Hub Hockey

Boston Extends Coaching Staff to Multi-Year Deal

The Bruins announced over the weekend that they have signed five different members of their coaching staff (assistant coaches Doug Houda, Craig Ramsay and Geoff Ward, goaltending coach Bob Essensa and video coach Brant Berglundto) to multi-year extensions. No details of the deals were disclosed.

[Game Recap] Is A Regulation Win A Thing Of The Past For Boston?

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Game Twenty-Six (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (13-8-5) vs. New Jersey Devils (13-7-4)
November 28th, 2009 @ 7:00PM

(credit: AP Photos)

GAME BOX SCORE:

	1	2	3	OT	SO	F
Boston Bruins	0	2	1	0	1	4
Ottawa Senators	2	0	1	0	0	3

SHOOTOUT RECAP:

Boston	Patrice Bergeron	Save
Ottawa	Alexei Kovalev	Save
Boston	Blake Wheeler	Save
Ottawa	Jason Spezza	Save
Boston	David Krejci	Save
Ottawa	Daniel Alfredsson	Save
Boston	Michael Ryder	Goal
Ottawa	Mike Fisher	Save

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• Another battle in Boston has the Bruins winning another close one in the shootout.
• Thomas showed signs of rust early allowing 2-goals on 4-shots but then shutdown the Sens until the closing seconds of the the 3rd-period, allowing a weak game-tying goal.
• Boston goes 3-for-5 on the man advantage but are still ranked as one of the worst efficient PP teams in the league.
• David Krejci kicks off the scoring in the 2nd-period on the PP after a nice dish from Recchi.
• Michael Ryder finally showed some flare adding to the Bruins lead in the 2nd and then following it up with a nice snipe in the shootout.
• Dennis Wideman (still sucking) scored giving the B's the lead in the 3rd.
• Mark Stuart blocked 4-shots and was shutdown in his own zone all night
• Boston was out-shot 32-to-22 by the Sens.
• This was the Bruins third straight shootout and their sixth straight game with a point.
• Bruins are currently atop the Northeast Division after a rocky road which saw many ups and downs.
• Patrcie Bergeron left the game in the 1st period after losing an edge and being hit in the ankle with a shot on the penalty kill.
• Sorry for my lack of updates over the holiday weekend but due to Thanksgiving, work vacation and my birthday I wasn't around much. But I'm back and ready to post again.
• Boston returns to action Wednesday against the TB Lightning @ the Garden.

GAME RECAP VIDEO:

Injury Update: Lucic Out 4-Weeks With A High Ankle Sprain

According to GM Peter Chiarelli, Milan Lucic will be out of the Bruins lineup for approximately four weeks due to a high ankle sprain suffered during the B's 2-1 win over Minnesota on Wednesday night. This comes just four games after Lucic returned from a trip to the IR with a broken thumb that kept him out of action for more than a month.

The injury, as I stated above, occurred on Wednesday night when the Wild's Marek Zidlicky looked to have clipped the back of Lucic's knee causing it to buckle. But according to the video above the "clip" had nothing to do with the injury and was caused by Lucic's skate simply catching a rut in the ice. Looch then hobbled off the ice and straight to the locker room creating an almost immediate cause of concern in Boston. While I sat there having flashbacks of Ulf Samuelsson's knee-to-knee hit on Neely and the possibility of being able to have another thing to compare between him and Looch.

Thankfully though it looks like the injury is not serious at all and Lucic will only miss about four weeks or so which is great news since my initial thought was we would at least lose him for the year. This is still another blow to a team that has been struggling all year to put their expected/best lineup on the ice every night.

