KESSEL, BRUINS PUT EXCLAMATION POINT ON THEIR SEASON

After bombing 6-1 in Buffalo the night before, the Bruins turned things around and finished the regular season the right way. Phil Kessel's 2nd career hat-trick sent waves of fear throughout the top 8 Eastern Conference teams as the playoffs loom on the horizon. Michael Ryder scored his 27th of the season, Marc Savard his 25th, and Chuck Kobasew his 21st. David Krejci had an assist, giving him 100 career points. Savard's two assists give him 200 total since joining the Bruins.

The Bruins finished the season with a record of 53-19-10. The 53 wins are tied for the League lead with San Jose. The 116 points are only 1 shy of San Jose's total. The 53 wins and 116 points are the most for a Bruins team since 1972, and we know what happened in 1972...



The Bruins were 2nd in the NHL with 274 goals scored (3.34 per game and most since 1993), and 1st in the NHL with only 196 goals allowed (2.39 goals per game). Their +78 goal differential is their highest since 1984.

The Bruins had the 2nd best home record (29-6-6), and the 2nd best road record (24-12-5).

And now the Bruins have a date with the Montreal Canadiens. By the way, the French word for turtle is la tortue. Komisarek, O'Byrne, they're turtles.



And let's not forget the divers, either. Plekanec, Hamrlik, Komisarek again, Lapierre, Koivu, Kostitsyn, Kostitsyn, Latendresse, et cetera.



No word yet on when the series will start, but the playoffs begin April 15th. A series preview will be coming very shortly.

Source:
ESPN.com

APPARENTLY IT DOESN'T SUCK TO B.U.

5th Championship for BU, 3rd under Jack Parker, 9th title for a Boston school.

I was pretty drunk near the end of this game so I'll just let ESPN's highlights do the heavy lifting:



BU's season was, in a word: magical. Down by 2 late in the finals, and they come from behind to beat Miami. Down 4-3 in the 3rd period against Vermont in the semifinals, and they comeback to win it 5-4. With 15 seconds left in regulation, they score the game winner against UNH in the quarterfinals. In the Hockey East Championship game, they beat UMass-Lowell 1-0 thanks to a UML goal that was wrongly disallowed. Down 1-0 to BC in the 3rd period of the Hockey East semis, BU scores 3 times in 45 seconds and wins 3-2. On the last day of the regular season, BU needs Northeastern to lose to 6th place BC in order to claim the regular season title. Northeastern goes down 4-1.

A fortunate season? Yes. But that late-game magic wasn't luck. It was talent, heart, and skill. It was a team that won 35 times, and only lost 5 times. They went 9-2-2 against NCAA tournament teams during the regular season. In January, they won the Denver Cup. In February, they won the Beanpot. In March, they won Hockey East. And in April, they've won the National Championship.

Source:
Hockey East