Tuesday, January 11, 2011

DEJA VU FOR BRUINS


I hate using a French word on the heels of a loss to Montreal, but why not? The Bruins blew a 2-0 lead up there, then fall behind 2-0 to Pittsburgh, only to come from behind in the last few minutes. It's also reminiscent of November, when the Bruins rallied and beat the Penguins 7-4.

Mark Recchi knows when I'm thinking about criticizing him. I was considering doing so again. And again, he comes up with a big goal that shuts me up.

This game turned around much earlier than that, although there was no way to know it. After being penalized, and watching the Bruins give up a goal, Recchi was once again sent to the box. He even got an extra 2 for arguing. His teammates mounted a solid kill, keeping it a 2-0 game. I remember Savard in particular playing with intensity.

The B's got desperate late in the 3rd and ramped up their attacks. They earned a power play, and were seconds away from seeing it squandered when Chara blasted a knuckling slapshot past Fleury, who had been playing a hell of a game to that point.

12 seconds later, Bergeron makes a terrific pass to a driving Marchand, who knocked in his own rebound to tie it. Bergeron's been a force on offense, and has been ever since I started criticizing him. He's tallied 5 goals and 9 assists in his last 12 games. At the moment, he's the Bruins' most productive forward.

The Penguins have been struggling, and were without Crosby. Nevertheless, the Bruins showed good character in this win. They didn't give up when they fell behind 2-0. They didn't give up when Fleury stopped their best shots. They played with passion when they had to, and earned a nice win.

They host Ottawa tonight. They've got to start taking care of business within the Division, and they need to start winning at home. They can do both tonight.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

No comments:

Post a Comment