Week 5: February 8th-February 13th
Finally, a very solid week for the Bruins. Though it required two shootouts, including one against Florida, and nearly blowing a five goal lead against Tampa Bay, wins are still wins and the Bruins came away with all 6 points this week. This marks the first time since the Best of Causeway started that the B’s have played well. To think that I almost had to do away with the weekly awards.
3-0-0 (6 points)
–February 9th– vs. Buffalo Sabres (W, 3-2)
–February 11th– vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (W, 5-4)
–February 13th– vs. Florida Panthers (W, 3-2)
First Star– Daniel Paille (2 goals, 1 assist, 3 points, plus-4)
- This is the second time that I have given the first star to Daniel Paille. Not only has he continued to play solid in his role on the penalty kill, but he recorded 3 points last week, including a two goal performance against his former team. He was recently upgraded to the first line and played alongside Marc Savard and Miroslav Satan, a move that paid big dividends for the Bruins.
Second Star– Marc Savard (3 assists, 3 points, plus-3)
- Savard is one guy who could be a staple for the Best of Causeway each and every week. In fact, he could have realistically earned himself the First Star because Paille’s offensive production is a direct correlation of playing alongside Savard. In a Boston Herald article last week, Claude Julien discussed Paille’s move up to the first line. Julien stated twice that Savard will find him. Well, one of the game’s premier distributors, Savard will find just about anyone. Though he has not scored a goal since December 23, Savard is playing better over the past couple of weeks. He has now recorded points in 7 of the last 9 games, a main reason the Bruins are starting to right the ship.
Third Star– David Krejci (1 goal, 1 point, plus-3, SO game-winner against Bufflo)
- Anytime you get a shootout game-winner, your stock immediately rises when it comes to Best of Causeway consideration. Mark Recchi was in the same boat this week. However, I really liked what I saw from Krejci. Though he only had 1 point (a goal against Florida) in addition to the shootout goal, he looked more like the Krejci from last season than he had prior to last week. He nearly scored a goal earlier in the night in Buffalo and his leg seems to be fine despite playing only three shifts in the Super Bowl Sunday game in Montreal.