Jarome Finneginla Leads Bruins to St. Patrick's Day Win

The Bruins won their 9th straight Monday night against the Minnesota Wild in convincing fashion. Jarome Iginla scored twice. Loui Eriksson scored as well, and Reilly Smith scored his 19th of the season. Zdeno Chara had two assists.

Iginla has scored 25 goals this season, and as I think about his potential contributions in the upcoming playoffs, I can't help but imagine how much he might have helped the Bruins last year. When the B's faced the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals, they had run out of healthy and performing forwards. Iginla might have been the difference, or at least helped the Bruins force the series to 7 games. At least he's part of the team now.

Tuukka Rask made a couple of big saves in this game, much to Mikko Koivu's chagrin. Rask stopped 33 of 34. As part of this 9 game winning streak he's won 6 times, only allowing 9 goals (1.5 per game) with a save percentage of .947 (161 saves on 170 shots).

But the big story of the streak has been the offense. The B's have scored 36 goals in the last 9 games. If you've forgotten your multiplication tables, that's 4 goals per game.

One reason for the offensive success is the IKEA line of Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg. The two Swedish Fish combined for a goal Monday night and have combined for 5 goals in this streak. Not bad for the third line.

The top line has been leading the way. The aforementioned Iginla has scored 8 goals in this streak, including 5 in the last 3 games. David Krejci and Milan Lucic have each scored 3.

So 14 goals from the top line + 5 goals from the Swedish connection + contributions from everyone else + Rask playing well in net = 9 straight wins.

The Bruins now stand with 97 points, first in the Eastern Conference (5 points ahead of Pittsburgh), tied for the second best record in the NHL. With 14 games remaining, the Bruins have a 16 point lead over Tampa Bay and Montreal in the divisional race. The B's are 13 points away from clinching the division and home ice in the first two rounds. They're 7 points away from clinching a playoff spot.

They now embark on a weird road trip, playing in New Jersey Tuesday night, then Colorado on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday. The Bruins end the season with 15 games in 23 days, so clinching stuff will give them a chance to rest key players (Iginla, Chara, Rask) for the playoffs.

Photo Credit:
Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Olympic Hockey: Swedes Speed Past Slovenia

The Swedish play a methodical, confident style of hockey. They don't panic, they don't rush, they don't force plays that aren't there. They possess the puck, make their opponent skate around, then they use their high skill level and speed to make things happen. That's what they did to Slovenia, winning 5-0 to advance to the semifinals.

Even though the Swedes were an overwhelming favorite against Slovenia, this was a 0-0 game for almost the entire first period. It was a 1-0 game until early in the 3rd. The Swedes didn't score much for 40 minutes, but they were dictating the entire 60 minutes of this game. Slovenia had a handful of chances, but Henrik Lundqvist stopped them all. Lundqvist is another reason the Swedes can play with such patience and composure.

Alex Steen scored a power play goal in the 1st to put Sweden up 1-0. Then in the 3rd the Swedes broke the game open as the Slovenians looked exhausted. Loui Eriksson of the Boston Bruins set up Daniel Sedin to make it 2-0. Then Eriksson scored himself. Carl Hagelin scored the last two goals to make it 5-0. Erik Karlsson had an assist on Sweden's first goal and their last goal.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 19 shots and recorded his second shutout of the Olympics. He's allowed 5 goals in 4 games and of the goalies on the four teams still standing, he's played the best at Sochi.

The Swedes will play Finland Friday morning at 6:30 (Eastern) on NBC Sports. This is a rematch of the 2006 gold medal game in Torino. Sweden won that game 3-2, and I think you'll see a similar result Friday.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Bruins Leave St. Louis with a Point

The Bruins played a better game, but the Blues made better plays. And the B's could have and maybe should have won.

Leaving St. Louis with a point is an achievement. Especially after being down 2-0 in the 3rd period. St. Louis was 17-4-2 against Eastern Conference opponents coming into this game. And the Bruins were without captain Zdeno Chara, who's in Sochi to carry Slovakia's flag for the Olympic opening ceremonies. That's got to be a pretty special moment in the life of an athlete.

Alexander Steen scored the Blues' first goal, and it was legit, and a good demonstration of why he's scored 28 this season. However the Bruins should have been on the power play after Loui Eriksson's teeth were "pushed in" (as Claude Julien described after the game) by a high stick. There was a lot of blood, but no penalty. The Bruins should have been given a 5-on-3 power play for about half a minute (the non-call occurred when the Bruins were already on a power play). Instead play continued and the next stoppage was Steen's goal.