[Game Recap] Devils Drop The Bruins In The SO (Brodeur Reigns Supreme)

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Game Twenty-Five (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (12-8-5) vs. New Jersey Devils (16-6-1)
November 27th, 2009 @ 12:00PM

(credit: AP Photos)

GAME BOX SCORE:

	1	2	3	OT	SO	F
Boston Bruins	0	0	1	0	0	1
New Jersey Devils	0	1	0	0	1	2

SHOOTOUT RECAP:

Boston	Patrice Bergeron	Save
New Jersey	Patrik Elias	Save
Boston	Blake Wheeler	Goal
New Jersey	Zach Parise	Goal
Boston	David Krejci	Save
New Jersey	Jamie Langenbrunner	Goal

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• Battle of goaltenders ends with the Devils getting the slight edge in the shootout.
• Blake Wheeler scored the Bruins lone regulation goal early in the third-period to tie the game at one-a-piece.
• Tuukka Rask stopped 36 of the 37 shots he faced, slowly moving up the league leaders board for goaltending
• Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves with Andrew Peters only to get popped three times.
• Boston may have lost their win streak but their point streak is still intact, currently at five games. The B's have points in ten of their last eleven games (H/T to Stanley Cup of Chowder for that one).
• Congrats to Marty Brodeur for surpassing Patrick Roy and becoming the all-time NHL leader in minutes played for a goaltender.
• Injury update for Milan Lucic was upsetting after learning he would miss another four-weeks with a sprained knee.
• Boston returns to action Saturday to take on the Ottawa Senators @ the Garden.

GAME RECAP VIDEO:

[Game Preview] Bruins vs. Devils

Game Twenty-Five (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (12-8-4) vs. New Jersey Devils (15-6-1)
November 27th, 2009 @ 12:00PM

GAMEDAY HEADLINES:

• This is the second of four meetings this season between the Bruins and Devils, the first ending in New Jersey's favor via a 2-1 victory.
• Both Tim Thomas and Milan Lucic listed as "questionable" for todays game since no real word has been released on either players status. From rumors of Thomas having a broken hand to not even a peep about whats going on with Lucic. Guess we will just have to wait till game time and see.
• Boston is hoping to extend their win streak to five-games with a win over the Devils today.
• Stick salute to Dennis Wideman who spent a good portion of his Thanksgiving deliveing pies to the homeless. Unlike me who spent it delivering food and booze to my mouth.
• Other than this I will be lucky to get up for todays game (DVR thank you) because I have enjoyed myself a little too much the past two days. Sorry for the piss poor preview.

MATCHUP STAT BREAKDOWN:

Boston Bruins		New Jersey Devils
12-8-4	Record	15-6-1
28	Points	31
2.29	G/G	2.64
2.33	GA/G	2.18
53.3	Faceoff %	48.6
14.5	Power Play	20.4
84.4	Penalty Kill	80.6
1	+/-	5

CREASE REPORT:

PLAYER	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%	SO
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	5	6	3	2.33	.918	3
Tuukka Rask	7	2	1	2.13	.924	1
New Jersey Devils
Martin Brodeur	13	6	1	2.16	.921	1
Yann Danis	2	0	0	2.14	.923	0

INJURY REPORT:

PLAYER	POS	INJURY	STATUS
Boston Bruins
Milan Lucic	LW	Knee	Questionable
Tim Thomas	G	Hand	Questionable
New Jersey Devils
Dainius Zubrus	C	Leg	Out
Paul Martin	D	Arm	Out
Johnny Oduya	D	Lower Body	Out
Rob Niedermayer	D	Upper Body	Out
Jay Pandolfo	LW	Shoulder	Out

How Serious Is Milan Lucic's Injury?

As mentioned in my game recap, Milan Lucic left Wednesday nights game late in the third period after he suffered a left knee injury via a Marek Zidlicky leg clip from behind. In the video above you can see how bad the after effects really were and if you turn up the volume to your speakers, you can also hear a collective "oh shit!" from Bruins nation. But as the title of this post asks, how serious is this injury. And the answer to this is as good as mine. No word has been officially released on Lucic's status as of yet (most likely due to the holiday) but TSN's Bob McKenzie has given Boston a little hope with his following tweet from yesterday.

