the Flyers looked to rejuvenate themselves and replaced Biron with Antero Niittymaki. Just a couple of minutes into the period, old friend, Glen Metropolit cut the Boston lead to one as Metro took a pass from behind the net and was able to beat Fernandez over the shoulder.

A little over four minutes later the Bruins found themselves on the penalty kill again on another questionable call. Kobasew went to the box for interference and Philadelphia was able to take advantage again. This time it was Scott Hartnell doing the damage and Boston's lead had been erased.

The third period was full of hard play, but no scoring. Boston had a late opportunity being on the power play in the final minutes but the Flyers had the best opportunity. In the final seconds Philadelphia had a two-on-one that required Fernandez to make a gorgeous glove save on Gagne.

The teams headed for overtime looking for the extra point and the Bruins held the advantage for most of the stanza. Boston was just inches away from winning the game as a shot from the blue line went off the iron. Less than a minute later, Philadelphia ended the game on a lucky break.

Boston enemy, Randy Jones threw a puck at the net that deflected off of Andrew Ference and past Fernandez for the game winner.

The Flyers earned this win with a great comeback effort. The Bruins looked tired down the stretch and couldn't hold off the Philadelphia comeback. The Bruins will have to rest up before facing off with the San Jose Sharks, Tuesday night at the Garden. Even with the overtime loss the Bruins earned a point and now sit 15 points ahead of Washington in the Eastern Conference.

Bruins Shoot for Win Number 40 Without Ryder

*Michael Ryder will not play today because of a facial fracture and is out indefinitely.

Ryder of course was hit in the face with a high stick Thursday night in Ottawa by Antoine Vermette. Ryder will be re-evaluated on Monday. Claude Julien hopes Ryder can play with a shield and not need surgery.

* Manny Fernandez will start today.

His last action came on Jan. 8 against Ottawa. With it being February 7, Fernandez hasn't started in a month. It will be interesting to see if Fernandez will return to his pre-injury status.

* Aaron Ward who has flu-like symptoms will be taking a sick day and will not play. Matt Hunwick will replace Ward in the lineup.

*Milan Lucic, who missed Thursday nights game in Ottawa will lace them up today. Lucic said his foot is still a little purple, but he is ready to go.

Unlikely Hero Lifts Bruins in Shoot Out

The Bruins had to fight but they were able to take two points in Ottawa Thursday night. PJ Axelsson scored in the fifth round of a shoot out and Boston can head home winners. Ugly winners, but winners none the less.

This was an odd game for the Bruins as they took a 2-0 lead into the second period but ended up trailing until the final minutes. With the Bruins on a two man advantage late in the third, Chuck Kobasew knocked in a loose puck out front and the game was sent to an extra session.

It was ugly but two points is two points and the Bruins padded their lead in the Eastern Conference to 14 points. The Flyers invade the Garden Saturday afternoon where the Bruins will make the drive for five.

Scoring Summary:

BOSTON

Blake Wheeler (15) Assists: Andrew Ference & Phil Kessel

Zdeno Chara (12) Assists: Michael Ryder & David Krejci

Chuck Kobasew (10) Assists: Blake Wheeler & Zdeno Chara

OTTAWA

Nick Foligno (7) Assists: Brendan Bell

Daniel Alfredsson (15) Assists: Dany Heatley

Jason Spezza (19) Assists: Nick Foligno & Daniel Alfredsson

Bruins looking at Cole?

Basing its speculation upon Oilers scout Dave Semenko's frequent visits to watch the Bruins lately, The Boston Globe suggests the two teams are working on a deal.

The Oilers are looking to move Erik Cole because they don't think they will be able to sign him this off season.

The Globe said the Bruins "would have great interest" in Cole. Cole has been a disappointment this year in Edmonton but hey, so was Michael Ryder in Montreal. Given the right system and line mates, (Bergeron and Kobasew?) Cole could be a help down the stretch.

Bruins D Matt Hunwick and/or minor-league winger Vladimir Sobotka could be of interest to the Oilers, according to The Globe.

Krejci Line Helps Bruins to Fifth Win in Six Games

The Bruins were in Philadelphia Wednesday night to face-off with the Flyers. The Bruins have been playing the so called 'beasts of the East' lately, but maybe the last team in that 'beast' category was the Flyers. Heading to Philadelphia and winning is no easy task but the Bruins were able to outlast the Flyers for a 3-1 victory.

