Category Archives: Boston Bruins
Seven missing from B’s practice; Lucic returns
What’s Brewin with the Bruins by Chris Chirichiello of Bruins Daily
(Photo courtesy of Bridget Samuels) Horton was one of seven not on the ice today for the Boston Bruins with flu-like symptoms.
Fresh off their 3-2 come from behind win over the Winnipeg Jets, the Bruins returned to the ice for the first time after having yesterday off. Well, most Bruins returned to the ice. Nathan Horton, Gregory Campbell, Andrew Ference, Daniel Paille, Anton Khudobin, Adam McQuaid and Patrice Bergeron were all missing from Tuesday’s practice with flu-like symptoms.
More importantly, Milan Lucic returned to the ice after flying to Winnipeg only to have to fly right back to Boston to be with his family for “personal reasons.” Lucic only missed the Jets game will most likely be a game-time decision versus the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night in Florida.
In other news, Lane McDermid has rejoined the Bruins after his conditioning stint with the Providence Bruins according to Naoko Funayama.
This morning’s lines at practice include: Marchand-Peverley-Seguin, Lucic-Krejci-Bourque and Pandolfo-Kelly-Thornton. Hamilton was paired with Chara and Seidenberg was paired with Boychuk and Aaron Johnson. Tuukka Rask manned the net.
The Bruins will travel to Tampa tomorrow and hold a practice at 1:45 p.m. so we will see the status of all seven players missing from Bruins practice today and a better understanding of Milan Lucic’s availability going forward on the road trip.
Bruins visit to Newtown brings smiles to the community
What’s Brewin with the Bruins by Chris Chirichiello of http://www.bruinsdaily.com
(Credit Andrew Ference: @Ferknuckle) Left to right Adam McQuaid, Tyler Seguin and Andrew Ference sport their Newtown jerseys on their visit to Sandy Hook Elementary school yesterday.
It was an off day for the Boston Bruins yesterday and what other way to spend it then to lend support to the Sandy Hook Elementary school?
Several players and Claude Julien rallied around Newtown after the unthinkable happened on December 14, 2012. Players included: Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, Adam McQuaid, Chris Bourque, Andrew Ference, Daniel Paille and Rich Peverley. Street hockey games were played, autographs were signed, photos were taken and laughs were shared to try and make the Sandy Hook survivors try to forget the tragic events that took place a little over two months ago.
Head coach Claude Julien immediately felt a connection to the community minutes into their visit.
“I really admire these people for what they’ve gone through,” he said. “It can’t be easy. At a season of the year when we should have been celebrating, we ended up having to mourn.”
Julien reiterated how the community has rallied together and how it is just a great gesture in a time of need.
“But this town is amazing, the way the people have shown their support for each other, how strong they are and the faith they have,” Julien said. “It’s pretty amazing. For me to be able to be part of this group and help them out the best way I can, this is extremely important to me.”
Chris Bourque also chimed in on the opportunity of visiting the Sandy Hook Elementary school.
“To come out here and play a little street hockey and see all these kids smiling and having fun, it’s great,” said Bourque. “This community has been through so much the last couple of months and I hope to maybe help them forget about the things that have happened for a little bit for a couple of hours. To see all these kids smiling and having fun, it’s great to be able to do this.”
Natalie Hammond, the lead teacher at Sandy Hook was wounded while protecting her students during the attack on Dec. 14th and could not thank the Bruins enough for their time.
“It’s amazing, the fact that the Bruins have taken a day out of their busy schedule to be here with us and to make our community excited and fun and happy really means a lot,” Hammond said. “It’s really incredible.”
Hammond reiterated that the Bruins were the heroes, but in the Bruins eyes and in the eyes of many, Hammond is one of the biggest heroes on that forgetful day.
Bruins Center Rich Peverley, like all of his teammates, stated he was happy to be there to try and heal the community.
“Anything we can do to bring a smile to people’s faces and make it a positive experience,” Peverley said.
Julien ended with a remark that brought smiles to the Newtown community even with the last leg of his team’s road trip to plan for.
“I have all the time in the world for these people,” said Julien.
Newtown is slowly healing and it has been with the help of each other.
Newtown will rise up once again and the Bruins made sure they helped the best way they could.