And those are all the blues I'm going to sing about that non-call.

The Bruins showed strong determination throughout the game. That's why they were able to score twice in the 3rd period. They stuck to the way they'd been playing in the 2 prior periods. David Krejci scored his 13th, Brad Marchand his 18th. In his last 25 games, Marchand has scored 14 goals. He scored 4 goals in the first 31 games of the season. I think he's moved on from the loss of Tyler Seguin, on and off the ice.

In overtime Jarome Iginla nearly won the game. He showed a Hall of Fame scorer's patience. He was in the crease with an open net in front of him, Jaroslav Halak on the far post. Iginla had to handle a pass with his skate to settle it, and showed great instincts by not kicking it in. He knew he had plenty of time to receive the pass, settle the puck, and tap it in with the blade of his stick, and that Halak didn't have enough time to move from post to post to stop him. However, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had enough time to skate over and extend the blade of his stick between the puck and the net, and broke the play up. Give credit to Pietrangelo for the game-saving play.

That play didn't make SportsCenter. None of the plays did because this game wasn't good enough for SportsCenter.

One more game until the Olympic break. The Senators play the B's Saturday afternoon at the Garden. The B's will go into the break with a nice lead in the division, the second best record in the conference, and a near win against the third best team in the West. Not bad. Most of the roster will rest, Chara (Slovakia), Krejci (Czech Republic), Rask (Finland), Bergeron (Canada), Eriksson (Sweden), and Julien (Canada) will work. That means key players like Lucic, Iginla, Marchand, and Boychuk can recharge their batteries for the stretch run.

Photo Credit:
Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

I Don't Mind Seeing Pittsburgh Penguins Players Injured, Maybe it Should Happen More Often

I don’t like what Shawn Thornton did Saturday night. But I don’t mind who he did it to, and what team he did it against.

What Thornton did was inexcusable and indefensible. He should and will get suspended a long time for it. The reason it was inexcusable was because Brooks Orpik was defenseless.

However, hitting defenseless players is a consistent pattern of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. Great offense, shaky goaltending, dirty hits. That’s the Penguins' way. And that’s why I feel no sympathy when I see a Penguins player lying on the ice. Why should I? That’s the sword they live by, and it should be the sword they (metaphorically) die by.

Maybe if enough Penguins get concussed, they’ll reevaluate how they play the game. Maybe if Sidney Crosby gets laid out the same way Marc Savard was by Matt Cooke, and has his career shortened, then the Penguins might look in the mirror and realize that hockey shouldn’t be played the way they play it.

Thornton’s attack on Orpik came after a double dose of Pittsburgh dirtiness. Sidney Crosby kept the blade of his stick on the ice to ensure he tripped up Brad Marchand. The ref, of course, didn’t call it. No big deal. That is until James Neal saw a prone player. Neal’s eyes must have lit up when he saw an opportunity to hit someone when they couldn’t defend themselves.

You can see Neal change directions toward Marchand, and keep his left knee exactly at the same height as Marchand’s skull.

To paraphrase Chris Rock: I’m not saying Shawn Thornton should have retaliated the way he did. But I understand.

Earlier in the game Orpik leveled Loui Eriksson. I think that hit was relatively clean. If anything, a 2 minute minor for interference as Eriksson didn’t have the puck.

What pisses me off about Orpik and the hit on Eriksson is that Orpik has made a career of dispensing hits like that, and then never EVER standing up for himself and for his actions when someone wants to fight him over it. He doesn’t answer the bell. Just drop the gloves, protect yourself, fall to the ice and wait for the linesmen to break it up. That’s all he has to do. But he doesn't. He hasn't fought in 5 seasons.

Orpik, like most of the Penguins, is only brave when his opponent can’t see him. Or when his opponent is horizontal on the ice, like Marchand. Or when he can use his stick as a weapon.

Chris Kelly is now out 4-6 weeks with a fractured fibula. Pascal Dupuis was not penalized for the blatant and completely unnecessary slash. The League has decided not to discipline Dupuis.

If players felt compelled to answer the bell after hits like Orpik’s hit on Eriksson, perhaps guys hesitant to fight, such as Orpik, wouldn’t be giving out so many concussions with legal seek-and-destroy hits. If Orpik knew he would have to defend himself in a fight later, Loui Erksson might not have gotten a concussion.

By the way, where's the sympathy for Eriksson? Second concussion in five weeks.