Early in the first period the Flyers were oh so close to taking the momentum. However, Tim Thomas, who will no doubt find himself in the NHL's Top-10 plays of the week, stoned Jeff Carter on the door step with the paddle of his goal stick. The power play expired and the Bruins could let go a big sigh of relief.

The first period continued and the Bruins watched the Flyers swarm Thomas. Philadelphia threw a ton of rubber on Thomas in the first and at the end of 20, Thomas had already made 14 saves.

The first period was scoreless, but just a few minutes into the second the Bruins lit the lamp. Dennis Wideman wound up from the blue line and eventual star of the game Michael Ryder was standing in front, deflecting the puck past Martin Biron.

The Bruins lead wouldn't last long, however, as Philadelhia scored just over two minutes later. Give the goal to Scott Hartnell on a nice pass from Joffrey Lupul. Aaron Ward had a chance to intercept the pass but the puck slid by him and onto the tape of Hartnell for the equalizer.

The Bruins and Flyers exchanged blows for the remainder of the second. The Bruins had a couple of power plays that produced chances but did not produce a tally. The period ended with the teams headed to the room, tied 1-1.

The third period started with both teams flying around, trying to take the lead. Five minutes and forty six seconds into the third, David Krejci lined up in the face off dot. Just four seconds later, Krejci gets credit for number 19 on the season. Krejci won the draw back to Wideman who let one go. Krejci bolted to the front of the net and got his shaft on the puck, changing its direction and helping it pass Biron.

Just 35 seconds later, it was Wideman's turn to light the lamp as Wideman finally got the puck after Michael Ryder skated circles around five Flyers. Wideman threw the puck into a screen and the puck squeezed through Biron's leg for a 3-1 Boston lead.

With just over four minutes to go in the third and the game pretty well in hand, Marty Biron took a little bit more punishment. Biron took what looked to be a good 100MPH slap shot from Zdeno Chara off the face and went down in a heap. The game was stopped for a couple of minutes to check on Biron, but Biron was able to finish the game.

The final few minutes ticked away and the Bruins got yet another victory. With the win, the Bruins have 82 points and sit 12 points ahead of second place Washington. The Bruins lead the San Jose Sharks by five points for the best record in the NHL. However, San Jose does have four games in hand.

The Bruins are back on the ice tomorrow night in Ottawa to take on the Senators.

BruinSpace Fires up the Rumor Mill with One Month to Go

Bruins Practice Notes - 2/3

*As promised, here is a Manny note. Fernandez is ready for backup duty tomorrow night in Philadelphia. Claude Julien is hoping that Fernandez will soon be ready to play, which apparently he wouldn't be come tomorrow.

Look for Fernandez to get the nod either Thursday in Ottawa or Saturday in Boston for the rematch with the Flyers.

*Matt Hunwick, who has been the healthy scratch on D as of late won't be a healthy scratch tomorrow night. That is because he is not healthy and will stay in Boston, recovering from the flu. Hunwick will likely rejoin the club Saturday back in Boston.

As a seventh d-man, the loss of Hunwick this week is not so pressing.

Projected lines for tomorrow night's game.

Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

P.J. Axelsson - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Bitz/Nokelainen

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez

RUMOR MILL
OK, and now everybody's favorite. Tomorrow will be the one month until the Trade deadline mark. As I did last year I will bring the house down with trade rumors from all over the place. Yes, that means even more reports from Canadien outlets, because let's face it, the Ottawa Sun is to the hockey rumor mill as the Boston Globe is to covering the MLB hot stove. So without further delay, the trade deadline Rumor Mill is back.

*Jay Bouwmeester
The Boston Globe speculates the Bruins would have to part with either Milan Lucic or Blake Wheeler if they wanted to put together a package for Bouwmeester. It would also cost the B's a first round pick most likely.
So all in all I don't think that the Bruins will make a serious run at Bouwmeester since they would not give up either Wheeler or Lucic. The Bruins have been mentioned a lot on him but I have been shooting this down since the beginning. I see this as about a 5% chance of happening.

*The Boston Herald lists Edmonton's Erik Cole, Toronto's Nik Antropov and St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk as possible rental players because of their pending unrestricted free agency.
"We just finished our pro meetings," Chiarelli told the Boston Herald. "We've created a couple of small lists of players of interest. If circumstances allow, we'd like to add somebody. But listen, we're not actively pursuing it. We're having a very good year. You do want to capitalize on that. It isn't an urgent concern, but you do say, we need to look at this.' "

"They've shown themselves to be pretty adept in putting together this team," Bruins D Aaron Ward told the Herald, referring to Chiarelli and his staff. "I think they'll be smart in their acquisition if they decide to do it. I think the players know that anything added to this room will do nothing but benefit us."

