There's nothing quite like springtime in Boston.
Friday, April 13, 2018
Hockey is cool.
What's not to like? Perhaps the best athletes on the planet hurtling around at about 30 miles per hour on razor sharp blades and toting the sporting equivalent of a battle axe, chasing around a disc made of vulcanized rubber and willing to hurt you to get it...
...unintentionally, of course, but it goes to figure that when you put human beings on ice skates and cover their bodies with compression padding to absorb blows, then arm them and give them 200 feet to build up a head of steam...well, you get football, lacrosse and roller derby
So cool is hockey that
The Boston Bruins limped through the last month of the NHL's 2017-18 season
power play 14:32 krug crosses at mid ice veres to his left and delivered a tape pass toa streaking marshand
marshand gathers in in the left circle, flew in from the wing and backhanded the puck while crossing the face of the tender
Bergeron hooking pnealty at 14:00
What's not to like? Perhaps the best athletes on the planet hurtling around at about 30 miles per hour on razor sharp blades and toting the sporting equivalent of a battle axe, chasing around a disc made of vulcanized rubber and willing to hurt you to get it...
...unintentionally, of course, but it goes to figure that when you put human beings on ice skates and cover their bodies with compression padding to absorb blows, then arm them and give them 200 feet to build up a head of steam...well, you get football, lacrosse and roller derby
So cool is hockey that
The Boston Bruins limped through the last month of the NHL's 2017-18 season
power play 14:32 krug crosses at mid ice veres to his left and delivered a tape pass toa streaking marshand
marshand gathers in in the left circle, flew in from the wing and backhanded the puck while crossing the face of the tender
Bergeron hooking pnealty at 14:00
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Bruins' Eriksson leaves early, Marchand and Orpik follow in ugly fracas
Boston Bruins' forward Loui Eriksson left the Bruins' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins just :21 in after taking a huge floor check from defenseman Brooks Orpik that pancaked Eriksson to the ice.
Eriksson was able to make it back to the bench on his own power during the stop in play when captain Zdeno Chara came to his defense, cross checking Orpik while trying to goad Orpik into fisticuffs, but seemed dazed as he sat, so the training staff escorted him to the locker room for evaluation.
Eriksson, who give up about 25 pounds to the rugged Orpik, was blindsided by the otherwise clean body shot.
With the score tied at 1-1, and ugly fracas began when Pittsburgh forward James Neal thrust a knee into the head of Brad Marchand who was in a prone position on the ice. Marchand spun on his knees and fell to his face, but before play could be stopped, a scrum started in the Pittsburgh zone...
Boston's Shawn Thornton skating into the scrum and, seeming to target Orpik, yanked the defensman to the ice and punched him in the head twice, knocking him cold.
Pittsburgh players immediately started waving frantically toward the medical staff who came onto the ice and called for the stretcher at once.
Thornton received a match penalty, and is most likely looking at a lengthy suspension. More on the status of all players involved as word becomes available.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/bruins-eriksson-leaves-early-marshand.html
Eriksson was able to make it back to the bench on his own power during the stop in play when captain Zdeno Chara came to his defense, cross checking Orpik while trying to goad Orpik into fisticuffs, but seemed dazed as he sat, so the training staff escorted him to the locker room for evaluation.
Eriksson, who give up about 25 pounds to the rugged Orpik, was blindsided by the otherwise clean body shot.
With the score tied at 1-1, and ugly fracas began when Pittsburgh forward James Neal thrust a knee into the head of Brad Marchand who was in a prone position on the ice. Marchand spun on his knees and fell to his face, but before play could be stopped, a scrum started in the Pittsburgh zone...
Boston's Shawn Thornton skating into the scrum and, seeming to target Orpik, yanked the defensman to the ice and punched him in the head twice, knocking him cold.
Pittsburgh players immediately started waving frantically toward the medical staff who came onto the ice and called for the stretcher at once.
Thornton received a match penalty, and is most likely looking at a lengthy suspension. More on the status of all players involved as word becomes available.
http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/bruins-eriksson-leaves-early-marshand.html
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Rask Grounds Bolts; Bruins Clinch Post-Season Berth
Two "U"'s, two "K"'s, two points.
Boston Bruins fans are used to hearing play-by-play man Jack Edwards bellow that accolade of Bruins' goaltender Tuukka Rask after a win in which the native finlander is in net - but on Tuesday night at TD Garden, the two points gained by Rask and the Bruins accomplished something that hadn't happened in three years.
Boston Bruins fans are used to hearing play-by-play man Jack Edwards bellow that accolade of Bruins' goaltender Tuukka Rask after a win in which the native finlander is in net - but on Tuesday night at TD Garden, the two points gained by Rask and the Bruins accomplished something that hadn't happened in three years.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Bruins Scalp Blackhawks; Tighten Grip On Playoff Spot
The Boston Bruins played a little leapfrog in Chicago on Sunday afternoon.
Oh sure, there was some hockey being played, but since the Chicago Blackhawks had clinched the Central Division title in the NHL's Western Conference on Saturday night, only the Bruins had any chance of improving their playoff seeding, as two points for a win would enable them to jump over both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division...