Bruins Daily Player of the Week: Feb. 11-17, 2013
What’s Brewin with the Bruins by Chris Chirichiello of http://www.bruinsdaily.com
(Photo Credit: Portland Press Herald) Marchand’s game-winning goal last night versus the Winnipeg Jets ended the Bruins brief two game losing streak.
Brad Marchand is having one heck of a season and had another productive week for the Black and Gold.
The third-year forward scored the game-winning power-play goal last night versus the Winnipeg and tied the game versus the New York Rangers in a comeback for the ages at the TD Garden last Tuesday. The “Nose Face Killah” also received bonus points for making Jack Edwards almost leap off level nine after beating Henrik Lundqvist to steal a point and force overtime.
Marchand leads the Bruins (9-2-2) with eight goals (8th in the NHL) and has a ridiculous 44.4% shot percentage (8 goals on 18 shots) which ranks him fourth in the league. It seems like when the Bruins need that extra lift it has been Marchand that has always been there.
Last year, it was Tyler Seguin, but this year Marchand is finding the back of the net at will it seems like. He scored a career-best in goals last season (28) and he may break that this year even in a shortened season.
While on a breakaway during last night’s game, Marchand was tripped up and wanted to be awarded a penalty shot, but that wasn’t the case.
“I was hoping for a penalty shot, so I was a little upset (when one wasn’t called), but we were excited to be on the power-play,” Marchand said. “We knew we could get some chances and what happened was we scored.”
Through his first 12 games last season, Marchand scored only two goals. This year he has eight (missing one game to injury). A fun stat for you is that Marchand has a better shooting percentage than Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (41.5%). Think about that.
The left-winger has a very quick release and his finishing ability this year was that of Seguin’s last year almost impossible to stop. Marchand will most likely cool off as the season wears on, but I bet Bruins fans were saying that after his first few games and Marchand is still lighting the lamp nearly every game.
Marchand has nine points in 12 games while sporting a plus-five rating. He is logging serious ice time as well and it seems like at this point, nothing can stop this “little ball of hate.”
Here are clips of Marchand’s goals courtesy of NHL VideoCenter
Tying goal vs. Rangers from Tuesday
Winning goal vs. Jets last night
Key players lead Bruins to win over Jets
What’s Bruin with the Bruins by Anthony Travilgia of http://www.bruinsdaily.com
(Photo Credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily) Marchand’s third period power play goal ended up as the game winning goal as the Bruins beat the Jets 3-2 last night in Winnipeg
Heading into Winnipeg losers of their last two, the Bruins knew they needed to take two points out of this one and with Milan Lucic back in Boston due to personal reasons, the B’s needed some of their other role players to step up and carry the team, luckily for the Bruins they got the two points, and got key goals from two key players.
Goals by Daniel Paille, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand helped the Bruins beat the Jets 3-2.
A lot of eyes have been closely watching Seguin as the 21 year-old has struggled in his third season in the National Hockey League, but last night was one of No.19’s best games of the season, and his hard work paid off with his third goal of the season.
The goal was very un-Seguin-like as the goal came off a tip from a Zdeno Chara shot from the point, but Seguin will take it.
“Even though it’s a tip that’s not usually my game, I’ll take it,” said Seguin. “Obviously when you’re not scoring and producing the guys see that you’re getting frustrated. The message I got over and over was to keep battling and to maybe take my grit up another level and my compete level up. That’s what I tried to do tonight.”
With things tied at two, and the Bruins on the power-play, Brad Marchand made sure he would once again step up and put the team on his back.
Marchand collected a nifty pass from Patrice Bergeron and beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec for his team leading eight goal.
“Its things we’ve worked on, trying to find holes and trying to use speed. It’s an example of when you execute it right, it will work” said Marchand.
Marchand has been one of the best Bruins forwards all season and is developing into a legitimate goal scoring threat. Marchand now has three goals in his last four games.
With the secondary scoring lacking a bit thus far the Bruins know they can only go as far as their key goal scorers will take them, and if the Bruins can get Seguin going things can get much better for a Bruins team that keeps finding ways to win.
Gameday: Bruins look to rebound in Winnipeg
What’s Bruin with the Bruins by Anthony Travalgia of http://www.bruinsdaily.com
(Photo Credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily) Nathan Horton and the Bruins look to get back to their winning ways when they travel to Winnipeg this evening to take on the Jets
Nothing says Hockey Day in America like a Bruins/Jets matchup, wait, what? As the United States celebrates Hockey Day in America, the Bruins travel to frigid Winnipeg to take on the Jets as the Bruins look to end their season high two-game losing streak.
