BRUINS FINALLY BUST A CAP

The Washington Capitals have never, ever beaten the Bruins 4 games in a row. They had taken 3 straight from the B's coming into Tuesday night's game, but that streak ended when David Krejci's pass to Marc Savard bounced off a Capital's skate, off the post, and into the net.

If you look at the preview below, you'll see that I predicted a 3-2 OT win for the Bruins. I'm rarely right with predictions, usually picking the winner of games 20% of the time. My NCAA brackets are so bad they became something of a legend in college. But when I'm right, I'm perfectly dead on.

The return of Patrice Bergeron was a huge part of this game. His STUNNING poke check on the power play kept the puck in Washington's zone, and set-up Savard's goal in the 1st, making it a 1-1 game. Bergeron played over 17 minutes, had an assist, and blocked 2 shots. His play on both ends of the ice was sorely missed.

Tim Thomas was awarded the First Star, and rightfully so. He stopped 34 of 36 shots, including a groin stretching pad save in overtime.

Shawn Thornton came out of nowhere with a phenominal game. The 4th line was the Bruins' best line all night, which is a bad sign. However, Yelle and Thornton did very well. His 4th goal of the season was a typical Jose Theodore goal. Thornton held the puck, waiting for Theodore to go down early. Theodore obliged, Thornton's backhanded wrist shot found the top shelf.

I'm going to shout out Cornell alum Byron Bitz. He dropped the gloves and took on Donald Brashear. Brashear clearly won what was more of a dance than a fight, but credit Bitz for his first NHL fight and the opponent he chose. It was Brashear's 200th fight in the League.

Milan Lucic also returned. He was excellent without the puck, not so good with it. He was hitting like we're used to seeing him hit, but he fouled up a few plays, especially in the offensive zone.

The Bruins might take home trophies for rookie of the year, best goalie, best defenseman, but the NHL's MVP is Alexander Ovechkin. give him the Hart Trophy right now. Or should I say, inform him he can keep it for another year. When he was absent from the game, the dynamics of play completely changed.



At the same time, how often does he get away with punching opponents in the face in the middle of play? Not a knock on him, more on star-struck officials. And Chara usually gets away with holds and "light" interference, so I'll not file a complaint with the League Office.

The Bruins host the Devils Thursday night. New Jersey has surged to the top of the Atlantic Division. The Bruins beat them 2-0 on the road in December, but New Jersey is riding a 6 game winning streak.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elise Amendol

CAPITALS AT BRUINS PREVIEW

Washington is one of the few teams that has had the Bruins' number this year. A pair of close games between the two, both played in Washington, and both won by the Caps.

Just to let you know, this game is on Versus, so some of you out there might miss it. I suggest tuning into NESN postgame for the highlights, because this is an important game.

When I say it's an important game, I don't mean that the result (win/lose/OT lose) is that vital, just that how the Bruins play is important. Can the Bruins figure out a way to beat this team? Even though the scores of the previous two games were close (3-1 with an empty-netter in December, 2-1 10 days ago), Washington had the better of the play, particularly in the neutral zone.

The Bruins need to get on the power play in this game. Washington's penalty kill rate is an unimpressive 78.9%, and the Bruins have scored in 25% of their power plays. How do you get on the power play? Working the puck in the offensive zone, forcing the Caps to make mistakes like hook, hold, obstruct, interfere, and so on.

Patrice Bergeron will be back in the lineup, but it's unclear how much ice time he'll get. I'd imagine he won't get much, and probably won't play on special teams.

Tim Thomas will be in net. Manny Fernandez has "general soreness," and his spot on the bench will be filled by Tuuka Rask, recently called up from Providence. Thomas looked sharp the last time he faced Washington, but the Bruins couldn't generate any offense for him.

The Bruins average 3.51 goals per game, but have scored 1 per game against Washington. The B's need to be more aggressive and take more risks when bringing the puck up ice. Try to punish the Capitals for overloading the space between the blue lines.

Prediction: Bruins 3, Capitals 2 - Bruins win it in OT

YES, THE NHL ALL-STAR GAME WAS YESTERDAY

Not only was the game start at an awkward time: 6 PM Eastern. Not only was it hidden on Versus. It was even more boring, with 1 hit, yes 1 official hit, and 1 penalty. No checking, certainly no fighting, it was a basketball game on ice. Maybe even a girl's basketball game.

