Immediate Oscar Front-runner “Rizzo” , all of four years old, delivers the goods in this stirring delivery of Herb Brooks‘ inspirational 1980 speech to his troops at Lake Placid:
After ending a 10-game skid with a victory in Montreal last Sunday, the Boston Bruins looked to continue their winning ways in the remaining three games (see below) of their four-game road trip – a road trip that would take them up to the Winter Olympic break. The bounces are suddenly going the Bruins way, and the solid goaltending of Tuukka Rask (4-0-1 in starting five consecutive games) allowed them to run the table on the road trip, going 4-0-0.
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Click on the SCORE below for Highlights from NHL.com.
In the first period against Buffalo, it was the Daniel Paille show. Paille, traded to the Bruins from Buffalo earlier this season in the first-ever transaction between the Boston and Buffalo organizations, scored two first period goals – and almost had a natural hat-trick in the period if not for a spectacular save by Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. Early in the second period, Shawn Thornton and Craig Rivet dropped the gloves and had a spirited fray:
The momentum switched in the second period, though, and goals by Derek Roy and Tyler Myers made it a 2-2 game after two periods. Myers goal was a rare weak moment for Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, as he was fooled and caught flat-footed as Myers surprised him by ripping a quick wrist shot as he crossed into the Bruins’ zone. There was no scoring in the third period, but it did feature this tussle between Milan Lucic and Buffalo’s Adam Mair:
The Bruins would have won this game in overtime if not for Miller, as the Bruins could not get a puck by him despite numerous high quality scoring chances. Much like crossing the bridge of death, the Bruins knew they had their work cut out for them in the ensuing shootout.
Miller is one of the best all-time in NHL shootouts (check out the stats), with a 28-19 record and a .709 save percentage.
But – alas – shootout goals by Marco Sturm and David Krejci gave the Bruins the victory, and they had back to back wins for the first time in 2010. Tuukka Rask
posted a career-high 43 saves, as Tim Thomas bored children with his stories of growing up in Flint, Michigan.
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Click on the SCORE below for Highlights from NHL.com.
The Bruins came out of the gate flying against Tampa Bay at the St. Pete Times Forum.
They had built a 4-0 lead at the end of the first period on goals by Miroslav Satan and Milan Lucic, then two from Michael Ryder. Boston dominated, as they had 21 shots in the first period – conversely, for the last 13 minutes of that period, Tampa Bay had no shots. This was also the first time in 17 games that the Bruins had scored more than three goals in a game, dating back to their 4-1 victory in Ottawa on 1/5. Lucic‘s second goal of the game early in the second period would give the Bruins a (seemingly) comfortable 5-0 lead. But two goals apiece from Martin St. Louis and Steve Downie brought the Lightning back to within a goal at 5-4 with 3:13 remaining in regulation. Showing some grit late in the game, the Bruins held on for the 5-4 regulation victory, and found themselves back in the playoff hunt tied for the eighth and final playoff spot with – who else – the Tampa Bay Lightning.
GAME MILESTONE: Mark Recchi played in his 1,549th NHL game, tying him for ninth place on the career list with Alex Delvecchio.
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Click on the SCORE below for Highlights from NHL.com.
Heading into their last game before the Olympic break, the Bruins were facing a Panthers team that had lost five games in a row. Nick Tarnasky‘s first goal of the year gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead, but Panther’s goalie Tomas Vokoun allowed a softie to David Krejci, and the score was tied at one. But Stephen Weiss‘ end-to-end highlight film goal, in which he even burned Zdeno Chara, gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 1:06 remaining in the first:
There was no scoring in the second stanza, but there was a good bout between Adam McQuaid and the Panthers Victor Oreskovich….click on the picture below to see the fight at hockeyfights.com:
Mark Recchi again proved himself to be the most valuable 42-year old in the NHL by scoring his 12th goal of the season when he deflected home a Dennis Wideman shot with 8:16 remaining in the third period to tie the game at two. But the best was yet to come from Recchi, who capped off an epic eight-round shootout with a pretty goal to give the Bruins a 3-2 shootout victory. David Krejci and Marc Savard had both scored shootout goals to keep the Bruins alive in rounds 3 and 7 before Recchi came in swooping from the right side, then quickly deked and beat Tomas Vokoun high on his right glove side to propel the Bruins to victory.
The Bruins head into the Olympic break in seventh place in the eastern conference, one point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens.
“Honey…are you sure this is the right book store?“
Albert Hammond had a hit with this song in 1972; I always think of the seawall in Scituate’s Sand Hills Beach section when I hear this song. Hammond’s son Albert Hammond Jr. is a guitarist for The Strokes.
Boston Bruins fans collectively exhaled on Sunday afternoon, as the Bruins beat Montreal 3-0 to end their losing streak at 10 games.
Tuukka Rask was in net and made 36 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Marco Sturm scored twice to lead the B’s at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
It was the Bruins first home victory since their New Year’s Day victory in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.
The game also featured the first NHL goal of Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid:
…as well as the first NHL fight for Blake (don’t call me Bob Sweeney) Wheeler:
It looks like that off-season training regimen finally paid off:
Rask was huge
in this game, especially in the second period when the Canadiens outshot the Bruins 15-3, as he earned his third shutout of the season and added fuel to the Bruins goaltender debate. Rumors are also swirling about the Bruins making Tim Thomas available as the March 3rd NHL trade deadline approaches.
The Bruins (24-22-11) stand two points out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the eastern conference as they head into tonight’s game in Buffalo. Road games will follow in Tampa Bay on Thursday, then in Sunrise, FL against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Then, they enter the two-week break for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
After losing 10 games in a row, the Bruins are only two points out of the playoff race? Wow….Bruins fans really should:
In a game that Clarence was lucky enough to attend, the Boston Bruins reached a level of futility that has not been seen in 85 years as they lost their ninth consecutive game, this time 3-2 in a shootout against the Canadiens in Boston.
Here’s a little perspective on how long it has been since the Bruins last lost 9 in a row in the 1924-25 season.
In 1924-25:
In any case, here are a few shots from the game:
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I have run out of quality Soup(y Sales) clips, as I didn’t expect so many (losses) – so here’s a look back at the golden age of television advertising:
…and how wrong is this? Fred and Barney hawking Winstons!
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The Northwest Division leading Vancouver Canucks visit the TD Garden today, as the Bruins try to avoid their tenth straight loss – as well as falling back to .500 (currently 23-22-10).
In other NHL news, the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes is over – he is now a New Jersey Devil.
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With the NHL trading deadline looming on March 3, I am hoping the Bruins don’t do anything hasty.
Alas.…another loss, Boston Bruins fans. This time, it was 4-1 to Alex Ovechkin and the high-flying Washington Capitals.
and in other news…..
The Bruins stand alone in 12th place in the Eastern conference as they begin February with a familiar result – a loss in which they scored one goal.
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I really hope to have a victory to report soon.
Milton Supman ain’t walking through that door, folks….
There are a very finite number of Soupy Sales videos available…and he ain’t making no more.
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Tonight, the red-hot Washington Capitals come to the TD Garden in Boston with Alex Ovechkin in tow.
The Capitals have won 10 straight games and are clicking on all cylinders.
The Bruins have lost 7 straight games and were almost recalled by Toyota for defective offensive components.
It could be a long night for the Bruins – but conversely, an upset win could go a long way toward restoring the confidence of this emotionally fragile Boston Bruins team.
Puck drops at 7:07 ET tonight.
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