The Jets last played Friday night when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins took the first of three matchups this season back on January 21, 2-1 in the shootout.
The Bruins will be without Milan Lucic as No. 17 has left the team due to personal reasons. Newly signed forward Jay Pandolfo will fill in for the absent Lucic.
The Jets are currently tied with the Capitals for last place in the Southeast division.
After the jump, lineups, storylines, linkage and tweets of interest
Gametime: 6 p.m.
Location: MTS Centre
T.V./Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins (8-2-2, 18 points), Jets (5-7-1, 11 points)
Bruins projected lineup
Rich Peverley-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Chris Bourque-Chris Kelly-Daniel Pallie
Jay Pandolfo-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Dougie Hamilton
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Jets projected lineup
Andrew Ladd-Bryan Little-Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane-Alex Bermistrov-Nik Antropov
Eric Tangradi-Oili Jokinen-Kyle Wellwood
James Wright-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn
Rob Hainsey-Dustin Byfuglien
Mark Stuart-Zach Bogosian
Paul Potsma/Grant Clintsome-Zach Redmond
Ondrej Pavelec
Ed Pasquale
Bruins to watch
At some point this season whether it be now or later, Tyler Seguin will break out of this scoring slump he is currently stuck in. Seguin has just two goals in 12 games—one of those an empty net goal—a year removed from a team and career high 29 goals a season ago. Both of Seguin’s goals have come on the road this season.
Jay Pandolfo makes his Bruins debut today. The 38 year-old Pandolfo hasn’t played in an NHL game since April 7, 2012 when he was a member of the New York Islanders. The Winchester Mass native has 226 points in 881 career NHL games. Look for Pandolfo to see some key time on the Bruins penalty kill.
Jets to watch
The Jets have been led by two key players this season. Up front the Bruins have to keep an eye out for the dangerous Andrew Ladd. Ladd leads the team with seven goals and has 11 points in 23 career goals against the Black and Gold. The Maple Ridge, British Columbia native has gelled nicely with line-mates Black Wheeler and Bryan Little for a struggling Jets hockey club.
On the blue-line it’s not Dustin Byfuglien tearing it up offensively, but it’s Tobias Enstrom that leads the team in points with 13.
Bruins linkage
Bruins set to visit town of Newton Connecticut on Monday (CSNNE)
In honor of Hockey Day in America, Bleacher Report has the all time Bruins All-Time All-America Team
Tyler Seguin not making excuses for scoring drought. (Bud Barth/Worcester Telegram)
Jets linkage
Winnipegwhiteout.com previews todays Bruins/Jets tilt.
Jets Defense/Goalie grades. (Arctic Ice Hockey)
Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press touches on the Jets struggles on home ice.
Tweets of interest
Gameday: Bruins-Sabres round 3
What’s Brewin with the Bruins by Tim Rosenthal of http://www.Bruinsdaily.com
(Credit: Associated Press) Bruins’ backup goalie Anton Khudobin will likely get another start against the Sabres Friday night in Buffalo
Thanks to the shortened season, the schedule makers at the National Hockey League were forced to make some strange and quirky decisions. Friday’s game between the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres is just the latest example.
After defeating the Sabres last Sunday in Buffalo – with their third period comeback against the New York Rangers sandwiched in between – the Black and Gold return to the First Niagara Center for their first of five straight road games Friday night at the First Niagara Center.
Since their 7-4 loss to the Sabres, the Bruins have looked sharp defensively allowing just five goals in the four games since (3-0-1). But, even though Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winner on the man advantage last Sunday, the power play continues to be a sore spot for Boston as they are ranked dead last at 9.3 percent.
Buffalo, meanwhile, is coming off a 2-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators where they compiled a season-high 42 shots only to be stymied by Craig Anderson.
After the jump, lineups, storylines, linkage and tweets of interest
Gametime: 7 p.m.