It ended 12-11 in favor of the East in a shooutout. For the second year, Tim Thomas received the goaltending Win. And he actually was the best of the 6 goalies that played, stopping 19 of 22 shots for a game best 0.864 save percentage. He didn't yield a goal in the shootout, allowing Alex Ovechkin to win it for the Eastern Conference.



The MVP went to Alex Kovalev, who had 2 goals and an assist.

Marc Savard had 3 assists, tied with Joe Thornton for most in the game.

Zdeno Chara didn't have a great night. Then again, what defensive-minded defenseman did? Almost all of Chara's offense comes on the power play, and there was only 1 of those. He did, however, lead all skaters in time-on-ice.

The NHL All-Star Game is perhaps the worst of all 4 All-Star contests. It's fake hockey, not real. The NBA All-Star Game has more defense.

In the skills competition, Zdeno Chara won Hardest Shot for the 3rd straight year. He set a new record at 105.4 MPH and also won $24,000 for Right to Play, his favorite charity.



Marc Savard didn't win the Shootout Elimination, but he came close, advancing to the 6th of 7 rounds. He was assisted by Tim Thomas, who was his designated goalie for 2 of 3 shots. Thomas flopped on the ice and allowed Savard to score twice. Here's Thomas trying to make a glove save between his legs.



Rookie Blake Wheeler had a hat trick and won MVP honors in the Young Stars game as the freshman team defeated the sophomore team 9-5.

Thankfully nobody got injured. Now it's back to real hockey. Capitals @ Bruins tomorrow night.

Sources:
ESPN.com
The Canadian Press

Photo Credits:
AP

NOBODY TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF, TEK

I spent years defending him. The last few years, I tolerated him. Now I'm growing to hate him. Everyone else can blame Scott Boras, but Jason Varitek is the one responsible for his predicament.

Firstly, anyone who hires Scott Boras is out for money. There's no two ways about it. If you want the big bucks, you hire Scott Boras. He's the Ari Gold of baseball.

Secondly, Varitek can't look in the newspaper and see how pathetic his batting average was last year? CC Sabathia (.235) had a better average than Varitek (.220). And NO 37 year old catcher considerably improves at the plate. It doesn't happen. Best case scenario: Varitek doesn't get worse. Yet he was offered $10 million, or $108,000 per hit (he had a whopping 93 last year), AND HE TURNED IT DOWN?!?

Jason, you hit .220 last year, then .118 in the postseason. Yes, you're the team captain, and you're great with the pitching staff, but nobody pays $10 million for a .220 hitter, at least not on purpose.

And now this garbage about not realizing that refusal of arbitration means other teams would have to give up a draft pick to sign him. That's your fault for not knowing that. You have to be smart to go to Georgia Tech, don't you?

And the fact that teams don't want to give up a pick, which aren't extremely valuable in baseball, to sign him further reinforces how below average he truly is.

Jason Varitek had a home in Boston. He was the captain, had won two World Series, caught 4 no-hitters, could always get money from Bernie & Phyl's, and was offered $10,000,000 to stay here.

He turned it down.

Fuck him.

BRUINS TURN A NEW LEAF

After a crushing shootout loss to the Blues Monday night, the Bruins needed to go up to Toronto and leave with 2 points. And they barely got them.

The Bruins didn't lead until Michael Ryder put the puck past Vesa Toskala in round 4 of the shootout. And if not for their unbelievably prolific power play unit that tied it in the 3rd, the B's would have gone into the All-Star break with a regulation loss against a non-playoff team.

The Bruins haven't looked sharp for a week. It's very likely that the many injuries at forward are starting to take their toll. Whenever PJ Axelsson has 3 seconds less ice time than Marc Savard, something is up. The B's fell behind to the Blues on Monday and the Maple Leafs last night. That's inexcusable. And their effort against the Islanders was laughable, despite the 2-1 victory.

But how about Zdeno Chara? He had his 7th power play goal of the season, and spent 29 minutes on the ice. He played most of the 3rd period, and pretty much the entire overtime. He's a legit contender for the Norris Trophy (given to the best defenseman) if he keeps this up.

And where the hell do the Bruins find guys like Martin St. Pierre, who kept the Bruins alive in the shootout? Providence, Rhode Island. I might have to make the trip down I-95 to check out the Baby B's because almost everyone they send to the big club plays out of their minds. Last year it was David Krejci, this year it's St. Pierre and Matt Hunwick.

