Boston Sports Then and Now

Matt Bartkowski played in Games 5 and 7 in the first round of the playoffs against Toronto.

As we all know, the Bruins skated past the Maple Leafs by the hair on their chins with an unbelievable comeback win on Monday night. What may not have been quite as obvious or even quite as important at the time was how they were able to get it done. Obviously, they needed to be able to score two goals in less than two minutes, but there was a reason they were within striking distance – if you want to call it that.

Through six games, the B’ had been 3-0 with both Andrew Ference and Wade Redden in the lineup and were 0-3 without both of them in there. In Game 7, however, neither veteran was on the ice and it came down to two rookies – Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton – playing well enough to get the win. Bartkowski even chipped in with his first career NHL goal in the first period and with Dennis Seidenberg leaving the game very early on, they each played big minutes and logged a lot of ice time.

By no stretch of the imagination were either of these players amazing, but they did enough to help the team win. They combined for just three hits and one blocked shot as well as five shots on goal, but they minimized their mistakes. For Hamilton, especially, he was much better than he was in Game 2 and even late in the regular season, though he was on the ice for the second Toronto goal in Game 7. In Bartkowski’s case, he took advantage of his ice time from Game 5 nearly tripling to make an impact on the game both offensively and defensively.

With returns from Seidenberg, Ference and Redden not looking too likely before the Eastern Conference Semifinals begin Thursday, these two will obviously be counted on for a lot of mistake-free minutes again. Not that it matters, but on the final two Toronto goals in Game 7, mistakes were made by Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid and Zdeno Chara – none of whom are rookies. Boychuk couldn’t seal of Phil Kessel for the rebound on the third goal and after Chara pinched up to allow a Leafs two-on-one, McQuaid was unable to get to Nazem Kadri quick enough to prevent him from putting home the rebound.

So, looking forward to the next series, a lot of the Bruins’ success will weigh on how well Hamilton and Bartkowski will be able to play. As I have said, they did all right in Game 7 when the team had just five defensemen left on the bench. Now, they have had two days to practice with Torey Krug, who is likely to go in Game 1 tonight, as well. This means new partners for almost everyone except Hamilton, who is fairly used to playing with Chara.

The key against the Rangers will be how well the makeshift defense of the Bruins stacks up against some of the tougher forwards in the league from New York. It’s not just Rick Nash, who was not even close to their most productive forward in the first round, but New York has more than a few forwards who can make plays and score goals. Sure, Chara may be on the ice for most of Nash’s shifts, and as we saw in Game 1 of the Kings-Sharks series, that can be effective, but there are other ways this team can beat you. The young defenders will have to step up since Chara cannot play 60 minutes a night.

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Just because the regular season is over, it does not mean that the Bruins have stopped producing interesting stats. They are just doing it all against the same team. Technically, the regular season did end less than two weeks ago, so this is officially the last regular-season edition of By The Numbers, but hopefully not the last postseason one. Find out how many Bruins’ defensemen have had four-assist games, all the important postseason information about the team and learn who had better or worse seasons in 2013. And, of course, a whole lot on that guy who wears No. 46 in Black and Gold. This is Boston Bruins: Last Two Weeks By The Numbers. 

The 2013 season by the numbers.

0: Milan Lucic finished the season with no power-play goals for just the second time in six NHL seasons (2009-10).

0: Somehow, despite having four assists in Game 4 of the first-round series against Toronto, Zdeno Chara finished the night with only an even rating to show for it.

1: The Maple Leafs scored their first goal of Game 4 on their first shot on goal just 2:35 in.

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April 28:

On April 28, 1947, winger, Grant Erickson, was born in Pierceland, Saskatchewan. He played just six NHL games over two seasons and two of them came with the Bruins in 1968-69. He managed to score one goal in his limited time in Boston.

As the Bruins‘ season comes to a close (a day after most NHL teams), it is time once again to break down their last two weeks. As usual, it is my hope that you read this and think ‘wow, who notices that?’ So, here we go: for the final time in the 2013 regular season: Boston Bruins: last two weeks by the numbers.

Andrew Ference hadn’t fought anyone in a really long time.

1: One broken stanchion as a result of a punishing Andrew Ference hit against the Pens on April 20.

1: Only once this year has the same goalie started on back-to-back days for the Bruins. It happened on April 20 and 21 as Tuukka Rask got the nod against the Penguins and then the Panthers, going 1-1.

1: Carl Soderberg picked up his first NHL point in his second game as he assisted on Jaromir Jagr’s goal in the Bruins’ win over the Panthers last Sunday.

1: Ference registered his first fighting major of the year Thursday as he dropped the gloves with former teammate, Benoit Pouliot, of Tampa Bay. Ference’s last fight was on April 3, 2012.