Location: First Niagara Center
T.V./Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins (8-1-2, 18 points), Sabres (5-8-1, 11 points)
Bruins projected lineup
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Chris Bourque-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Dougie Hamilton
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Anton Khudobin
Tuukka Rask
Sabres projected lineup
Thomas Vanek-Cody Hodgson-Jason Pominville
Nick Foligno-Tyler Ennis-Drew Stafford
Steve Ott-Mikhail Grigorenko-Nathan Gerbe
John Scott-Jochen Hecht-Patrick Kaleta
Christian Ehrhoff-Andrej Sekera
Robyn Reghr-Tyler Myers
Adam Weber-Jordan Leopold
Ryan Miller
Jhonas Enroth
Bruins to watch
After notching 25 saves in the last meeting, it looks like Claude Julien will go with Anton Khudobin again for Friday’s meeting. If so it will be his third start of the season, and this move might pay dividends. With a busy slate coming up in March, Tuukka Rask could use a little extra rest even though he might have to shake off some rust if or when he gets the start on Sunday. But the big picture is the stretch run and anytime Khudobin puts in a quality performance it means a little extra to give Rask a breather.
While Tyler Seguin’s struggles have been well documented, Chris Kelly is seeing the same type of slump early. Much to the disappointment of fellow colleague Anthony Travalgia, the veteran has only three points – all assists – and is a minus-3 through the first 11 games. No doubt Kelly’s linemates, Chris Bourque and Rich Peverley, have also struggled, but for a deep, veteran team like the B’s, I’m sure Claude will like to get this line going sooner rather than later.
Sabres to watch
After sitting out the last meeting, Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers will face the Black and Gold for the second time this season. The struggles of the former Calder Trophy winner have been well documented in Buffalo and was recently a healthy scratch against the Isles and B’s. Myers, a former first round pick, has just one goal and is a minus-9 on the season, both far from ideal stats for a top-four defenseman.
The Sabres’ secondary scoring has been an issue all season, but Tyler Ennis is starting to come along. The former first round pick has strung together a nice five-game stretch notching three goals and two assists. While Ennis and Nick Foligno have been a nice one-two punch, they will need to get production out of Drew Stafford, who is still without a goal on the season despite logging over 18 minutes a night. Look for Stafford to get some looks again as he tries to break out of his slump.
Bruins linkage
Many of you are well aware of our #DailySupahFans promotion on Facebook and Twitter. But now our friends at SupahFans Streetwear are waiving their $5 shipping anytime you enter DailySupahFan as a coupon code on SupahFans.com.
The Days of Y’Orr crew have a good amount of material in store when they debut their pregame show tonight at 6:15 p.m.
With Nathan Horton on the last year of his contract, the Game 7 hero against Montreal and Tampa hopes to stay in Boston according to DJ Bean of WEEI.com.
Sabres linkage
Die By the Blade says the Sabres need production out of Stafford if they are to bust out of their offensive woes.
Sabres noise analyzes the team’s goaltending situation.
And Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News says Friday’s matchup might not be as much of a mismatch as you think.
Tweets of interest
Even though the focus is on the task in hand, the Bruins might want to bring some extra layers when they travel to Winnipeg for Sunday’s contest against the Jets (via@NHLBruins).
And in a rare instance, we are keeping today’s tweets of interest Bruins’ centric. Here’s what CSN New England Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) tweeted in his conversation with Khudobin regarding the meteorite that hit Russia earlier today (our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and other effected by this circumstance overseas).
Five keys to the Bruins five-game road trip
What’s Bruin with the Bruins by Chris Chirichiello of http://www.bruinsdaily.com
(Photo Credit: Joe Makarski/BruinsDaily) Tyler Seguin alongside David Krejci is a Bruins fan’s fantasy.
The Boston Bruins will embark on their longest road trip of the season starting this Friday as they travel to Buffalo. The black and gold will also have stops in Winnipeg (Tyler Seguin set your alarm the correct way please), Tampa, Florida and New York before returning home to host the Ottawa Senators at the end of February.
The B’s are off to their best start in franchise history (8-1-2) and will need to continue their torrid pace away from the TD Garden. The team has a 4-0-1 record away from home so it should not be an issue, but it is a crucial part of their schedule before the B’s will play a whopping 17 games in March.
Here are my five keys to having a successful five game road trip.
