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(Note:
I like to keep the homepage fairly short, but didn't want to delete all
of the playoff coverage. This is content about the ECF series against
Tampa as it appeared on the home page at various times, just without
the embedded YouTubes.)GAME 7: HORTON HEARS A "WOO!" AS B'S ADVANCE TO THE CUP FINALS- 5/27/11: In my preview for this series, I stated my belief that
if the B's were able to keep Tampa off of the power play, they'd win
the series. I believed that the B's were the more solid all around
team, and that if they kept things at 5-on-5, they'd be OK. Too often
in this series, the B's got into penalty trouble, trouble that forced a
Game 7 tonight at the Garden. Tonight, the refs let 'em play, not calling a single penalty in the entire game.
This was without a doubt the best-played game of the series by both
teams, as each squad exchanged chance for chance, punch for punch. The
B's finally got the knockout blow with
7:33 left in the third period when Nathan Horton tipped home a David
Krejci feed to give the B's the lone goal of the contest, eliminating
Tampa with a 1-0 win to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first
time since 1990. Yes, THOSE Bruins will be representing the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals. Tim Thomas stopped all 24 shots he faced for his second shutout of the series,
and Andrew Ference recorded the secondary assist on Horton's goal. Game
1 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the B's and the Vancouver Canucks
(it won't get old saying that for a while) will be on Wednesday night
at 8 P.M. in Vancouver. Game 7: The Morning After Night Of
TIME TO GO: DO IT NOW- 5/27/11:
Here we are: after a regular season of 82 games plus 17 additional
playoff games, it all boils down to tonight. Game 7. Win and go on to
the Stanley Cup Finals; lose and spend the summer wondering what went
wrong. The B's have won two of their three home games this series, and
won a Game 7 at home earlier in the playoffs againt Montreal. Will they
do it again? We'll know in a few hours. We'll know if Milan Lucic gets
to play for a Stanley Cup in his home province; if Mark Recchi gets one
last shot at a Cup before retiring; if Tim Thomas can prove the
doubters wrong by winning the ultimate prize; and if this group of
Bruins is truly worthy of a shot at the Cup. One game to make or break
a season. Do it now.
GAME 6: SPECIAL TEAMS & POOR DECISIONS DOOM B'S AS TAMPA FORCES A GAME 7- 5/26/11:
Tampa's power play, the most potent in the league during these
playoffs, had been pretty quiet for the first five games of this
series. It woke up last night, and in a big way: Tampa
scored three power play goals to erase an early 2-1 deficit and held on
late to beat the B's 5-4 at the St. Pete Times Forum, forcing a Game 7
at the Garden tomorrow night. Tampa turned the tide in the second period, getting power play goals from Martin St. Louis and Teddy Purcell to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Steven Stamkos' PP strike 34 seconds into the third gave the Bolts a
two-goal cushion, but a David Krejci power play marker nine minutes
later got the B's back within one. With momentum on their side, how did
the B's respond? Johnny Boychuk, who was pretty terrible all night,
made an awful decision to pinch in the offensive zone, leading to a
2-on-1 goal from St. Louis just 29 seconds later. Momentum = gone.
Krejci would get the first playoff hat trick of his career with 6:32
left and the B's kept pressing, but were unable to beat Dwayne Roloson
a fifth time. The game featured a total of just 46 shots by the two
teams, but Tampa's power play ended up being the difference. After the
game, Tampa fans pelted the Bruins with plastic noisemakers, proving that signs making jokes about a fanbase are rude and offensive, but acting like animals is just passion. Also, Nathan Horton allegedly squirted a fan with a water bottle and threw the bottle at him (which is EVIL) after being hit with the noisemakers (which is PASSION). What a joke. Game 6: The Morning After
GAME 5: THOMAS, HORTON & MARCHAND PUT TAMPA ON THE BRINK OF ELIMINATION- 5/24/11:
I caught most of the first period of this game on the radio, and was
glad I did. The frustration in the arena and in the voice of 98.5 The Sports Hub's
Dave Goucher was palpable, and it was obvious that the B's weren't
playing very well. At the end of the first period, the B's had been
outshot 14-4 and outworked in nearly every aspect of the game. But the Boston Globe's
Fluto Shinzawa put it perfectly in his game story: the Bruins didn't
play their best game last night, but they chose to right time to be at
their best. Brad Marchand knocked
a beautiful Patrice Bergeron feed past Mike Smith with four minutes
left in the second period to give the B's a lead they wouldn't
relinquish, and they held on down the stretch to beat the
Lightning 3-1 last night at the Garden. The victory puts the B's
one win away from making their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals
since 1990. Marchand's game-winner came when Zdeno Chara, out of options in the neutral zone, elected to chip the puck in and chase after it himself.
Chara won back possession of the puck with a little help from Marchand,
who then went directly to the net. Bergeron took the puck from Chara, looked up, and threaded a perfect pass across the ice to Marchand, who didn't miss; Tampa goalie Mike Smith, making his first start in 44 days,
never had a chance. Rich Peverley added an empty-netter with 13 seconds
left to seal up the win. Nathan Horton got the scoring started for the
B's, redeeming himself in the process.