1: Before April 13, the team had only surrendered two power-play goals in the same game once. They then went on to do it in three straight.

1: Chris Kelly recorded his first multi-point game of the season on April 17 as he logged a goal and an assist. It was his first two-point game since March 25, 2012 against the Ducks.

1: The Penguins are the only team that the Bruins did not beat this year, as they went 0-3 against them.

1: For the first time this year, the Bruins won a game in which Dougie Hamilton scored a goal. They had been 0-4 before finally pulling one out for him last Sunday against the Panthers.

1: Anton Khudobin played in the first shootout of his NHL career in the loss to Buffalo on April 17.

1: The Bruins have only scored one power-play goal in the last two weeks. It came on April 20 against Pittsburgh.

1: At 16-4-3, the Bruins have the best home record in the Eastern Conference.

1:40: Scott Hartnell scored his eighth goal of the season just 1:40 into the April 23 game against the Flyers.

1.94: Rask’s goals against average is good for third in the league.

2: The only two NHL teams to play a game on Sunday, April 28 will be the Bruins and the Senators.

2: Zdeno Chara has two game-winning goals this year after none last season.

2: The Bruins killed their first penalty in a long time as the No. 2-ranked penalty kill unit in the league on Sunday against Florida.

2: Khudobin was pulled for the second time this season after giving up two goals in seven seconds Tuesday against the Flyers.

Anton Khudobin has been scuffling a bit lately.

2: Wade Redden hadn’t played an NHL game in two years before returning to the league in January.

2.15: Boston’s 2.15 goals against per game average is the third-best in the league.

2.67: Their 2.67 goals per game are 13^th in the league.

3: The Bruins registered three first-period fights on April 13 against Carolina. Chara, Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell all dropped the gloves in the frame.

3: Tyler Seguin scored his 15^th goal of the season in the game to extend his goal-scoring streak to three straight games. It was No. 19’s longest such streak of the year, but just the second-longest streak of his career as he scored seven goals in four games from Nov. 5-12 of last season.

3: The Bruins have swept the season series from three teams: the Devils, Panthers and Lightning – none of which are in the playoffs. They have a chance to sweep the season series with Ottawa, who is in the playoffs, on Sunday night.

3: The team has had an almost unheard of three postponed games this season.

3:14: The Bruins fell behind 1:40 into their game against the Flyers on Tuesday, but trailed for just 3:14 before Redden tied it up.

4: With an assist on Brad Marchand’s goal against the Penguins on April 20, Rask now has four in his NHL career. The previous three all came in the 2009-10 season.

4: Pouliot’s fight with Ference was just the fourth of his NHL career. He did not have any in the year he spent with the B’s in 2012.

4: Four members of the Bruins have played in all 46 games this season: Seguin, Chara, Campbell and Ference. Rich Peverley and David Krejci have each played in 45.

4: They also had four shots on goal in the entire first period of a recent game.

4: The Bruins lost four straight games from April 11-20. Their previous high this season had been two defeats in a row.

5: It had been five years since Milan Lucic missed a game as a healthy scratch. Before the April 20 game against the Penguins, the last time that happened was his rookie season.

5: Krejci’s five game-winning goals are one away from his career-high set in 2008-09.

5: Rask has five shutouts in 27 starts this season. That equals the amount he had as the team’s starter in 2009-10 when, of course, they played 82 games and is also tied for the league lead.

5: Marchand has a career-high five game-winning goals this season.

5: Seguin has five more assists this season (16) than he had in his entire rookie season when he played in 28 more games.

6: Six Bruins have scored 10 or more goals this season: Marchand, Seguin, Krejci, Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille.

6: Krejci has no power-play goals for the first time since his rookie year six years ago.

6: Nearly six years after becoming Bruins’ property, Soderberg made his debut with the team on April 20 in the loss to the Penguins.

6: The Bruins had six healthy scratches in their game against Buffalo on April 17. All six to miss the game were not injured and included Soderberg, Kaspars Daugavins, Matt Bartkowski, Aaron Johnson, Adam McQuaid and Jay Pandolfo in the team’s first game since the marathon.

6: Joe Corvo has the same number of goals this season as Lucic.

6: Campbell has missed just six games as a member of the Bruins.

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Bruins players tap the phrase that has united the city in the last week.

Sometimes history takes decades and decades to create and sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye or in a 12-second span. The tragic and unfortunate events that hit Boston last week will undoubtedly be forever etched into the history of the city, but they won’t be remembered as its darkest times. Instead, the people of Boston and the world will remember the completely selfless actions of strangers running into danger as well as the unrelenting work done by our law enforcement agencies. Let’s now jump forward to this week in Bruins history, which features a record-setting achievement for one of the best ever, an interesting comment from a rival GM, a pair of overtime thrillers to stun the Canadiens and coach’s birthday. This is This Week In Boston Bruins History: April 21-27. 