1. The Power Play must improve
The Bruins have converted on 9.3% (4-43) of their power-plays on the year. That is bad. That is unacceptable and it should not happen with the talent on this roster. When you have a man-advantage, you must punish the opposition as Andy Brickley stated the other night. The Bruins just do not attack the net on the man advantage and that must change because the chances are there and it will come back to haunt them. Sure, their defense is keeping them in games, but the Bruins need a nice 5-1 win on the road with two power-play goals to get their confidence back. And oh yeah, have Seguin on the power-play more than Chris Bourque. Also, why not try Brad Marchand on the man advantage? This “little ball of hate” has been lighting the lamp at will lately.
2. Give Anton Khudobin three starts so Tuukka Rask can clear his head
I know people want Rask to be “The Man” but why not give Khudobin some time and give Tuukka some time to rest? Khudobin is no push over. He is 2-0 this year and only has one loss in his career plus Tuukka will be called upon a lot in the month of March with 17 games to be played. There is nothing wrong with letting the back-up play if he is pretty good like Khudobin. Look for Khudobin on the road trip.
3. Leave Seguin with David Krejci
These two were paired together in the third period of the Montreal Canadiens game down 1-0. By the time you got comfortable after the intermission, the Bruins led 2-1 two minutes into the third period, goal by Seguin assisted by Krejci and then a game-winning Krejci goal assisted by Seguin. It is not hard that these two can make a lot happen while on the ice together. They are both play-makers and if each line essentially plays the same amount, why not try to utilize the best opportunities with these two alongside each other?
4. Third line scoring
The Bourque-Kelly-Peverley line must get going. This line has two goals in 11 games and has not put much together. It has been tough to watch as a fan, but once they gain more chemistry together, this line could finally get rolling. Chris Kelly has yet to score (sorry Ant) while netting 20 goals last season. Peverley netted 11 goals last season while dishing out 31 assists. Their statistics this year must balloon and they will, it will just take some, but Bruins fans are tired of waiting on this third line. Fans want the Bourque experiment to end, but he has played a few sound games in a row regaining his confidence.
5. Get Dougie Hamilton back on track.
Hamilton was off to a hot start in Boston, but lately he has been suspect over the last five games. He was a -1 versus the Rangers, a -1 versus Buffalo, and -2 versus Buffalo dating back to Jan. 31 to name a few. He has not recorded a point since Jan. 28 versus the Carolina Hurricanes.
Dougie is a rookie, but he is playing like a 10-year veteran. He has yet to record a penalty which is remarkable with the amount of time he is on the ice. Hamilton will be a star for years. I am not saying he is playing bad, but he needs to get his confidence back. Look for him to go on a little point streak during this road trip.
Ten thoughts on the Bruins’ hot start
What’s Brewin with the Bruins by Tim Rosenthal of Bruins Daily
(Photo credit: Sharon Bradley) Tuukka Rask is one of the main reasons why the Boston Bruins are off to their best 10-game start in franchise history
By now, many Boston Bruins fans are aware of the team’s 8-1-1 record through the first 10 games – their best in franchise history. There have been some minor hiccups along the way, including their ongoing power play woes, but obviously for the most part things are looking up in The Hub of Hockey.
Here are 10 thoughts from your’s truly on the Bruins’ rampant start to the 2013 National Hockey League season.
1) Tuukka Rask’s stellar play
Many were wondering how Tuukka would respond as heir apparent to Tim Thomas, and so far he has been nothing short of extraordinary. The Finnish netminder is 5-1-1 on the season with a 1.96 goals against average and a .922 save percentage and is really positioning himself well from post to post.
This was the Bruins’ top question heading into the 2013 season and so far Tuukka has passed all the tests. But can he continue this roll?
2) The Tim Thomas trade
Count this as another win for Peter Chiarelli.
While the Bruins’ general manager might only get a second round pick in return – if Thomas actually reports to the New York Islanders – he got $5 million in cap relief by trading the two-time Vezina Trophy winner.
The Bruins now have a little over $8 million in cap space according to CapGeek.com. And after this hot start, they could potentially be that much better after the trade deadline. (Jarome Iginla or Steven Weiss, anyone?)
3) Brad Marchand leading the team in goals
After returning to the lineup Sunday from an upper-body injury, Marchand picked up right where he left off. The ‘little ball of hate’ scored the team’s first goal in the 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres increasing his team-leading total to six on the season. What’s more impressive is his shot percentage, which is at 42.9 percent.
Apparently, there’s no secret to his success.