"Initial word on Milan Lucic's knee injury is not too serious and may not even miss a game." -Bob McKenzie

But truly no one will really know the actual severity of Lucic's injury until todays pre-game practice. Hopefully all things are a go as we have seen the impact Looch makes on this team when he is in and out of the lineup. Also, two other things I want to mention related to this. The first being the fact that if this was K.G. or Josh Beckett or Randy Moss the day before Thanksgiving this would still be front page, on the local news every two-seconds type shit in Boston. But since it is the Bruins a lot of people don't even know this ever happened? Just bothers me, how about you? The second thing being something I know people may disagree with me on. But was that a semi slew-foot from Zidlicky there? Even if it was unintentional it was still a little dirty leading with his knee. Lucic was in a position where he couldn't defend himself and Zidlicky leads with his leg and then follows through with it? Just a questionable play in my books.

[Game Recap] Tuukkamania Continues To Run Wild...

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Game Twenty-Four (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (12-8-4) vs. Minnesota Wild (8-12-3)
November 25th, 2009 @ 8:00PM

(credit: AP Photos)

GAME BOX SCORE:

	1	2	3	OT	SO	F
Boston Bruins	1	0	0	0	1	2
Minnesota Wild	0	1	0	0	0	1

SHOOTOUT RECAP:

Boston	Patrice Bergeron	Goal
Minnesota	Mikko Koivu	Goal
Boston	Blake Wheeler	Save
Minnesota	Marek Zidlicky	Save
Boston	Marc Savard	Save
Minnesota	Eric Belanger	Save
Boston	David Krejci	Goal
Minnesota	Chuck Kobasew	Save

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• We are officially going streaking, Boston wins their fourth straight on the road against a worth Minnesota Wild team.
• Byron Bitz scored in the 1st period to give the Bruins an earlier lead in a game that they got out-shot 16-to-29.
• Bergy and Krejci both scored in the shootout to give the B's two points and complete a perfect four-game road trip.
• Boston is on its first four-game win streak since the start of the season and jumped to the top of the Northeast standings with this win.
• Tuukka Rask made 28-saves in another incredible performance topped off his shootout dominance.
• Milan Lucic left the game in the 3rd period after taking an awkward fall and twisting his ankle and knee. No word on Lucic's condition as he did not return to the game.
• Boston returns home on Friday for their annual post-Thanksgiving matinee which will be against the Devils this year.

GAME RECAP VIDEO:

Happy Thanksgiving

Last nights game recap will be coming later tonight since this morning wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to wake up and now its turkey time. So enjoy your day of gluttony and be happy to know the Bruins are officially streaking after winning their fourth in a row last night.

Are We Asking for Rask Tuu Early?

No one is arguing that the young netminder Tuukka Rask is a very good NHL goalie. He has shown so in net this season, posting a 6-2-1 record overall, going 5-1-0 in the last six games. Since last years’ Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas has gone on hiatus with a phantom “lower-body” injury, more and more fans have been asking for Tuukka Rask to step in as the starter. But are people jumping the gun on Rask?.

Giving credit where credit is due, Tuukka did an exceptional job in goal for the P-Bruins for the last couple seasons, including the 2007-08 season, when Providence led the league in points. Last season, Rask racked up 33 wins with a .915 SV% and a 2.50 GAA, culminating in an impressive playoff run, with 9 wins, and an even better 2.21 GAA and .930 SV%. However, Tuukka Rask does not hold the record for best GAA in a single season, or the record for best save percentage in a single season. Those actually belong to- you guessed it - Tim Thomas. How about Providence Bruins all-time leader in career shutouts? That would also be Timmy Thomas.

There is no argument that Rask is the goaltender of the future. It was made clear when the Bruins extended his contract through the 2011-12 season that Tuukka is the man for the B’s once Thomas inevitably steps down, whenever that may be. But to replace a Vezina trophy-winner, who has proven year after year, time after time again, from Boston to Finland, that he is the goaltender to beat, is a bit of a rash statement.

What is it about Thomas that people doubt him so much? In Finland during the 2004-05 season, he posted a league-leading .946 save percentage, with 15 shutouts. He was the first Bruins goaltender ever to win the 7th player award twice, two years in a row during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, eventually beating out Andrew Raycroft, Hannu Toivonen for the spot of number one netminder, in part due to injury. The Bruins brought in Fernandez, and Thomas beat him for the number-one spot, twice. He wins the Vezina Trophy at 35, and yet still people doubt his ability, just over twenty games into the season.