Most of the Bruins get a nice 6 day vacation before suiting up against the Capitals on the 27th in the Garden. This is perfect timing for the break. Hopefully Lucic, Kessel, and Bergeron return soon, because the B's have games against the Rangers, Flyers, Sharks, and Canadiens coming up.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

RED SOX IN THE WBC

The World Baseball Classic. A moneymaking endeavor to determine which team can draw the largest television audience. Which country has the best pitchers, for 75 pitches or less at a time. Which country can have the most successful spring training. Which Canadian can hit .500 but still exit early. Which game will South Africa lose due to the slaughter rule.

Here are the Red Sox (and Sox minor leaguers) that are on preliminary rosters for the 2009 WBC:

USA:
2B Dustin Pedroia
1B Kevin Youkilis

Dominican Republic:
DH David Ortiz

Puerto Rico:
3B Mike Lowell
RP Javier Lopez

Japan:
SP Daisuke Matsuzaka
RP Hideki Okajima

Canada:
LF Jason Bay
C George Kotteras

The Netherlands:
P Deniis Neuman

South Africa:
P Justin Erasmus

Chinese Taipei:
IF Chih-Hsien Chiang

Panama:
IF Angel Chavez

Australia:
OF Mitchell Dening
Manager Jon Deeble (He's a scout for the Sox)

Ortiz and Lowell will likely not play. Hopefully nobody gets injured.

Source:
MLB.com

BRUINS STILL CAN'T GET PAST CAPS

The Capitals match up very well with the Bruins. Although Boston is still 9 points ahead of Washington for the top spot in the East, if the two were to play a 7 game series right now, I'd have to give the edge to Washington.

The Bruins play a very deliberate style of hockey, progressively moving the puck up the ice, exploiting holes when they appear, but otherwise using solid neutral zone play and a hard forecheck to produce offense. Defensively, the Caps have a perfect counter to this. They clog up the neutral zone. The only way to bring the puck up the ice against them is with speed. If you do this, you'll get your opportunities. But they'll also get their quick counterattacking chances. And with guys like Ovechkin, Semin, and Backstrom; their counterattack is lethal.

The Bruins tried playing too fast in this game. So many whiffed and missed passes. They looked overexcited on offense, even anxious. There was none of the calmness we've seen from them all season.

Both goals allowed came from Bruin mistakes. On the penalty kill, the 4 Bruins on the ice literally didn't notice Mike Green until he had the puck 7 feet from the goal. The 2nd goal came directly off a turnover in the offensive zone, one of many, but this one hurt.



At the same time, they were missing three of their best forwards, and one of their better defenseman. PJ Axelsson spent over 21 minutes on the ice (season high), which is far too long. No offense to him, or Stephan Yelle (13 minutes), or Martin St. Pierre (12 minutes); but they were on the ice much longer than desired. Against a quality team like Washington, you need depth. And right now, the B's lack that depth.

Phil Kessel would be a perfect forward against Washington's defensive tactics. He's fast with an accurate shot. Bergeron and Lucic also would have helped, more likely as defensive forwards breaking up counterattacks in the neutral zone.

The bad news is that the Bruins are 0-2-0 against a team they'll likely have to go through to win the Cup. The good news is that said team hasn't dominated them, and said team has yet to play them in Boston.

St. Louis comes to town Monday afternoon. The Bruins and Capitals will meet again on the 27th, in Boston.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Nick Was

BRUINS FIND A WAY TO WIN

This game had T-R-A-P written all over it. The Bruins go down to Long Island to face the worst team in the NHL, right after an emotional and exhausting 3-1 victory over the Canadiens, and right before a trip to face the 2nd best team in the East in Washington. In the first period, the Islanders outshot the Bruins 17-5. And in the game, New York had the edge in shots 41-26. The Bruins also lost 55% of faceoffs, against one of the worst faceoff teams in the League.

Tim Thomas was awarded the First Star, and justifiably so. He stopped 40 of 41 shots. The only one to get past him came with 54 seconds left in the game. The puck bounced off David Krejci's skate and into the net, which made the last minute extra exciting.



Against almost any other team, the Bruins would have lost. Thankfully, the Islanders are really bad. The B's mounted no forecheck at all. They were up against a goalie making his 5th career start, and didn't do anything in the 1st period to pressure him.

The Bruins beat this team 7-2 in November, so a 2-1 win is less than thrilling. But they got a shitty game out of their system and have 2 more points to show for it. That's 70 points for the Bruins so far. Last season, they reached 70 points on February 23rd.

Saturday night, Bruins @ Capitals. Washington is one of 3 Eastern Conference teams the Bruins haven't beaten (the others are the Rangers and the Flyers, the Bruins haven't played the Flyers yet).

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Julie Jacobson