Horton was invisible in Game 4 and took two stupid penalties last night
before wiring home a wonderful pass from Milan Lucic at 4:24 of the
second. However, the story down the stretch ended up being Tim Thomas, who
stopped 33 shots in a row after allowing a goal on Tampa's first shot
of the night. Thomas made eleven saves in the third period, including the "Save of the Year" on Steve Downie. The Bruins lost Johnny Boychuk halfway through the third period when Downie boarded/charged him
into the glass with a late hit; Downie was given two minutes for
boarding and Boychuk didn't return, appearing a little woozy after his
head hit the glass. Claude Julien said after the game that Boychuk is "fine."
The B's have a chance to close out the series tomorrow night in Tampa.
They showed a killer instinct against Philly; let's see if they can do
it again. Game 5: The Morning After
GAME 4: A 3-0 LEAD IS SAFE, RIGHT? RIGHT?- 5/22/11: Of course it isn't! Not when the team holding that 3-0 lead is the Bruins, anyways. Yes, the team that turned blowing 3-0 leads into an art form was at it again yesterday, taking
a 3-0 lead over Tampa Bay into the first intermission before allowing
five goals over the course of the next two periods and dropping Game 4
by a score of 5-3. Bruin killer Simon Gagne scored the game-winner seven minutes into the third period after an inexcusable neutral zone turnover by Milan Lucic landed right on the stick of Ryan Malone.
Malone rushed up the ice and attempted to throw a backhander on Tim
Thomas; instead, his attempted shot hit Dennis Seidenberg's stick and
went right to Gagne in the slot. Gagne's snapshot beat Thomas
five-hole, and the collapse was complete. Martin St. Louis added an
empty netter with 37 seconds left to push the cushion to two. The B's
looked like they had Tampa on the ropes after the first, as two
unassisted goals by Patrice Bergeron (one shorthanded) and another goal
by Michael Ryder chased Dwayne Roloson to the bench and brought in Mike
Smith. The B's even had a two-minute power play to start the second,
but were unable to capitalize. They spent the entire second period back
on their heels, and the game was tied before there were eleven minutes
gone. For their part, the B's said they simply lost their focus and will put this game behind them.
Let's hope so: at least with this blown 3-0 lead, they'll get a chance
to make amends immediately. Game 5 is Monday night at the Garden; no
reaction to this one today, but I'll have plenty of thoughts in
tomorrow's "Monday Musings."
GAME 3: BERGERON RETURNS, THOMAS BLANKS BOLTS AS B'S TAKE A 2-1 LEAD- 5/20/11: Tuesday night's 6-5 showdown was wildly entertaining for the fans,
but wasn't the type of game the B's like to play. Claude Julien would
rather take a Zdeno Chara slapshot to the face than play a "chance for
chance" game like the one we saw in Game 2. After that wild win,
everyone from Julien on down the line said the team had to tighten
upevery aspect of their game if they wanted to be successful, and it looks like the team got the message: the
B's put on a "winning hockey" clinic last night in Tampa, shutting down
the Lightning attack and getting 31 saves from Tim Thomas to beat the
Bolts by a score of 2-0. This game was, essentially, the perfect road game: get an early goal (David Krejci scored 69 seconds into the game), lock it down defensively (Tampa
had just six shots in the second period), and score another one late to
secure the win (Andrew Ference scored with eight minutes gone in the
third). Last night, Julien's charges executed his system to
perfection, frustrating the Lightning and severely limiting their
scoring chances. Sticks were in passing lanes, bodies blocked shots and
checks were finished: this really was as close to a perfect game as
I've seen the B's play in a long time. It was no
coincidence that this game came following Patrice Bergeron's return to
the line-up; the 25-year-old brought a steadying defensive presence
every time he was on the ice and won 64% of his faceoffs, allowing the B's to control the puck on nearly two out of every three draws he took. Bergeron said he was frustrated after his latest concussion, but that he felt good last night. One scary moment in this one: David Krejci took a blindside shoulder to the head from Marc-Andre Bergeron late in the first on a hit that, had his teammates not warned him was coming, probably would have concussed the pivot again. Lightning coach Guy Boucher was livid when M.A. Bergeron was given two minutes for elbowing (and rightly so, as the hit was with the shoulder), but he's lucky Bergeron didn't get more: it
could have been judged as a textbook "hit to the head," a ruling that
would have come with a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Krejci missed the end of the first but returned for regular shifts starting in the second. Game 3: The Morning After
GAME 2: TYLER SEGUIN STEALS THE SHOW AS THE B'S TIE THE SERIES AT ONE- 5/18/11:
After Saturday night's Game 1, the play of rookie Tyler Seguin (in his
first career playoff game, no less) was one of the lone Bruin bright
spots. Seguin had jump, scored a goal and assisted on another, and was
arguably the best Bruin on the ice. But as of Tuesday morning, Seguin's
spot in the lineup for last night's game was hardly a sure thing, as had Patrice Bergeron been ready to return,
he likely would've found himself in the press box again. Something
tells me that after last night, Seguin won't be a healthy scratch again
for a while. The speedy 19-year-old scored two goals and assisted on
two more, recording all four of his points in the B's five-goal second
period, to propel the B's to a series-evening 6-5 win over Tampa last
night at the Garden. The B's started the second period trailing
2-1 and finished it ahead by a score of 6-3, with Seguin figuring in
every goal except for David Krejci's (the Bruins' third). Seguin's memorable night started early in the second
when he torched Victor Hedman and Randy Jones with his speed to go in
alone on Dwayne Roloson, who he then undressed with a deke and roofed
the puck into the net on the backhand just 48 seconds into the frame.