Given, according to the stats, Thomas and Rask are virtually the same goalie. While Thomas slights Rask in the save percentage category, Rask beats out Thomas in the goals against average. The only number Thomas really has over Rask is in the number of shutouts, but he has also had five more chances at doing so. However, Thomas (5-6-3) has less wins overall. Then again, let’s look at Thomas' losses this season.

Thomas hasn’t exactly had the best offensive support. In fact, in his losses, Thomas still manages to post a .907 SV%. And in those nine losses, the Bruins have scored a mere ten goals, half of which came in a 6-5 OT loss against the Penguins. In Tuukka's losses, he’s only put up a .863 SV%. And the Bruins have actually scored more goals-per-game with Tuukka (3.11) in net than with Thomas (2.14). It’s the equivalent of punishing Josh Beckett for a 1-0 loss because the Sox can’t score runs.

I’m not saying I don’t like Tuukka. I just don’t agree with the curtain call of Thomas many fans are asking for. Timmy has shown in the past he deserves this spot, despite upsetting hockey coaches all over the country with his “hybrid” fish-out-of-water goaltending style. And while Rask will get roughly 30 starts this season, Thomas will still likely get 30 wins. You can hold me to it at seasons end.

Hub Hockey Contributor
-Mike Leonard

Shawn Thornton Pride Motor Group Commercial

Thanks to the Pride Motor Group for making this great commercial and then again for letting us post it here for anyone who may have missed its premiere during Monday nights game on NESN. As a side note I would also like to give the Pride Motor Group some credit for actually recognizing the Bruins as a team in Boston and for using/trusting one of their players in a commercial for once (unlike other local businesses who roll out the same Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics players every time). I mean just look at that acting by Thorts... Oscar worthy if you ask me.

[Game Preview] Bruins @ Wild

Game Twenty-Four (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (11-8-4) vs. Minnesota Wild (8-12-2)
November 25th, 2009 @ 8:00PM

GAMEDAY HEADLINES:

• Boston will close out their four-game road trip tonight riding a three-game win streak as they face-off against the Minnesota Wild for the only time this season. The Wild have been struggling as of late going 1-2-2 in their last five-games.
• Minnesota Twins catcher and AL MVP Joe Mauer will drop the ceremonial puck before tonight's game.
• Good Luck Chuck: Former Bruin Chuck Kobasew will face his old team for the first time since being traded back on October 18th for Craig Weller, 2nd-round 2011 draft pick and the rights to Alexander Fallstrom. Kobasew has recorded 1-goal and 2-assists in eleven games since being traded. (Sheriff Shane Hnidy will also be on the ice tonight for the Wild).
• There is no word on who will start in net tonight for the B's, but my money is on Tuukka Rask getting his fifth straight start tonight since Thomas is still being listed as day-to-day. Rask has gone 3-1-0 and recorded a 2.21 GAA in his last four starts.
• Tuukka Time tonight but tomorrow will be Turkey Time. The game recap may be up late night tonight or tomorrow morning as I may be preoccupied post-game with good friends Bud and Weiser.

MATCHUP STAT BREAKDOWN:

Boston Bruins		Minnesota Wild
11-8-4	Record	8-12-2
26	Points	18
2.35	G/G	2.41
2.39	GA/G	3.00
53.6	Faceoff %	51.3
15.2	Power Play	18.3
84.5	Penalty Kill	82.4
0	+/-	-15

CREASE REPORT:

PLAYER	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%	SO
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	5	6	3	2.33	.918	3
Tuukka Rask	6	2	1	2.27	.919	1
Minnesota Wild
Niklas Backstrom	8	9	2	2.66	.909	0
Josh Harding	0	3	0	3.92	.849	0

INJURY REPORT:

PLAYER	POS	INJURY	STATUS
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	G	Hand	Probable
Minnesota Wild
Petr Sykora	RW	Concussion	Out
Pierre-Marc Bouchard	C	Concussion	Out
Brent Burns	D	Concussion	Out
Martin Havlat	RW	Lower Body	Questionable
Chuck Kobasew	RW	Upper Body	Probable

[Game Recap] Savvy Returns, Bergy Dishes & Rask Does It Again: B's Win 3rd-Straight Game