I've been hearing that Peter Chiarelli is very open to bringing someone in to help his club. He apparently is not worried about effecting team chemistry. He will not however, give up an of his young guns such as Lucic, Wheeler or Krejci. If I were to pick a player that the Bruins could get at the deadline out of that bunch I'd say that Keith Tkachuk would be the easy guess. He is a big, veteran forward who could fit in well with Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew on the third line. Although Tkachuk may make the most sense, I like Nik Antropov. His cap number would also be the easiest to fit as he costs about half as much as Cole and Tkachuk.

That's edition one of the Rumor Mill. There will be many more updates to come as we enter the final month until the trade deadline.

As Rask Heads Back Down for Now, Is Manny Ready for Second Half Showcase?

It is mainly goalie news today as all of the Bruins with the exceptions of Manny Fernandez and Petteri Nokelainen were off today.

The goalie news is that Manny Fernandez will be the back-up to Tim Thomas Wednesday night in Philadelphia and not Tuukka Rask. Rask was sent back to Providence after being called up on an emergency basis.

Fernandez said that he is getting his mobility back and that his back spasms have been related to his knee injury last year. Last year when Fernandez was trying to play through the injury he was overcompensating weight on his right side, causing the issues with his back.

We'll have more tomorrow when the Bruins have a full practice before heading to Philly.

Bruins Have Super Sunday Against Bitter Rivals

Super Sunday is a day where you normally get siked for the Super Bowl. However, with the Patriots out of the playoffs this season and the hated Steelers in the Super Bowl, it just doesn't have the same luster. However, the schedule makers helped us hockey fans out today by matching up the bitter rival Bruins and Canadiens for a Sunday matinee.
It didn't take long for the two clubs to come to blows as just a minute in, Alex Henry (who by my calculations hadn't played in the NHL for 3 years) called out Bruins bad boy, Shawn Thornton for an early tussle. Advantage Thornton as while Avery threw many rights, few connected as Thornton landed some face smashing blows.

The Bruins were establishing much of the early pressure, taking the play to Montreal early on. However, in the second half of the period the Habs started to wake up and create trouble in front of Tim Thomas.

With just over two minutes to play in the first period, Montreal was on the power play thanks to an Aaron Ward trip and just 26 seconds later Robert Lang gave Montreal the lead. Lang crept down the left side and fired a nice wrist shot top shelf, over Thomas' right shoulder.

The Bruins did not go quietly into the locker room as Dennis Wideman was able to intercept a Mike Komisarek clearing attempt and blister a wrist shot past Carey Price. The goal was a four-on-four tally that came with just .6 seconds remaining in period one.

Coming out in the second period the Bruins found themselves on two early power plays as Alex Kovalev headed to the sin bin twice. However, the Bruins were not able to score on either chance and were giving the Habs some spunk with two straight penalty kills.

The spunk was short lived however as the Bruins fourth line put the Bruins on top for good when Byron Bitz found Shawn Thornton in front for a 2-1 lead. Bitz was stationed behind the goal and fed the puck to Thornton who slapped it through Carey Price.

The period played out with the physicality picking up on both sides, but especially with the Bruins. Both teams hit the post in the final few minutes and entertainment value was high as the teams got into a couple of skirmishes in front of Thomas.

As the third period started the Canadiens came out on fire. The Habs clearly wanted to try and even the score quickly as the Bruins were already 16 points ahead of the Bruins at face off. However, Thomas was up to the challenge, turning away all of Montreal's attempts.

The period continued and while Boston had a couple of scoring chances it remained mainly a Montreal attack. Thomas was sharp when called on and with just 1:19 to go and the Habs still down a goal the Canadiens were forced to pull Price.

The Bruins were able to get the puck back in the Montreal end on a nice play from PJ Axelsson. As the Canadiens tried to come back out, Marc Savard intercepted a pass attempt and fired the puck into the empty Canadien goal from the neutral zone with 56.5 seconds remaining.

The Bruins were playing out the string when Ryan O'Byrne got his stick up high on Chuck Kobasew in blatant frustration. O'Byrne whined to the box and as Jack Edwards said, stick a fork in them. With the win the Bruins extended their lead over Montreal to 18 points in the Northeast division as we welcome in February.

Indeed, it was a 'Super Sunday' here in Bean town after all.