Bruins In Elite Company

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The Boston Bruins are among the elite teams in the National Hockey League. The Bruins have found ways to win in games they perhaps should not have won recently and as a result are in fourth place in the National Hockey League’s eastern conference. They trail Montreal by two points and have two games in hand on the Canadiens. The B’s have three games in hand on second place Philadelphia while first place Washington has played two more games than Boston. The Capitals are six points ahead of the Bruins. It is conceivable that coach Claude Julien’s charges could be first overall in the eastern conference by the end of November. Of course, the B’s will be tested by the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and the Atlanta Thrashers between today and November 28th.

New week, new team

This week began Monday November 15, 2010 with the Bruins defeating the New Jersey Devils 3-0. Goaltender Tim Thomas posted his fourth shutout on the young season strengthening his hold on the early balloting for the Vezina trophy. Eight different Bruins registered points on the night. Mark Recchi led the way with two assists.

Wednesday found the B’s in Madison Square Garden to take on the streaking New York Rangers. The Broadway Blueshirts were coming off a big win over the Philadelphia Flyers but Thomas came up huge. He made 34 saves on 36 pucks fired at him. He kept the team in the game during the third period, when he stopped 15 out of 16 Ranger shots. The Rangers thoroughly outplayed the Bruins in that third period but came away with zero points. The B’s did just enough in the first and second periods to record a 3-2 victory. After Tim T., Mark Recchi led the way again by scoring the winning goal early in the third period. The highlight of the game was a goal scored by rookie Tyler Seguin. It was the third goal of the season for the youngster and on it, he displayed acceleration and shooting ability that is usually only found in star, veteran, players. If it was a glimpse of things to come, Bruins fans have a lot to look forward to. Take a look at the goal here http://video.bruins.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlp=8475794.

The Boys from Boston made it three for three last night with a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers. The B’s started off slowly as their lack of enthusiasm carried over from the third period versus the Rangers. As former Bruin Derek Sanderson liked to say, “They were knee deep in anesthetic.” Winger Milan Lucic scored his 8th goal of the season at 15:37 of the opening period and it stood as the only goal until 14:42 of the 3rd period when Lucic scored his 2nd of the game only to follow it up with his 3rd of the game fifteen seconds later. Shawn Thornton scored his 4th of the season at 16:06 and the game was sealed for Boston. This may have been the most satisfying win of the week, so far. It was a home game for the B’s and the TD Garden became more and more electric after each Lucic goal. He has been a fan favorite since arriving in Boston as an 18 year old rookie in 2007. The three goals give him 10 on the season. Lucic is the leading goal scorer on the team and is tied with Washington superstar, Alexander Ovechkin, and Philadelphia teammates Claude Giroux and Daniel Briere for 8th place among the league’s leading goal scorers. Goaltender Tuukka Rask picked up his 1st win of the season. It was also his 1st shutout of the season as he stopped all 41 Panther shots. Overlooked somewhat was winger Nathan Horton’s three assist night for the Bruins. Patrice Bergeron recorded two assists.

The week will end with what should be the toughest game of the week for the Killer B’s. The Los Angeles Kings come into town. They are in second place in the western conference, just one point behind the Detroit Red Wings. You can read my preview of the them here https://causewaycrowd.com/2010/11/15/sharpshooting-needed-in-boston/. Suffice to say, the Kings are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders this season and this could be a preview of a certain seven game series with that Stanley Cup on the line come spring time.

After a slow start to November, the Bruins are flying high now and feeling good about themselves. Boston picked up shutouts in two of their last three games. Thomas and Rask has been the best goaltendering tandem in the league while Lucic has four goals in his last two games. Overall, the team is beginning to play as it should. The talent is there to be an elite team all season and there is no reason why the boys should disappoint their fans nor themselves.

Milestones 

Coach Claude Julien coached his 500th career game in the win over Florida. Forward Dan Paille needs three points to record 100 points for his career and future hall of famer, Mark Recchi also needs three points in order to get his 1,500th career point. It would be a special night to see one or both do it against Los Angeles.

Just sayin’

Did anyone else notice Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter traded his son, Brett, to the Carolina Hurricanes? Interesting reading http://network.yardbarker.com/nhl/article_external/talk_about_an_awkward_thanksgiving_flames_gm_darryl_sutter_trades_son_brett/3632577 . And Eva Longoria thought she was having a bad day.

Shawn Hutcheon can be followed on twitter by going to www.twitter.com/@shawnhutcheon. You can become his friend on facebook by going to www.facebook.com/shawnhutcheon.

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