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Game Twenty-Three (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (11-8-4) vs. St. Louis Blues (8-9-4)
November 23rd, 2009 @ 8:00PM

(credit: AP Photos)

GAME BOX SCORE:

	1	2	3	F
Boston Bruins	1	2	1	4
St. Louis Blues	1	1	0	2

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• Boston puts together first 3-game win streak of the '09-'10 season in St Louis.
• Bergy (and his moustache) led Boston past the Blues with a 4-point night, assisting on each goal in the game.
• Tuukka Rask grabbed his third straight win in his fourth straight start stopping 29 of the 31 Blues shots.
• Mark Recchi & Blake Wheeler net powerplay goals on consecutive man advantage chances.
• Boston went 2-for-3 on the man advantage against the second most efficent penalty kill unit in the league.
• Milan Lucic scored for the second time since his returning from the IR three games ago. Looch also led the Bruins with 5-hits in the game, including a crushing hit within' the opening minutes of the game.
• St. Louis out-shot the Bruins 31-to-23, including a 16-to-6 effort in the first period.
• Marco Sturm brought out the "Sturmface" after putting the B's up 4-2 in the 3rd period with a shorthanded goal.
• Bitzy dropped the gloves in the 2nd against Barret Jackman.
• Boston goes 2-for-3 on the man advantage against the second most efficient penalty kill unit in the league.
• Some more special teams magic on the PK as Bruins shutdown the Blues on all 3 of their chances (including a shorthanded goal).
• Boston finishes up their four-game road trip on Wednesday in Minnesota against the Wild.

(Hub Hockey followers "Tweet of the Night")

GAME RECAP VIDEO:

On Your Marc: Savvy Returns Tonight

I know I am probably not breaking any news here, but is there a way to describe the excitement for the return of Marc Savard? Did anyone think he was this valuable a month ago? The last time I wrote, I swore I wouldn’t pass judgment on this team until I was sure I knew what they really had. Figuring it would take about 5-6 games to come to that conclusion; I put my opinions aside and just watched. As it turned out Savard broke his foot, Lucic his finger, and David Krecji got small pox (or whatever Asian Bird Flu/West Nile Virus/Pig Flu thing is turning the world into a panic this winter). I decided that until this team got healthy, we wouldn’t really have a grip on how good they were and therefore I pushed off all my conclusions until everyone got back into the lineup and the real 2009-2010 Bruins stood up. Well actually, all conclusions except one. Patrice Bergeron is not capable of being a bona-fide number 1, point per game, center on this team. And as long as there is a Savard or Joe Thornton on the team with a Krecji or Michael Nylander backing them up, this is fine.

Watching Bergeron out there over the past month made me realize that he is without a doubt one of the more unique, valuable players in the NHL. Coming out of the 2005 lockout, the Bruins lost a number of good players that helped them finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference. I really couldn’t have cared less about losing Mike Knuble and I understood to an extent not signing Sergei Gonchar and Nylander. However, what really opened my eyes and spun my head was Mike O’Connell allowing Brian Rolston to walk when they could have kept him for a little over $3 million per year. Why would you allow a guy like that, someone who can play anywhere, to leave town when you’re going into a season with new rules and there is a heavy demand for adaptable players? In one guy you lost a powerplay point man, top penalty killer and shutdown third line center who ended up with 34-goals and 79-points the following season for the defensive minded Minnesota Wild! WTF! Well then came the signing of Alexei Zhamnov (we should have known we were in trouble when the only one in the league who would talk up that move was his own agent) and we all know how the rest of that story played out. The point is, Bergeron is more in the mold of Rolston (albeit more of a passer than a scorer), point producing center in the NHL. Like I said, I don’t think I am breaking any news here but that became abundantly clear when Savard went down.

Tonight Bergeron is in his familiar spot as the 3rd line center with Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi riding shotgun. Keep an eye on those 3 playing more than usual especially late in the game and expect Patrice to be on the point for some power plays if he is not down low. He will obviously play in all penalty kill situations as long as he isn’t hurt (knock on wood) or in box. Also expect a lot of hitting out of this line on the top 6 Blues forwards and their defense specifically when St. Louis is trying to breakout.

