THANK YOU, BRUINS

The Bruins' 6-1 pounding of the Canadiens made the Patrtiots' loss a little more bearable.

The B's hadn't beaten Montreal in 12 straight regular season meetings. The Bruins arrived in Boston at 3:00 AM Thursday after a hard fought 2-1 shootout win in Chicago. The Bruins didn't have much of an advantage coming into the game.

But that didn't matter. The 4th line of Shawn Thornton, Stephan Yelle, and Chuck Kobasew combined for 3 goals and 7 points. Manny Fernandez stopped 27 of 28 shots. Marco Sturm broke out with 2 goals. Patrice Bergeron had an assist and pancaked Saku Koivu in the open ice. Milan Lucic fell an assist shy of a Gordie How hat trick by scoring a goal and beating the crap out of Mike Komisarek.



Last year as a fan, I'd dread games against Montreal because the Bruins would find some way to mess it up. They'd get too emotional, fall behind early, and lose 5-1. Or they'd play too physical, rack up penalties, and give up shorthanded goals. Or they wouldn't be physical enough and the Habs would outlast them. But this season, the Bruins have handled Montreal as if they were any other team.



The Bruins are in 1st place and on pace for 118 points. They've won 5 straight and 8 of 9. They've beaten good teams like Chicago, Buffalo, and Montreal in this streak. The goaltending has been outstanding from Thomas and Fernandez. They're scoring goals in abundance. They're playing smart and physical hockey.

It's what we've been waiting for, Bruins fans.

They face another challenge Saturday night as they go down to Manhattan to face the 1st place Rangers.

Sources:
ESPN.com
BostonBruins.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa