The Bruins put themselves in a tight spot with their 3-2 loss to Buffalo. They needed at least 1 point down in New Jersey, and they got 2.
Despite the lack of goals for 64 minutes and 41 seconds, the Bruins played one of their best games since last season. And they did it against a good team, on the road, and there's no shame in being shut down by Martin Brodeur either. But the B's were in control of the game, even when they didn't have the puck. They had long possessions in the Devils' zone and kept the pressure on New Jersey.
That persistence finally paid off with a few seconds left in OT, as the B's took advantage of two Devils colliding, stole the puck, then took advantage of a Devil that lost his stick. It was a fortunate scenario, but the Bruins played well enough to benefit from such a situation.
Bergeron's game winner was a huge goal. Both Atlanta and the Rangers won, so the B's needed both points last night to maintain their lead. They're also tied with Philly and Montreal, only tie-breakers keeping them in 8th. There are 5 Eastern Conference teams within 4 points of each other:
6: Philly - 82 points 7. Montreal - 82 8. BOSTON - 82 9. Atlanta - 80 10. NY Rangers - 78
The B's have a pair of easy games to possibly extend slim lead in the playoff race. They host the Panthers Thursday and play up in Toronto on Saturday.
It was a crazy weekend of college hockey. The Frozen Four is now set and will play in two weeks time for the NCAA Championship at Ford Field in Detroit.
ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY RIT was making their first tournament appearance ever, after dominating the lowly AHA with 28 wins, and sweeping through their conference tournament. But they were in a bracket with College Hockey Royalty: Denver, Cornell, and UNH. Combined these three have made 54 NCAA Tournaments, 29 Frozen Fours, and won 9 National Championships. Oh, and these teams boast 4 Hobey Baker Award (the Heisman of hockey) finalists. RIT was supposedly the pushover of the foursome, there to fill out the bracket. Their goalie to be used by Denver as target practice.
But playing in front of many of his team's fans in Albany, goalie Jared DeMichael stood on his head and stopped 39 of 40 Denver shots. The RIT Tigers won 2-1. But they weren't finished.
After dispatching Cornell 6-2, the UNH Wildcats probably felt like RIT had done them an immense favor, giving them an easy road to the Frozen Four. I'm sure some of their fans were already searching Priceline for hotel and flight packages to Detroit.
Then RIT woke them up and out of their dreams, won every battle along the boards, outmuscled and outhustled UNH, and crushed them 6-2. RIT outshot the Wildcats 33 to 26. #4 seeds have upset big teams before, but never in such dominating fashion.
Detroit's only a 5 hour drive from Rochester, a short 325 miles across southern Ontario.
WISCONSIN BADGERS Wisconsin will be gunning for their 7th National Championship as they make their 11th Froze Four appearance. They finished 2nd in the WCHA and 3rd in the WCHA Tournament. But on Saturday night they vanquished the team that knocked them out of that tournament: St. Cloud State. This was after coming from behind against Vermont. On paper, Wisconsin is a better team than RIT. But as RIT has proven, the game is not played on paper.
Think about this: RIT's three opponents have combined for 32 Frozen Fours and 16 National Championships.
BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES BC's road to their 22nd Frozen Four was not a smooth one. Both Alaska and Yale gave them tough fights, and frankly the Eagles will have to improve if they want to claim their 3rd Championship of the decade.
But winning is winning is winning, and that's all BC has done lately. They're 15-2-1 since January 29th. They've scored 82 goals in that stretch or 4.56 goals per game. Their Achilles heel is their defense, as demonstrated in their 9-7 slugfest against Yale. A team that's fast like them, or physical yet clean, can expose them if they're not careful.
MIAMI (OHIO) REDHAWKS
Miami were the victims of BU's miraculous last minute comeback in last year's Championship Game, only 61 seconds away from their first National Championship in any sport, up 3-1, they gave up the lead then lost in OT. Most of that team is back, and are the only team from the '09 Four to return. But it was far from easy to get here.
Michigan - normally a powerhouse, this year a bit of a Cinderella (they needed to win the CCHA Tournament to gain admission to the NCAA) - almost pushed Miami over the edge. The Wolverines dominated all of the Redhawks except goaltender Connor Knapp (who's typically the backup behind Hobey Baker nominee Cody Reichard), stopped 55 Michigan shots, including 20 in the 1st OT, which Michigan controlled. Early in the 2nd OT, Alden Hirschfeld threw a token shot on net that slipped between Shawn Hunwick's (yes, that's Matt Hunwick's little brother, and I mean little, he's 5' 7" and 165 pounds) legs and the RedHawks won 3-2.
So it's Miami vs. BC, Wisconsin vs. RIT. Quite an eclectic mix. Two public schools, two private. One Catholic school, one technical school. Two teams that are in power conferences for other sports, one that's in the MAC, and one that's in D-III for everything but hockey. Two teams that are looking to expand their already busting college hockey trophy cases. Two teams looking to start new ones.
The 5-0 win over Calgary was quickly forgotten last night as the Bruins once again changed directions. Were I a professional sports gambler, I'd NEVER bet on a Bruins game, because they come out amazing, or come out dazed.
The simple-minded Bruins fans out there can blame Tim Thomas for the Sabres' 3 unanswered. They can question Julien for starting Thomas at all while Rask has excelled against Buffalo.
It does seem as though the Bruins play more inspired when Rask is in net. Which is extremely sad and pathetic. But even if true, the B's didn't display anything like that in their 5-0 victory on Saturday. And with back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday, you'd need to use both goalies anyway. Rask has good numbers against Buffalo, Thomas had yet to play against them this season. But against New Jersey, Thomas is 0-2, with a 3.80 GAA. I have no problems choosing to use Thomas to start this game.
And where was the offense. It's true the Bruins got 42 shots on net, but how many of them were of any quality? I'm not asking for Mario Lemieux calibre stuff.
A quality shot is one set-up by quality puck movement. There's nobody on the Bruins who's capable of beating Ryan Miller straight up. You get him to move around, which opens up the holes in the wall. Krejci's goal was a result of persistent movement and pressure, which drew Miller (who like all good tenders, is prone to aggressiveness) out of position, and Krejci bounced it off the goalie's skate and in.
It speaks to how good Ryan Miller is that both Bruin goals were odd bounces off Miller. He was never flat out beaten.
The Bruins remain in 8th, 2 points behind Philly and Montreal, but only 2 points ahead of Atlanta. They're at New Jersey tonight. The Devils are struggling lately, only winning 2 of their last 6. But their record at home is impressive (25-10-2).
When a hockey game ends 9-7, you don't need anyone to say "It was a crazy game." Yale used 3 goalies, BC only used 1, BC never scored a power play goal, there were 78 total shots, each team had one player with a hat trick, and believe it or not it was a tight 2-1 game at the end of the 1st period.
BC can score. They have a conga line of talented forwards who can all skate, pass, and finish. But the Eagles struggle to switch directions. Their best defense is their relentless offensive attack, keeping the puck 150 feet from their own net.
Of course, when you surge to a 6-2 lead, then later a 9-4 lead, you're bound to get a little too comfortable, and let up some soft goals.
BC will face Miami (OH) in the Frozen Four a week from Thursday. We'll have a full recap of all the Frozen Four teams tomorrow.
Saturday afternoon was an excellent "reboot" game. The Bruins were coming off of a wretched 5-2 loss to Tampa. Their power play was impotent, their defense shaky, and they had fallen to .500 on home ice.
But I'm not going to get too amazed by this. The Bruins played a West Coast team at 1:30 in the afternoon. A 9th place West Coast team. And as good as the Bruins looked, the Flames looked equally as awful.
The B's power play unit simply toyed with a sluggish Calgary PK. They were allowed to move the puck at will, and the Flames failed to fill the shooting lanes. Seidenberg, Krejci, and Chara all scored on the power play. The Bruins had only 4 PP goals in March, and they nearly doubled that total in an afternoon.
Thomas was in net, and earned his 5th shutout of the season. He was outstanding. It's almost as if he performs better when expectations for him drop to below certain level. Or maybe it's when he has to compete for his job. Rask is still the clear #1 (right now), but with back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday, Thomas should get more time in net.
The fans voted Milan Lucic the player of last week. But it should have been Krejci. He's finally playing like he did last year, quarterbacking his line, making plays for his teammates. He has 6 points (2 G, 4 A) in the last three games, and 15 points (5 G, 10 A) in his last twelve games. That's pretty impressive when Michael Ryder is your linemate.
How much of an unexpected savior has Mark Recchi been? 42 years old and he's 3rd on the team with 40 points, and 2nd with 17 goals. Three more scores and he'll have his 17th career 20 goal season. That's insane. Where would the Bruins' offense be without him?
Big game Monday night as the Sabres come to town. It's on Versus, and it could (hopefully) be a preview of the playoffs. The Bruins are technically 8th, but only 2 points behind 6th and 7th place Philly and Montreal. The B's also have 2 extra games left to play.