All that said, now that Savard is back in, the pieces down the middle are in place. They are as healthy as they’re going to get with the exception that Tuukka Rask is net for the 4th consecutive game while Tim Thomas is still a little banged up (little conspiracy theory anyone?). No more excuses, its time to find out if this team is a contender or not.

Hub Hockey Contributor
-Mike O'Brien

[Game Preview] Bruins @ Blues

Game Twenty-Three (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (10-8-4) vs. St. Louis Blues (8-8-4)
November 23rd, 2009 @ 8:00PM

GAMEDAY HEADLINES:

• Boston enters tonight's game riding back-to-back wins for only the second time this season. This will be the Bruins only meeting of the season against the Blues, as Boston looks to go 3-0 entering the last game of their four-game road trip, which ends Wednesday in Minnesota.
• The biggest news of the night however is the return of Marc Savard whom has been out of action since breaking his foot back on October 17th. Savard had posted 7-points through seven-games before being inured and was involved in 4 of the B's 10 PP goals this season.
• Brad Marchand rejoined the Providence Bruins over the weekend, along with Trent Whitfield whom first had to clear waivers. This now leaves one "press box-player" spot left on the B's roster which will likely end in a toss up between Sobotka and Paille.
• The two worst overall powerplay units will meet tonight in a battle of mediocrity. Although tonight will be the first game in almost 2-months that we have seen the Bruins first powerplay unit of Savvy, Sturm, Ryder, Chara and Morris together.
• No word on who will be starting in the net for the Bruins but Tuukka Rask has been given the nod in the last three games posting a 2-1-0 record and a 2.27 GAA.
• The Blues have the 3rd most efficient penalty kill in the league (84.9%) while the Bruins are currently ranked 5th overall (84.0%).
• Here's to winning tonight's game in regulation....
• UPDATE (3:30PM): Tuukka Rask will get his fourth consecutive start tonight in net for the Bruins. Rask has posted a 4-1-0 record in his last five-games while maintaining a 1.77 GAA during that time. No word on if Thomas' absence is injury or performance related.

MATCHUP STAT BREAKDOWN:

Boston Bruins		St. Louis Blues
10-8-4	Record	8-8-4
24	Points	20
2.27	G/G	2.40
2.41	GA/G	2.40
53.2	Faceoff %	49.3
13.2	Power Play	12.7
84.0	Penalty Kill	84.9
0	+/-	3

CREASE REPORT:

PLAYER	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%	SO
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	5	6	3	2.33	.918	3
Tuukka Rask	5	2	1	2.31	.917	1
St. Louis Blues
Chris Mason	6	6	3	1.97	.926	0
Ty Conklin	2	2	1	2.24	.928	1

INJURY REPORT:

PLAYER	POS	INJURY	STATUS
Boston Bruins
Marc Savard	C	Broken Foot	Probable
St. Louis Blues
G.J. King	LW	Hand	Out

[Game Recap] "Evil" Bergeron Scores In OT: Bruins Drop Sabres 2-1

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Game Twenty-Two (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (10-8-4) vs. Buffalo Sabres (12-5-2)
November 20th, 2009 @ 7:30PM

(credit: AP Photos)

GAME BOX SCORE:

	1	2	3	OT	F
Boston Bruins	0	1	0	1	2
Buffalo Sabres	1	0	0	0	1

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• Boston has no late heroics this time around, get dropped 4-1 on their home ice.
• Looch is official back! In only his second game since returning from the IR, Lucic scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the 2nd period. Lucic also recorded 4-hits and was clearly back to his old ways.
• Tuukka Rask got his third straight start and his second straight win last night, stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced. Tuukka even recorded his first career assist on the Lucic goal.
• Boston special teams: 0-for-4 on the man advantage and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
• Michael Phelps aka Patrice Bergeron (honestly tell me he doesn't look like Phelps in the picture above) tiped-in a Zdeno Chara slapshot only :47-seconds into overtime to give the Bruins their second straight win. Bergy leads the Bruins in goals this season with 7.
• This was the second time all season that the Bruins have won back-to-back games and even though the disappointing start to the season has already lightened the bandwagon load, the B's are only 6-points out of first place in the Eastern Conference.
• Boston returns to action Monday when they take on the Blues in St. Louis.