“It’s different every time. You go through points of the year where things are going well and you go through others where things don’t click as well,” Marchand said after Monday’s practice. “You can go nine or ten games without a goal and go five games with goals. So it’s just how things go.”
Things are certainly clicking for Marchand right now on the scoresheet, but the Bruin with many monikers continues to play with an edge. And that is a welcomed sighting after slowing down when returning from last year’s suspension for his hit on Vancouver Canucks defenseman Sami Salo 13 months ago.
4) The play of Dougie Hamilton
So much for his struggles in the World Junior Championships. Even with the benefit of skating alongside Dennis Seidenberg – and with Zdeno Chara in a couple of instances – Hamilton has really provided a spark on the blueline as the second leading scorer on the team among defensemen. The 19-year old from Toronto sure has a bright future, but even now he is helping Peter Chiarelli’s decision to trade Phil Kessel to the Leafs.
5) Tyler Seguin
While one part of the Kessel trade has been doing quite well, the other is still looking for his groove. In what many expected another breakout season for Seguin, the 21-year old forward has only compiled three points thus far (two goals, one assist) and is still a little snakebitten. Seguin did provide a jolt in the third period of the Bruins’ 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens last Wednesday and he is still being assertive, which is a positive sign for coach Claude Julien.
Seguin, like Kessel, has been known to be a streaky scorer. So when he gets going, the goals should come in bunches.
6) The Merlot line
One of many benefits that Julien has is that they can roll all four lines on any given night. When the top lines struggle, Claude can usually count on Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille to provide more energy. Campbell and Thornton can drop the gloves at any moment and can muscle their way in battles for loose pucks, while Paille’s speed is something opposing defenses need to respect. All three can also provide a scoring touch if need be.
7) The power(less) play
Where to begin. Is it the lack of a “puck-moving defenseman”? Is it a lack of shots directed at opposing goalies? Is it because they don’t get many clean entries into the blue-line?
For a team that has struggled on the power play over the last few seasons, one would think this issue needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. They’ve certainly tried to spark the man advantage by putting David Krejci on the point and Tyler Seguin on the half-wall, but so far that has been to no avail.
Maybe things are heading in the right direction after Patrice Bergeron scored his game-winner on the power play Sunday night. But maybe its just hopeless optimism. Either way the man advantage continues to be a work in progress.
8) The polar opposite penalty kill
One thing that has been consistent in the Julien era has been the penalty kill and this year is no different. The Bruins are currently tied with the Chicago Blackhawks in PK percentage killing off nearly 93 percent of the opposing power plays.
That is impressive in it and itself, but the Black and Gold shorthanded units have come up huge in clutch situations that includes a 5-on-3 against the New York Rangers in the third period on opening night and two overtime kills in a shootout victory against the Winnipeg Jets. Even more impressive, the 6-foot-9 Chara was serving a penalty in both instances.
9) Claude’s coaching
It’s no secret that many consider Julien’s system a defensive first approach. But the players have bought in to the Bruins bench boss’ ways and it seems apparent again this year.
Aside from their 7-4 loss to Buffalo nearly two weeks ago, the Bruins defense has been solid allowing 2.1 goals per game. But the Black and Gold – even though they are in the middle of the league in scoring currently with 2.7 goals per game – also pride themselves using the D to transition into offense.
While they’ve had no stud 50-goal scorers, the B’s have often ended up as one the top 10 teams in scoring with several netting 20 or more goals. And Julien is pretty comfortable with that approach despite some early season struggles offensively.
“I don’t think we are a team that is bad at scoring. I think we are a team that scores by committee,” said Julien. “We struggle to get that 50-goal scorer – or this year that 30-goal scorer – but we are still a team that is usually in the top five in goals scored. I don’t anticipate that being an issue, but right now we are snake bitten with all the chances we have and that we haven’t been able to capitalize as we should.”
10) Familiarity breads success
Aside from Thomas, Michael Ryder and Tomas Kaberle, many members of the 2011 Cup run are still donning the Black and Gold. Not only has that been beneficial to the team’s hot start, but it’s also a testament to sticking with Julien’s system through good times and bad.
“It’s definitely huge,” Marchand said about the locker room familiarity. “It’s been a couple of years that we’ve been playing together and especially in a shortened season like we have this year where everything is so compact and we didn’t really have a training camp or a whole lot of practice time. It definitely makes things a little easier and it’s showing out there.”