Fans at TD Garden this past week.

April 21:

On April 21, 1970, the Bruins beat the Black Hawks, 4-1, in Game 2 of the NHL Semi Finals. This was their third of 10 straight wins and they went on to win the Cup.

On April 21, 1974, they beat Chicago with an 8-6 victory in Game 2 of the semis to tie things up at a game apiece. The B’s would go on to win the series in six, but would lose to the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals.

On April 21, 1991, Ray Bourque picked up two assists in the team’s 3-2 win over the Canadiens. With the two helpers, Bourque passed Phil Esposito as the franchise’s new all-time leader in postseason assists with 103.

On April 21, 2010, the Bruins beat the Sabres, 3-2, in double overtime in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. Former Sabre, Miroslav Satan, scored the game-winner on the power play 7:41 into the second overtime.

On April 21, 2011, Michael Ryder won Game 4 of the Bruins’ first-round series against the Habs with a goal at 1:59 of overtime. Ryder had three points on the night and helped the Bruins come back from 3-1 down in the second period. The goal tied the series at two and of course, the Bruins would go on to win it in seven.

April 22:

On April 22, 1979, the Bruins swept the Penguins with a 4-1 win in Game 4 of their first-round series. They had finished the season 43-23-14, but were eliminated by an overtime goal in Game 7 against Montreal in the next round.

On April 22, 1980, Boston was eliminated in Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs with a 4-2 loss to the Islanders. It was the final game for coach Harry Sinden and he finished his coaching career with a record of 153-116-58.

On April 22, 1999, the Bruins opened the playoffs with a 2-0 win over the Hurricanes as Ken Belanger and Rob Dimaio scored goals. Byron Dafoe posted the shutout and the B’s would win the series in six after falling behind, 2-1, but they lost to the Sabres in the next round.

On April 22, 2009, the Bruins completed a four-game sweep of the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs with a 4-1 win in Game 4. Ryder had two goals and an assist for Boston.

On April 22, 2012, Tyler Seguin scored the game-winning goal 3:17 into overtime to force Game 7 of Boston’s first-round playoff series against the Capitals. It was Seguin’s first goal of the playoffs and it came from Milan Lucic and David Krejci. Five Bruins had multi-point afternoons in this one, including Seguin, Lucic, Krejci, Andrew Ference and Rich Peverley.

Tyler Seguin forced Game 7 with this goal.

April 23: 

On April 23, 1960, Claude Julien was born in Blind River, Ontario. In six seasons as head coach of the Bruins, Julien has won 254 games, which is good for the second-most in team history and, of course, he led his team to a Stanley Cup championship. As an NHL coach, Julien’s teams have gotten points in 60 percent of his games, which is the 17th-best all-time among coaches.

On April 23, 1982, the Bruins beat the Nordiques, 6-5, in overtime of Game 6 of their second-round series with their first win since Game 2. They would drop Game 7, however.

On April 23, 1989, Cam Neely and Michael Thelven combined to score the fastest pair of goals in Boston playoff history as they lit the lamp just seven seconds apart in the second period of their 3-2 win over Montreal in Game 4 – their only win of their second-round playoff series.

On April 23, 1995, they won their fourth straight game, 5-4, against the Rangers to improve to 23-16-3 on the season. Neely had a hat trick in the game, but this team failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

On April 23, 2011, Nathan Horton scored at 9:03 of the second overtime as the Bruins beat the Canadiens, 5-4, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. It was the 12th-longest game ever played in Bruins’ history and it prompted Montreal’s Max Pacioretty to tweet that “this game was longer than Marchand’s nose.”

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You know what makes Mondays better? A little bit of Bruins history. It’s fun, it’s counterproductive and I bet you will learn a thing or eight about the team you root for on the ice. As April moves on, historic Bruins’ teams are fighting through the playoff grind while others are just beginning their championship push. This week’s product includes a couple pairs of teammates who were born on the same day, a Stanley Cup victory, the final games for a handful of coaches, the final game for one of the best defensemen in franchise history and of course more than one playoff loss to the Canadiens. This is This Week In Boston Bruins History: April 14-20. 

The boys who won it all in 1939.

April 14:

On April 14, 1974, the Bruins swept the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 4. They would go on to lose to the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals, however, after a 52-win regular season.

On April 14, 1980, the B’s clinched their first-round series against the Penguins with a 6-2 win in Game 5. They scored a total of 14 goals in the final two games of the series and advanced on to play the Islanders, but would lose in five to the eventual champs.

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