GAME RECAP VIDEO:

[Game Preview] Bruins @ Sabres

Game Twenty-Two (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (9-8-4) vs. Buffalo Sabres (12-5-1)
November 20th, 2009 @ 7:00PM

GAMEDAY HEADLINES:

• This is the second of six meetings between the Bruins and Sabres this season. The first meeting ended in a 4-2 victory for the Bruins, however Sabres starting goaltender Ryan Miller was missing in action that game. If both Miller & Tim Thomas play tonight it will be our first look of the season at the possible number one and two goalies for the US Olympic team this year.
• Tim Thomas missed last nights game with an undisclosed minor injury that has been reported as being very very minor so we could see Timmy back in net tonight.
• Lucic recorded last night and recorded 2-shots and a hit in about 14-minutes of playing time.
• Even though Marc Savard joined the B's for their current road trip, don't expect to see his play until sometime next week as Boston will likely not risk re-injuring their star center.
• The Providence Bruins have signed former Bruin Dan LaCouture to a PTO (professional tryout agreement). LaCouture was with the P-Bruins and Bruins during from 2004 to 2006 and is a 13-year pro that has played in 702-professional games (NHL, AHL & International). In wake of this news forward Mark Derlago was released from his very own PTO.
• Join Bruins fans and the Ice Girls at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston for a game night viewing party's. Check out the Bruins website for more details.
• Finally I am going to make a bold guarantee that Matt Hunwick will score tonight (not really that "bold" but I just got a good feeling about this).

MATCHUP STAT BREAKDOWN:

Boston Bruins		Buffalo Sabres
9-8-4	Record	12-5-1
22	Points	25
2.29	G/G	2.67
2.48	GA/G	2.39
53.7	Faceoff %	51.3
13.9	Power Play	19.1
84.8	Penalty Kill	81.5
-2	+/-	0

CREASE REPORT:

PLAYER	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%	SO
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	5	6	3	2.33	.918	3
Tuukka Rask	4	2	1	2.49	.911	1
Buffalo Sabres
Ryan Miller	12	3	1	1.97	.931	2
Patrick Lalime	0	1	0	4.14	.854	0

INJURY REPORT:

PLAYER	POS	INJURY	STATUS
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	G	Undisclosed	Probable
Marc Savard	C	Broken Foot	Questionable
Buffalo Sabres
Mike Grier	RW	Groin	Questionable
Toni Lydman	D	Groin	Out

[Game Recap] Shootout Savior: Rask & Bruins Drop Atlanta In The Shootout

VS.

Game Twenty-One (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (9-8-4) vs. Atlanta Thrashers (10-6-2)
November 19th, 2009 @ 7:00PM

(credit: AP Photos)

GAME BOX SCORE:

	1	2	3	OT	SO	F
Boston Bruins	2	1		0	1	4
Atlanta Thrashers	0	2	1	0	0	3

SHOOTOUT RECAP:

Thrashers	Rich Peverley	Miss
Bruins	Patrice Bergeron	Goal
Thrashers	Vvacheslav Kozlov	Save
Bruins	Blake Wheeler	Miss
Panthers	Ilva Kovalchuk	Miss

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• Bruins lose lead late in the game again but find a way to win in the shootout.
• Boston struck first (twice) via a Marco Sturm and Michael Ryder goal to give the Bruins a 2-goal edge after the first.
• Ryder scored his 2nd goal of the game in the second period on the powerplay (Boston went 1-for-2 with the man advantage on the night).
• Shutdown! Boston stuffed Atlanta's top ranked PP unit on 4 of their 5 chances with the man advantage. Boston is currently ranked 3rd in the league on the penalty kill with a 84.8% efficiency rating.
• Tuukka Rask got the start over Thomas last night and made the best of it making 32-saves on the night, capping off his performance with 3-consecutive saves in the shootout.
• Boston out-shot Atlanta 42-to-35 last night.
• Dennis Wideman (along with Ryder) was the only Bruin to record 2-points in the game, both coming from assists.
• Milan Lucic made his return last night. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!
• Boston returns to action tonight in Buffalo to take on the Sabre's.