How good was his move? Roloson was left upside down and facing the
wrong way in the crease. A little under six minutes later, Seguin
ripped a wicked wrister past Roloson on a 2-on-1 pass from Nathan
Horton for his second goal. Ten minutes later, Seguin finally got his
shot on the power play, and he seized the moment, firing a slapper on
Roloson and collecting point number three when Michael Ryder flipped in
the rebound. Then, with under 30 seconds left in the second, Seguin
collected his fourth (and perhaps most impressive) point, when he spun
a beautiful backhand pass to Chris Kelly in the slot; Kelly's
subsequent shot/pass somehow ended up on the stick of Ryder, who slid the puck past Roloson for a 6-3 Bruin lead. Phew. How good was Seguin? According to Versus/NBC Sports, his performance last night was the best ever by a teenager in the playoffs. Yikes.
The B's barely held on down the stretch, surrendering goals to Steven
Stamkos and Dominic Moore in the third, but Tim Thomas held the door
shut when he needed to and the B's escaped with the W. Neither coach was happy with his team after this one, but the B's will take it. Game 3 is Thursday night in Tampa. Game 2: The Morning After
GAME 1: THREE QUICK STRIKES DOOM B'S- 5/15/11:
Whoever it was that said lightning never strikes the same place twice
was way off, huh? Tampa's Lightning struck the back of the Bruin net three
times in an 85 second span of the first period to take an early 3-0
lead and never looked back, tacking on two more to beat the Bruins in
Game 1 by a score of 5-2.
Sean Bergenheim got the scoring started when he snapped a rebound past
a stickless Dennis Seidenberg at 11:15 of the first. Just 19 seconds
later, Brett Clark skated up the ice virtually untouched and whipped a
backhand through Tim Thomas, a shot the Bruin netminder definitely
should have stopped, to give Tampa a 2-0 lead. Tomas Kaberle, who was ripped by the Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont in today's edition for his general futility since arriving from Toronto,
made things worse just 1:06 later when he turned the puck over behind
his own net and Teddy Purcell stuffed it past Thomas for a 3-0 lead.
Yikes. Any fan who went to get a popcorn or another beer nine minutes
into this one left his or her seat with the game scoreless and came
back to find the B's down 3-0. A three-goal deficit is tough to come
back from in general, but nearly insurmountable against a quality team
like Tampa; the B's pressed a bit and did get a late first period goal from Tyler Seguin, but they were unable to cut the deficit to any less than two goals. The power play was an o-fer again, and truthfully Seguin was really one of the only bright spots: the kid had some jump in his step, and while he made some early mistakes, he finished strong. This one ended
with a little controversy, as Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic both were
given the gate for throwing punches with under a minute left. Horton got into it with Dominic Moore, and Lucic came in and just suckered Victor Hedman. Horton's is somewhat defendable, as he was engaged with Moore, but Lucic's was a cheapshot, plain and simple.
If what some are saying about Hedman messing with Krejci is true, then
that would change my view, but I didn't see any of that. I'm
actually surprised there isn't more being made of the Lucic punch; if
it had happened during the regular season, he probably would've been
suspended. No reaction to this one from me until Monday, check the "Monday Musings" then. Game 2 is on Tuesday night at 8.
ROUND 3 PREVIEW: B'S VS. BOLTS
- 5/13/11:
Boy, it seems like it's been forever since the Bruins have taken to the
ice, huh? In reality, it's only been seven days, and when one considers
that B's fans have waited 19 years for a return to the Eastern
Conference Finals, a week's not so bad. Finally, Bruins hockey returns
tomorrow night when the B's and the Lightning drop the puck on the
NHL's third round and begin the battle for the right to represent the
Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals. Both teams will be coming
off of long layoffs, so it'll be interesting to see who shakes off the
cobwebs first. Whereas the first two rounds featured animosity
(Montreal) and revenge (Philly), this series will be more about hockey
than anything else. I can't really think of many reasons to dislike
Tampa other than they occasionally rival Montreal in their diving abilities and their goalie looks like a homeless man. Good enough for me! BHN: B's vs. Bolts, Round 3 Preview
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