...and thanks to an unassisted wrister from defenseman Kevan Miller midway through the final period and some nifty goaltending down the stretch from Anton Khudobin, the Bruins did just that, winning their fifth straight match with a 3-2 victory at the United Center in Chicago.
Miller picked up a loose puck at center ice, split two defenders crossing the blue line, his momentum taking him to the top of the left circle where he found himself wide open, firing a top-shelf, glove-side snipe past Chicago netminder Corey Crawford for what would be the eventual gamer.
The Bruins never trailed, taking command of the scorebaord on a Ryan Spooner redirection of a Zdeno Chara tumbler that easily beat Crawford and a Patrice Bergeron one-timer off a Brad Marchand feed from the right dashers to make it 2-0 after one period. The Blackhawks scored once in the middle frame and once in the third to keep it interesting...
...but Khudobin shut them down during a furious final two minutes after Chicago pulled Crawford for the extra skater, staking the Bruins to their fifth consecutive victory.
Spooner's redirect came on what appeared to be a purposeful off-speed shot from Chara from above the left circle, making contact with the tumbling puck in the low slot, it's natural momentum lofting it into the top corner of the net before Crawford knew it was behind him, while Bergeron's one-timer came off of Marchand's dump pass into the high slot...
...the Blackhawk defenders overskating the trailing Bergeron and Marchand's delay while waiting on Bergeron to enter the zone drawing Crawford to the glove side, giving Bergeron a clean line of sight to the low stick-side where he planted the puck for a 2-0 Bruins' advantage.
Artemi Panarin got the Blackhawks within one late in the second period with his 30th of the season, a weird rebound shot that hit a teammate that had slid into the goal, the puck bouncing right back out to Panarin, who planted it firmly back into the net on Khudobin's blocker side - but Miller built the lead back to two with his unassisted drive in the third.
Jordin Tootoo potted a cheap wrister from a scrum on the low slot just seconds later, but Khudobin managed to stop everything else to pick up his sixth win of the season against five losses and a tie - though all of his wins have come in his last six starts, and has allowed two goals or fewer in five of six games in that span in which his save percentage has been an impressive .928.
Next up for the Bruins is a critical three-game homestand, hosting Tampa Bay on Tuesday, Ottawa on Thursday and Washington on Saturday
Oh sure, there was some hockey being played, but since the Chicago Blackhawks had clinched the Central Division title in the NHL's Western Conference on Saturday night, only the Bruins had any chance of improving their playoff seeding, as two points for a win would enable them to jump over both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division...
...and thanks to an unassisted wrister from defenseman Kevan Miller midway through the final period and some nifty goaltending down the stretch from Anton Khudobin, the Bruins did just that, winning their fifth straight match with a 3-2 victory at the United Center in Chicago.
 |
| Forward Brad Marchand passes from the low circle |
Miller picked up a loose puck at center ice, split two defenders crossing the blue line, his momentum taking him to the top of the left circle where he found himself wide open, firing a top-shelf, glove-side snipe past Chicago netminder Corey Crawford for what would be the eventual gamer.
The Bruins never trailed, taking command of the scorebaord on a Ryan Spooner redirection of a Zdeno Chara tumbler that easily beat Crawford and a Patrice Bergeron one-timer off a Brad Marchand feed from the right dashers to make it 2-0 after one period. The Blackhawks scored once in the middle frame and once in the third to keep it interesting...
...but Khudobin shut them down during a furious final two minutes after Chicago pulled Crawford for the extra skater, staking the Bruins to their fifth consecutive victory.
Spooner's redirect came on what appeared to be a purposeful off-speed shot from Chara from above the left circle, making contact with the tumbling puck in the low slot, it's natural momentum lofting it into the top corner of the net before Crawford knew it was behind him, while Bergeron's one-timer came off of Marchand's dump pass into the high slot...
...the Blackhawk defenders overskating the trailing Bergeron and Marchand's delay while waiting on Bergeron to enter the zone drawing Crawford to the glove side, giving Bergeron a clean line of sight to the low stick-side where he planted the puck for a 2-0 Bruins' advantage.
Artemi Panarin got the Blackhawks within one late in the second period with his 30th of the season, a weird rebound shot that hit a teammate that had slid into the goal, the puck bouncing right back out to Panarin, who planted it firmly back into the net on Khudobin's blocker side - but Miller built the lead back to two with his unassisted drive in the third.
Jordin Tootoo potted a cheap wrister from a scrum on the low slot just seconds later, but Khudobin managed to stop everything else to pick up his sixth win of the season against five losses and a tie - though all of his wins have come in his last six starts, and has allowed two goals or fewer in five of six games in that span in which his save percentage has been an impressive .928.
Next up for the Bruins is a critical three-game homestand, hosting Tampa Bay on Tuesday, Ottawa on Thursday and Washington on Saturday
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Canadiens eliminate Bruins; face Rangers in Eastern Conference Finals
The tension was so thick in TD Garden that the folks at home could probably feel it seeping from their television speakers.