GAME RECAP VIDEO:

[Game Preview] Bruins @ Thrashers

Game Twenty-One (Live on NESN(HD) or 98.5FM The Sports Hub)
Boston Bruins (8-8-4) vs. Atlanta Thrashers (10-6-1)
November 19th, 2009 @ 7:00PM

GAMEDAY HEADLINES:

• This is the first of four meetings between the Bruins and Thrashers this season, which includes two games in late December. Boston currently is riding a 3-game losing streak while the Atlanta is moving in the opposite direction with the Eastern Conference's longest win streak (4-games). Last season the B's swept their four-game series against Atlanta.
• Even though Boston has the worst powerplay efficiency in the league, they have been heating up with the man advantage scoring 3 PP-goals in their last four-games.
• Marc Savard made the trip to Atlanta yesterday but is expected not to play, Milan Lucic was absent on the teams flight. However, according to the Globe, Milan Lucic is expected to join his team today and be available for tonight's game.
• Earlier this week it was reported by RDS that the Bruins and Marc Savard were close to signing a 7-year deal worth around $39-million. This would lock up Savvy until he is 39-years old and basically let him finish out his career as a Bruin. Remember these are just rumors and there has been no word from the Bruins or Savvy on any current talks between the two.
• Tim Thomas looks to get the start in net tonight. Timmy has gone 1-1-3 in his last five starts posting a 1.75 GAA in that span.
• A whole new season of the 'The Instigators' premiers tonight on NESN @ 6PM before the Bruins pre-game show.

MATCHUP STAT BREAKDOWN:

Boston Bruins		Atlanta Thrashers
8-8-4	Record	10-6-1
20	Points	21
2.25	G/G	3.65
2.45	GA/G	2.88
53.7	Faceoff %	51.7
12.9	Power Play	26.5
84.7	Penalty Kill	84.5
-2	+/-	6

CREASE REPORT:

PLAYER	W	L	OTL	GAA	SV%	SO
Boston Bruins
Tim Thomas	5	6	3	2.33	.918	3
Tuukka Rask	3	2	1	2.44	.911	1
Atlanta Thrashers
Ondrej Pavelec	6	5	1	2.90	.917	1
Johan Hedberg	4	1	0	2.63	.923	0

INJURY REPORT:

PLAYER	POS	INJURY	STATUS
Boston Bruins
Milan Lucic	LW	Broken Finger	Probable
Marc Savard	C	Broken Foot	Questionable
Atlanta Thrashers
Pavel Kubina	D	Lower Back	Questionable
Bryan Little	C	Groin	Questionable
Kari Lehtonen	G	Back	Out
Boris Valabik	D	Ankle	Out

Greatest Nut Shot Of All Time?

Lucic & Savvy Ready To Return?

Good news for Bruins fans getting ready to leap head first off the bandwagon, Marc Savard and Milan Lucic have been spotted at Ristuccia Arena and will be game-time decisions for tonight's nights game in Atlanta. Lucic has been out of action with a broken finger since October 16th when the B's faced-off against the Dallas Stars. Since then Lucic has been spotted mostly in the press box watching games until Tuesday when his much anticipated return became that much more of a reality when he was cleared for full-contact participation in practice.

Savard was not participating in full-contact practice like Lucic, but looks to be making leaps and bounds himself working out before practice Tuesday with strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides. Savvy has been missing from the Bruins lineup since he broke his left foot back in late October. Since then he has been pretty limited in his activities which have ranged between watching Bruins games and playing NHL 10 on Xbox according to recent interviews with him. But he has been seen sporting a new air cast which supports the claims of his possible return to the ice soon.

Surprisingly though Savvy was the only player of the two that made the trip to Atlanta yesterday. I expected Lucic could start as soon as tomorrow since his recovery seemed to coming along. But due to this news I don't expect Lucic or Savard to be back on the ice this week but have high hopes for Mondays game in St. Louis.