The NHL suspended James Neal 5 games for kneeing Marchand in the head. I doubt if that will alter Neal's behavior. He’s been warned, fined, and suspended before. And he still plays the way he plays. And he still fails to express any remorse or regret for it. Just as he failed to show remorse for kneeing Marchand:

"I haven't, like, seen the replay or anything, so I mean I hit him in the head with my leg or my foot or my knee or shin area. I don't know. But I mean, he's already going down, and I guess I need to try to avoid him, but I have to look at it again...

"I mean, what do you want me to say? That I was trying to hit him? No, I'm going by him. I don't get out of the way, like I said. I need to be more careful and I guess get my knee out of the way, but I'm not trying to hit him in the head or injure him or anything like that."

Contrast that with Shawn Thornton.

Which player do you think is more likely to repeat what they did?

At least the NHL has given out some sort of punishment to a Penguins player. When Matt Cooke wasn’t suspended for the Savard hit, the NHL failed to curb a dirty player and a dirty team. Instead they gave him and the Penguins license to do as they pleased.

The Penguins will continue to play the Penguins Way that the NHL sanctioned when they didn’t suspend Cooke. At least until something changes. Until they lose more players to suspensions. Or until they lose more players to concussions.

Thornton seemed sorry that Orpik got hurt. I’m not sorry. I don't care. I guess Thornton has more character and class than I do. But I’m just sick of players like Orpik, like Crosby, like Neal, like Dupuis. And until that team changes the way it plays, I won’t shed a tear for their troubles or injuries.

Bruins Crack the Maple Leafs

NESN's Dale Arnold described Saturday night's meeting between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs as "Game 8" of the series that ended last spring in dramatic fashion. Gloriously dramatic for the Bruins, and painfully dramatic for the Leafs.

In many ways, this was indeed a continuation of the series between these teams. That's what makes these rivalries so interesting. There's history. There are good and bad memories, grudges, a hopeless desire for revenge, a greedy desire to continue to beat your opponent.

I must admit that until this game, I hadn't been very interested in Bruins hockey. You go from the Stanley Cup Finals to regular season game #1 of 82. You also have a Red Sox playoff run drawing all attention to it. It took an Original 6 rivalry to ignite my interest in the 2013-14 Bruins.

Because I hate the Leafs. I hate Phil Kessel. I hate van Riemsdyk and I don't know why and that makes me hate him more. I hate Toronto fans. And I hate their city and their crack smoking mayor.

So I was very pleased to see the Bruins score a pair of power play goals. Which is not common for them to do. I was thrilled to see Patrice Bergeron score yet another game-winning goal against Toronto. I was happy to see Loui Eriksson get back into his groove. And I was ecstatic to see Jarome Iginla playing physical, Bruins style hockey. I think it suits him. He's winning me over.

And now I'm hooked. For the next 5-7 months. It's hockey season.

Bruins host the Lightning Monday afternoon, another rematch of a memorable playoff series.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Holy Shit It's Hockey Season Already?

So you're telling me that the Red Sox are in the playoffs, the Patriots are in first, and the NHL is going to start on time? How different does October 2013 feel from October 2012?

The Bruins have changed more this off-season than they have changed in years. Most of the core remains. But no more hoping Tyler Seguin explodes for a 40-goal season. No more quiet, steady leadership from Andrew Ference. No more strong forward play from Nathan Horton.

Oh and the division and playoffs have completely changed. Joining the 5 teams from last year's Northeast Division will be the Red Wings, Lightning, and Panthers. The Panthers just signed a goalie named Tim Thomas, by the way. For the playoffs, the first two rounds will be within the division, with the possible inclusion of a wild-card team from another division.

The B's replaced Seguin and Horton with Loui Eriksson and Jaroma Iginla. I'm excited to see Eriksson and what he can produce. He scored 36 goals a few years ago, hasn't scored more than 30 since. Nor has he scored less than 20 in a full season. So is he a solid contributor that you notice, or does he score random, easy goals when everyone else is scoring?

Then there's Iginla. Who will have to win me over. Most true Bruins fans have one Bruin that they strongly dislike. I don't know who that will be for me this season. Iginla is a strong candidate. The world knows Iginla can play hockey. Can he play Bruins hockey? I wasn't impressed with the defensive play of Pittsburgh's forwards in last season's playoffs. Was that a team thing, or is that how Iginla will play here? I hope he wins me over.

The Bruins are looking at a new generation of young players to fill other holes. Torey Krug electrified in the playoffs, now he has to play strong defense day in and day out. Dougie Hamilton will be asked to take another step forward in his development. 21-year-old Ryan Spooner will start the season in Providence. Carl Soderberg has tremendous talent and fire, but he's 27 and has yet to escape Sweden and make the NHL. Why is that?

