Mar 21, 2013; Ottawa, ON, CAN; Boston Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin (35) stretches during a break in play in the second period against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

What can I say? I bleed black and gold, but you got to give it to the Senators. That team once again forced the Bruins to dig down really deep to come up with a literal last minute goal to get them over the hump. In a measure of pure talent, the Bruins have it all over the Senators. The Senators have us dead to rights in the heart department though. They were making life interesting the entire game for Boston. Robin Lehner did an excellent job stopping the B’s best shots on net.

The only things that caused a dip in my respect for the Senators were these: First, the entire Ottawa line starts pounding on a hurt player. Kaspers Daugavins got a two minute penalty for roughing, but (in my opinion) there should have been an unsportsmanlike conduct tossed in there somewhere. Second, did anyone see Lehner’s tantrum after the Seidenberg goal? It doesn’t speak well for your team’s character when your goalie implodes after a goal.

In the end, the Bruins pulled it out with a 2-1 win, earning their twentieth victory of the year. They remain two points behind the Montreal Canadiens in the hunt for the top of the Northeast Division. Their next game will be tomorrow night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

March 21, 2013

Boston Bruins vs Ottawa Senators (Bruins @ Scotiabank Place)

Final Score: Boston Bruins 2 – Ottawa Senators 1

Three Stars of the Game:

Third: Robin Lehner (OTT) , Second: Anton Khudobin , First: Patrice Bergeron

Causeway Crowd’s Three Stars of the Game:

Third Star: (TIE)The Merlot Men. It’s a first for us at Causeway Crowd. A three way tie for a star. Everyone chimed in on how it wasn’t just a Paille goal that got the Bruins on the board, but a consistant and aggressive effort by the fourth line. (At this point, we might as well make Merlot the new jersey for the third line.) Paille had a goal(his sixth of the year), a +1 , seventeen shifts and fourteen minutes of ice time. Shawn Thornton put in thirteen and a half minutes on the ice, and added two more penalty minutes for his disagreement with Ottawa’s Guillame Latendresse. Gregory Campbell had an assist on the Paille goal, put another +1 in his column, and skated fifteen and a half minutes. The Merlot Men dragged this team back into the game at the end of the second period, and it was that momentum that got the Bruins those two points last night.

Second Star: Dennis Seidenberg. Seidenberg, known by a lot of the faithful as the German Hammer, put in his first goal of the season last night. #44 is not known for high scoring, but for being one of those defenseman you would rather avoid at all costs. (From Matt)”What a time for Seidenberg to score his first goal of the season.  After a sloppy game by the Bruins, his shot with just over a minute left in the third period gave the Bruins the lead and they were able to salvage the two points.”

First Star: Anton Khudobin. Dobby does it again for us, netting his sixth win and further cementing his position in the Bruins organization. He’s 6-2-0, with a .925 save percentage(a hair’s breath away from Rask’s .928). He’s rocking a respectable 2.14 goals against average, and shut the door on the Ottawa after the Daugavins goal. (From Matt)”Khudobin definitely made a case as why he should get more starts for the Bruins.  He made two timely saves at the end of the first and second period to prevent the Bruins from going into both intermissions giving up a late goal.  He was great all night stopping 27 of 28 shots and once again proved to be a solid goaltender in the NHL. ”

Mar 21, 2013; Ottawa, ON, CAN; Ottawa Senators goalie Robin Lehner (40) makes a save as Boston Bruins left wing Daniel Paille (20) looks on in the first period at Scotiabank Place. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

The Bruins were going on a ten game win streak in the Scotiabank Centre. (The last time the Bruins beat the Senators on home ice was April 7, 2009.) Coach Claude Julien was once again mixing the lines up in order to get the best performance out of his team. The Bergeron line got promoted up to the first line tonight. (Due to merit and effort, and hopefully a none-too-subtle hit to the Krejci line’s ego.) The Merlot Men were alos promoted to the third line. This made the ‘scratch line’ (Jay Pandolfo- Jordan Caron- Ryan Spooner) the fourth line. The new line organization ended up as a mixed success.

It was looking kind of bad out there for awhile. Missed passes, bad changes, and tired players led to a comedy of errors that almost cost the Bruins two points. Once again though, the Boston Bruins shook off the rust long enough to show the Ottawa Senators and the rest of the NHL why it’s not wise to poke the bear.  A slightly sloppy but definite goal by fourth liner Daniel Paille and a last minute blast by defenseman Dennis Seidenberg gave the Bruins go ahead score with just sixty four seconds left in regulation. The Bruins keep pace with the Montreal Canadiens as they beat the Senators 2-1, bringing their record to 20-6-3.

I think our fellow Bruins fans got it right folks.

.@nhl_sens Should’ve warned you about poking the bear. #Bruins

— We Are Bruins Fans! (@WeAreBruinsFans) March 22, 2013

The Bruins and the Senators started off the first period in a rather humdrum pace, leading to a scoreless first period. Things got a little more interesting as the game progressed though. When I say ‘interesting’ it’s a nice way of saying ‘bad’. The Bruins seemed to turtle up in their own zone, and their offensive chances were more of a pass-and-dump than actual attempts to get shots on goal. The Krejci’s line momentum was slowing down as David Krejci was battling through a sore leg and showing everyone tonight what a professional and a warrior he is.

