Causeway Crowd’s Boston Bruins Three Stars of the Week
Nov 9, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Loui Eriksson (21) during the national anthems against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins once again had a week of surprising highs and disappointing lows. They went 2-1 last week, with a shutout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and an overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. They were beaten by the Senators for the first time in Ottawa since April 2009 though. The Three Stars of the Week showcase some resurging talent in the roster along with a player that has been a pleasant surprise to us here at Causeway Crowd. So here are your Three Stars of the Week:
Honorable Mention: Brad Marchand. Welcome back to the Bruins Marchy! Now that we’re over the whole Mar-chand/Mar-shand controversy (I guess we’ll have to blame that on the Quebec Major Junior league for that one.), it’s great to see his skating and compete level back where it used to be. Marchand significantly reduced his number of unforced errors, and made himself known on the score board. While he only had one goal and eight shots on goal, he put up a +4 for the week. (He also got finally got himself out of the +/- negatives.) The skating was back, the passing was back, even the chirpiness was there when needed. It was great to see him back in old form.
Third Star: Chad Johnson. I’m going to admit that I wanted to see Niklas Svedberg on the team more than Johnson. I may have been wrong about that assessment. Johnson had a strong game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. I saw the game in person, and while I thought one of the goals was a soft one, he competed and played well throughout the game. He stopped thirty two of thirty four shots on goal (.941 save %). While his goals against is a 2.30, that’s not terrible for three games, and its better than many goalies in the league now. His record has improved to 2-1-0, and he’s made a good case to be the backup to Tuukka Rask.
Second Star: Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron had a three point week (one goal). Bergeron also has a +/- of +4 and eight shots on goal. While the lion’s share of grief has been ladled on Brad Marchand, a lot of people seemed to forget that Bergeron was also guilty of a slump in his production. Bergeron seemed to get back on track this week, making the most of his twenty shifts a game. It’s great to see the Patrice Bergeron of old back on the ice as well.
First Star: Loui Eriksson. Eriksson had his first full week back since taking that shot from John Scott the last time the Sabres and Bruins crossed paths. There was a great deal of concern regarding the seriousness of the concussion laid on him by Scott (who got a seven game suspension for that moment of ‘goonery’), but it’s great to see Eriksson play so well again on the wing of the second line. Eriksson was the big scorer this week, having a four point week (two goals). Eriksson rocked a +3 and four shots on goal.
Those are our favorites. Agree? Disagree? Think we’re ingesting hallucinogens? Tell us what you think at @Causeway Crowd on Twitter or Facebook.