After all, in each of the first six games of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series between the hometown Boston Bruins and their arch-nemesis from north of the border, the team that has scored first has been the victor - and just over two minutes in, the Montreal Canadiens had the lead.
Almost immediately afterward and amidst nervous rumblings from the capacity crowd, Bruins' forward Brad Marchand was thrown into the clinks for interfering with Habs' goalie Carey Price, giving Montreal a power play four short minutes later...
...down by a goal and shorthanded was pretty much the nightmare scenario for the Bruins to start the winner-take-all Game 7, and the Canadiens could smell the blood in the water, delivering as much punishment to the Bruins as they could muster without ending up in the box themselves, wanting to seize the opportunity to take total control of the game before the bear woke up.
Which happened just before the end of the first period, but the way that Canadiens' goalie Carey Price was playing, it didn't make any difference.
Max Pacioretty scored the game winner midway through the second period, joining Dale Weise and Daniel Brière with goals that the Bruins made look too easy, the Canadiens beating Boston at TD Garden by a score of 3-1 and advancing to the meet the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Price was fantastic, stopping all but one of Boston's 30 shots - a Jarome Iginla power play goal the lone blemish - while Bruins' goaltender Tuukka Rask faced only 18 Canadiens' offerings, though it seemed like thrice as many, but allowed three to find the net as he was again victimized by sloppy defensive play in front of him and a relentless Montreal forecheck.
The Weise goal was as easy as they come - a textbook backdoor job set up by Daniel Brière, who drew the Bruins' box toward him to the left circle while Weise floated in behind the defenders, then it was just a matter of a simple pass across the low slot to the uncovered Canadien, who directed the point blank offering into the open net on Rask's glove side...
...Pacioretty's gamer playing out almost identically, this time Patrice Bergeron whiffing on a clearing attempt and with the Bruins anticipating a rush the other way vacating the zone, David Desharnais had only Torey Krug to beat, but instead slid a pass just out of reach of the sprawling defenseman and right into Pacioretty's wheelhouse for the one-timer and a two goal lead.
The Bruins got that one back with two minutes left in the middle frame on Iginla's redirect of a Krug drive, but untimely penalties and the swarming Canadiens defense ensured that Boston would get no closer, and Brière potted an insurance dagger with just under three minutes left in regulation, taking a Brendan Gallagher feed from the right wing and splitting Zdeno Chara and Matt Bartkowski and somehow slipping the puck between Rask and the goal post.
This one is going to sting for a while, the Bruins missing on two straight chances to eliminate their most hated rivals, outworked and outscored by a total of seven goals to one in losing the final two games of the series.
After all, in each of the first six games of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series between the hometown Boston Bruins and their arch-nemesis from north of the border, the team that has scored first has been the victor - and just over two minutes in, the Montreal Canadiens had the lead.
Almost immediately afterward and amidst nervous rumblings from the capacity crowd, Bruins' forward Brad Marchand was thrown into the clinks for interfering with Habs' goalie Carey Price, giving Montreal a power play four short minutes later...
...down by a goal and shorthanded was pretty much the nightmare scenario for the Bruins to start the winner-take-all Game 7, and the Canadiens could smell the blood in the water, delivering as much punishment to the Bruins as they could muster without ending up in the box themselves, wanting to seize the opportunity to take total control of the game before the bear woke up.
Which happened just before the end of the first period, but the way that Canadiens' goalie Carey Price was playing, it didn't make any difference.
Max Pacioretty scored the game winner midway through the second period, joining Dale Weise and Daniel Brière with goals that the Bruins made look too easy, the Canadiens beating Boston at TD Garden by a score of 3-1 and advancing to the meet the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Price was fantastic, stopping all but one of Boston's 30 shots - a Jarome Iginla power play goal the lone blemish - while Bruins' goaltender Tuukka Rask faced only 18 Canadiens' offerings, though it seemed like thrice as many, but allowed three to find the net as he was again victimized by sloppy defensive play in front of him and a relentless Montreal forecheck.
The Weise goal was as easy as they come - a textbook backdoor job set up by Daniel Brière, who drew the Bruins' box toward him to the left circle while Weise floated in behind the defenders, then it was just a matter of a simple pass across the low slot to the uncovered Canadien, who directed the point blank offering into the open net on Rask's glove side...
...Pacioretty's gamer playing out almost identically, this time Patrice Bergeron whiffing on a clearing attempt and with the Bruins anticipating a rush the other way vacating the zone, David Desharnais had only Torey Krug to beat, but instead slid a pass just out of reach of the sprawling defenseman and right into Pacioretty's wheelhouse for the one-timer and a two goal lead.
The Bruins got that one back with two minutes left in the middle frame on Iginla's redirect of a Krug drive, but untimely penalties and the swarming Canadiens defense ensured that Boston would get no closer, and Brière potted an insurance dagger with just under three minutes left in regulation, taking a Brendan Gallagher feed from the right wing and splitting Zdeno Chara and Matt Bartkowski and somehow slipping the puck between Rask and the goal post.
This one is going to sting for a while, the Bruins missing on two straight chances to eliminate their most hated rivals, outworked and outscored by a total of seven goals to one in losing the final two games of the series.
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