The NCAA Hockey Tournament commences tonight, and there's actually a number of games available on TV. Here they are. All times are Eastern, and this is likely for the Boston area only:
Time-Channel-Game
Friday: 3:00pm - ESPNU - #1 Denver vs. #4 RIT 6:30pm - ESPNU - #2 Cornell vs. #3 UNH 9:00pm - ESPNU - #1 Wisconsin vs. #4 Vermont 11:30pm - ESPNU - #2 St. Cloud St. vs. Northern Michigan
The 9 and 11:30 games are actually tape delayed, like that matters.
Saturday: 1:30pm - CSN - #1 BC vs. #4 Alaska 4:00pm - ESPNU - #1 Miami vs. #4 Alabama-Huntsville 6:30pm - ESPNU - East Regional Final (Denver/RIT vs. Cornell/UNH) 9:00pm - ESPNU - West Regional Final (Wisconsin/UVM vs. SCSU/NMU) 11:30pm - ESPNU - #2 Bemidji St. vs. #3 Michigan
The BSU/Michigan is tape-delayed.
Sunday: 5:30pm - ESPNU - Northeast Regional Final (BC/Alaska vs.North Dakota/Yale) 8:00pm - ESPNU - Midwest Regional Final (Miami/UAH vs. BSU/Michigan)
The BC/Alaska game will be aired on ESPNU Sunday at 9:30am. The North Dakota/Yale game will be tape-delayed broadcast at 12 noon on ESPNU.
So if you have ESPNU and like hockey, this is an enjoyable weekend. The best 1st round games would be the Cornell/UNH and SCSU/Northern Michigan.
That's all I can really say. The Bruins and Ference agreed to a 3 year extension worth $6.75 million, or $2.25 million a year. Ference is constantly plagued by various injuries and hasn't played more than 60 games since the 05-06 season. He'll likely require off-season surgery for a groin injury that's sidelined him most recently.
When healthy, he's a respectable 4th or 5th defenseman, adding depth at the blue-line. But he's not an offensive threat. He's 5' 10" and 189 pounds, so even though he's physical, he's hardly dominating. And he's 31 years old.
So this deal perplexes me a bit. I think the Bruins could get someone with more reliable health for the same amount of money. Because even when he's healthy, he's far from great.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is a sign that the Bruins intend to shake up their defensemen in the off-season. Seidenberg is an unrestricted free agent, Stuart and Boychuk are restricted free agents (Stuart makes $1.3 million this season, Boychuk $500k, both will likely merit more money). They might try to trade Wideman (please, God), and don't be shocked if they move Chara ($7.5M cap number), or at least try to.
As I look at this more and more, I don't like it. You can get better AND healthier defensemen for this amount of money.
The Bruins win 2 road games against teams they're fighting against to get into the playoffs. Two very nice, very solid wins in a row. Then they come home against a team that's the 5th worst in the NHL. And they lose. Of course. It's getting so utterly typical of this Bruins squad.
I'll criticize the refs a bit. They missed an offside call that directly led to Tampa Bay's first goal. Then again, Mark Stuart has to play until the whistle in this situation, not just assume that the refs will get the offside. Stuart isn't Dominek Hasek.
Then there was the interference penalty on Wheeler in the 2nd. Wheeler's standing in the offensive zone, a few diagonal feet from the net. Steven Stamkos, from behind, skates into him, they both fall down. Whistle and Wheeler gets 2 minutes for interference. Stamkos scores on the ensuing penalty.
OK, so the refs helped the Lightning. But the Bruins didn't help themselves. Dennis Wideman had one of his worst games of the season, which is saying quite a bit. And his bonehead kneeing penalty to start the 3rd was a prime example of his lack of focus. He got beyond himself, trying to make an excellent play, and it cost his team a power play, and a crippling 5th goal.
You can say that the Bruins didn't get bounces, but hockey isn't pinball. Both Wheeler and Lucic had multiple golden opportunities to knock in rebounds, but both lack the requisite skill sets to consistently complete that task.
Sorry folks, but Milan Lucic is a 4th line player. He has heart, he has toughness, he has strength, but he has no skates and no hands whatsoever.
But he's better than Michael Ryder. Everyone in the NHL is.
If this team gets a 6th seed, it can play and beat the Sabres. But they get so complacent so easily. They think they've clinched just because they beat the Rangers and Thrashers. They didn't show any fire or desperation until 10 minutes were left, and they needed 3 goals to tie.
The Bruins better pick it up by Saturday, because Calgary is playing for a spot in the postseason too. Although they lost to the Islanders tonight.