Kaspers Daugavins was able to get one past Anton Khudobin midway through the second, and the look of dejection on Dobby’s face was painful. Thankfully, Khudobin let that disappointment fuel him for the remainder of the game. He ended up going twenty seven for twenty eight (.964%), and got his sixth win of the year.

The Bruins battled back, but it was more the hard effort of the Bergeron line, and a very battered David Krejci who kept receiving more and more abuse from the Senators as the night progressed. With less than ninety seconds to go in the second, Daniel Paille got a pass from Johnny Boychuk and got it past Robin Lehner bringing the teams even at one. On a positive note, the Boston Bruins are now 6-0-0 whenever Daniel Paille scores. On a not so hot note, Daniel Paille has two more goals this year than Milan Lucic.

I have become somewhat of a Senators fan this year. They have pulled rabbit after rabbit out of their hats this year. Their team racks up injuries like Henry VIII racked up wives. The Senators kept fighting hard every game, and they have built up a lot of respect from me. They lost a little of that tonight when Daugavins, Chris Neil, and practically the entire line jumped David Krejci after the whistle when Krejci ended up in the Ottawa crease at the end of a play. It led to a power play opportunity, but Ottawa played like the Bruins in the penalty kill tonight, stopping all Bruins attempts to score on the power play.

Another Twitter friend offered this on Krejci.

@nhlbruins Krecji better get the Rooster shirt tonight!

— Rhonda R. McClure (@MamaBruin) March 22, 2013

Tonight was Dennis Seidenberg’s 562nd career game, and his 31st goal. It was also his first goal of the season. Our #44 has a habit of making his own magic happen when the Bruins needed it most, and once again the ‘German Hammer’ delivered. His goal sucked the life out of the Senators. They spent nearly the entire remainder of regulation circling in their own zone rather than trying to get on the attack to tie it up.

It wasn’t one of Boston’s best wins this season. We knew it was going to be a one goal game, and once again we were right. I just hope we get to see all the Bruins play like Krejci did tonight. They’ll need to dig down like Ottawa has to find those points in the rest of the season.

Feb 26, 2013; Uniondale, NY, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg (44) controls the puck against the New York Islanders during the first period of an NHL game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Bruins defeated the Islanders 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

I think it might safe to say that there is nothing more dangerous than a Bruins team with a multi-goal lead going into the third period.  A tired Bruins team just ran out of gas after a very explosive first period. It was looking really good for two periods though. I think we all wanted to see Khudobin get himself a shutout, and I was hoping we could have hung on just long enough to get ourselves a point as well. Oh well, the Bruins hit the half way mark of the shortened season 17-4-3.

March 12, 2013

Boston Bruins vs Pittsburgh Penguins (Boston @ CONSOL Energy Center)

Final Score: Pittsburgh Penguins 3 – Boston Bruins 2

Three Stars of the Game:

Third: Zdeno Chara , Second: Chris Kunitz(PEN), First: Brandon Sutter (PEN)

Causeway Crowd’s Three Stars of the Game:

Third Star: (TIE) Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin. Rich Peverley might want to think about switching to defenseman. Peverley played some amazing two way hockey last night. He kept the team going and he made some great plays to give Bruins a chance to at least tie it last night. (From Matt)”Tyler Seguin continued his impressive streak of late with another goal to put the Bruins ahead 2-0.  He took a pass from Bergeron and while falling down, he put it into the top right corner.  This was Seguin’s 9th goal of the season and his fourth in the last four games.”

Second Star: Anton Khudobin. (From Matt)”Khudobin was very impressive through the first two periods making huge saves.  I may have jinxed him when I said aloud he was going to get a shut out.  He got unlucky with some bad turnovers by the Bruins and he was put in a tough position.  He saved 31 of 34 shots.” Dobby was looking good last night. It’s not that Khudobin failed as net minder. He played fifty good minutes of hockey. Most of of it was excellent, and there were bursts of exceptional. The B’s got tired, and it left Dobby exposed and alone, and we payed for it by giving up two points to Pittsburgh.

First Star: Dennis Seidenberg. (From Matt)”Hard work and determination is all you can say about Seidenberg throughout this whole game.  When a teammate gives you his stick because of your effort you know you are playing hard.  Even with the tired legs, its good to see him playing hard.” Define respect. You are down on a  5 on 4, and you lose your stick. Your teammate sees how hard you are fighting and in the middle of being short handed, gives you his stick and races back to get another.

That’s why I love this team. They’re family to each other. Seidenberg played some transcendental hockey last night. I do not know the traditions of the Bruins as well as many of you. If there is any game puck or stick tradition….it should go to our German hammer. He was amazing and as tired as he was, he gave every last part of himself on the ice last night.

Well, we’re back on rebuilding a streak, and it’s going to be starting against the Florida Panters tomorrow night, back at the TD Garden.