In a shortened season, a veteran presence is a nice thing to have. And that can especially come in handy come playoff time.
Anton Khudobin answering the bell when called upon
What’s Brewin with the Bruins from Bruins Daily by Chris Chirichiello
(Credit: Associated Press) Khudobin helped the Bruins notch their eighth win of the year last night in Buffalo turning aside 25 shots on 26 attempts by the Sabres.
Who? Anton Khudobin. That’s who. He has stepped in twice this season to give workhorse Tuukka Rask a break and has been nothing short of spectacular.
In two starts this season, Khudobin is 2-0 with a 2.00 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. On January 28th, Khudobin beat the Carolina Hurricanes in Carolina 5-3 and then last night went into Buffalo and held a team to one goal where Rask watched seven slide by him not too long ago. In his start in Carolina, Khudobin had 29 saves and in his start versus Buffalo he turned aside 25 of 26 shots.
Khudobin is in a very unique position because he knows he will not see regular playing time, but knows he needs to stay sharp incase he is called upon or an injury (God forbid) happens to Rask. He is answering the bell in both starts away from the TD Garden making the Bruins not skip a beat.
Head coach Claude Julien had many good things to say about Khudobin after Monday’s practice at the TD Garden.
“He just looks really comfortable in net for us,” Julien said. “I don’t know if it’s the way guys are playing in front of him, but he’s gobbling pucks up and leaving nothing behind. He’s a very good goaltender.”
Khudobin praised his teammates for his success last night in Buffalo.
“It was great, you know? I pretty much got a little rest in the second and third period,” Khudobin said. “I didn’t do much. I just had to stop a couple of saves and pretty much make sure that we keep it scoreless.”
Khudobin has been rock solid as the number two goalie for the black and goal and is an unrestricted free agent next summer. His stats are impressive sporting a 7-1 record with a 1.54 GAA and a .954 save percentage in his NHL career. It will be very interesting to see what the Bruins will do with Khudobin moving forward because clearly he can be trusted.
Bruins Daily Player of the Week: Feb. 4-10, 2013
What’s Bruins with the Bruins by Chris Chirichiello of Bruins Daily
(Credit: Getty) Krejci scored the game-winner vs. Montreal last Wednesday while adding an assist. He also had another assist in the Bruins 3-1 victory last night vs. Buffalo.
As the Bruins are off to their best 10 game start in franchise history (8-1-1), David Krejci has been in the middle of all the fun leading the team with 10 points including three goals and seven helpers.
In games versus the Canadiens and Sabres last week, Krejci assisted on Tyler Seguin’s game tying goal before netting the game winning goal in Montreal in their 2-1 come-from-behind win. Last night, Krejci added another assist on Milan Lucic’s empty net goal that saw the B’s even up the season series with the Sabres after a 3-1 victory in Buffalo.
Krejci has two game-winning goals on the short season that ranks him fifth in the league and his plus seven while on the ice ranks him in the top 10 of a very crucial category in the eyes of head coach Claude Julien.
Looking for a spark in the third period versus the Canadiens last Wednesday night, Julien finally shuffled the lines and put Seguin and Krejci together resulting in two goals in a three-minute span. Bruins fans have been wondering why these two playmakers have not seen more action together, but Julien likes to stick to his guns (i.e. Chris Bourque still seeing time on the Bruins power play).
Krejci is having a spectacular year thus far for the black and gold and not just because his statistics. His consistency has been great through the teams first 10 games of the 2013 season. Krejci’s hockey IQ, his soft hands and his vision while on the ice are intangibles that do not show up in the stat sheet, but make his teammates around him that much better.
Many Bruins fans want to ship Krejci out in a blockbuster deal to try and land Bobby Ryan or something to that degree, but fans don’t appreciate what we have in Krejci. He has been the definition of consistency whether you agree or not. Since the 2008-2009 season, Krejci has had at least 52 points in each season while playing at least 75 games. He had 51 assists in 2008-2009, 35 in 2009-2010, 49 during the Stanley Cup run and 39 last season. Krejci has seven this year in 10 games and he is off to another solid campaign.Krejci is a playmaker and fans need to accept him for who he is.
Nonetheless, Krejci is off to a very hot start in 2013.
Here is a video of Krejci’s game-winner against the Habs from Wednesday night