The Bruins need to score more. The formula that won the Cup in '11 no longer holds. The defense is still strong, the goalie is great, but neither the defense or the goalie is superhuman like they were in 2011. The offense needs to take the pressure off the defense to be perfect.

The B's can't afford to have a 3rd line that doesn't score at all. Not unless the top two lines seriously increase their production. Or even more feasibly, the PP unit scores in games that the B's can't get anything going with their even-strengthed offense. The Bruins were ranked 26th in power play scoring last year. They were 13th in overall goals per game. The power play is the area of offense that has the most room to improve.

If the power play becomes a decent threat, then the Bruins will have a very good offense.

If the power play becomes a dangerous weapon, then they'll have one of the best offenses in hockey.

Eriksson can produce on the power play. So can Iginla. So can Krug. But so could Seguin. More forwards need to figure out how to score when the B's have a man advantage. It's preposterous how long the power play has been an issue with this team. It doesn't have to be great, just okay would be nice.

This season is going to be long. 82-games plus a break for the Olympics. And we'll see how the new playoff format works out. I'm not a big fan. If it wasn't broken, why did it need to be fixed. One exciting thing is that the B's have had great playoff series with the Leafs, Canadiens, and Sabres. That's exciting, but it could also be dangerous.

Prediction time. The Bruins win the Atlantic Division but lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs in a 7-game series. Hopefully I'm wrong. If they can get their power play to function, then the sky's the limit.

Seguin Does Dallas

No more "Thank you, Kessel" chants at the TD Garden. The brief Tyler Seguin era in Boston is over. He, Rich Peverley, and Ryan Button were sent to Dallas for Loui Eriksson and 3 prospects. And I can't say I'm a big fan of the deal. Although I understand it.

The Bruins make cap space for themselves in this deal, about $4 million. Which they need in order to pay Tuukka Rask and Patrice Bergeron. And they need that cap room because they gave Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley too much money. I don't think the Stars wanted Peverley (6 goals and 12 assists last year). He was a throw-in, with his $3.25 million salary cap hit.

I don't think this has much to do with Seguin partying or his attitude. He's a famous 21-year old NHL star in a hockey city, he's going to screw around. Maybe he pushed the partying a bit much, I don't know. You know who else doesn't know? The media. The media depends on Twitter and third-hand accounts to piece together what these athletes do in their social lives. Instead of just going to a bar where Seguin and his friends go, and doing first-hand journalism.

We have a tradition here in Boston when an athlete departs a team in a confounding way: there are stories told about the behind the scenes reasons for him to go. There are all sorts of stories flying around about Seguin's personal life irritating the Bruins' front office. The most salacious being that Seguin was locked in his hotel room during the playoffs, under guard to make sure he didn't leave that room. Which is probably a twisted fact. The Bruins stayed in a hotel in Boston during the playoffs, and I'm sure there were security guards in their section of the hotel, which is a standard practice when teams stay at hotels, at home and on the road.

I can't say I'm excited about losing Seguin. And I'm not excited at all about gaining Eriksson. Eriksson's ceiling for production seems to be between 25 and 30 goals. Seguin's ceiling is much higher. Eriksson is also 6 years older.

Seguin hasn't produced in the way we've expected him to, especially in the playoffs. Then again he's 21-years old. His tenure with the Bruins has always been focused on learning defense. And he bought into that defensive mindset and changed positions because of that. I would have preferred Seguin have another season here, a full season without a Swiss Lockout vacation, a full season to prove he wanted to take things seriously and take that next step as a scorer.

And here's why. Some might argue that the Bruins were on the verge of a Stanley Cup without Seguin producing. And that's true. So maybe the B's don't need him. Then again, had Seguin produced in the Finals, the Bruins win the Cup. Two timely goals in the Finals from Seguin and there's a parade not a trade.

So the Bruins didn't need Seguin to do well for the team to do well. But if he had done well, they would have won it all. He has the talent and the capability to be an over-the-top kind of player.

Ultimately, though, the salary cap forces teams to make tough decisions. I'd rather have Bergeron than Seguin. I'd rather have Rask than Seguin, although Rask at over $7 million a season for many years seems like a lot, but that's for another post.

I do wish the Bruins had been more careful with their 3rd line contracts. As good as Kelly and Peverley were in 2011, that type of player is easy to replace at a bargain rate. The type of player Seguin could be is not easily replaced. And the Bruins are paying for their generosity to those 3rd liners by giving up a potential 40+ goal scorer.