Boston Sports Then and Now

Boston Bruins forward #20 Daniel Paille celebrates his game two overtime winner

Thankfully everyone watching game two of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals didn’t have to stay up until 1am. Instead the Boston Bruins were able to win the game in overtime, sending the series back to Boston tied at one. There is plenty of praise to go around in this recap; not because the B’s won this game, but because they did so after being absolutely dominated during the first half of regulation.

There is really no way to say it without putting it bluntly. The Bruins were completely dominated in the first period of game two, and had it not been for the outstanding play of Tuukka Rask, they would be down in the finals 2-0. Rask would finish the game without letting in another goal despite a goal review that will remain in infamy for Chicago fans. The Hawks believed they scored, but the referee blew the whistle dead and the play was nullified. Aside from these blemishes though, Rask was flawless.

Rask stopped 18 of 19 shots in the first period of game 2 while the guys in front of him only managed 4 shots on goal themselves. The Chicago Blackhawks absolutely blitzed the Bruins in the opening periods of last night’s game, but as it went on Boston was able to slowly crawl their way back into the game.

Chris Kelly scored Boston’s first goal of the night following an excellent display of fore-checking from the newly assembled third line. I say newly assembled because Clade Julien dismantled and reassembled his bottom six following the Patrick Sharp goal. Julien took Kaspars Daugavins and Rich Peverley off of the third line, and placed them on the fourth line with Shawn Thornton. I have been a big fan of Peverley over the last two seasons, but he looks completely lost, and if you read my recap of game one you know exactly how I feel about Daugavins.

Kelly and Daniel Paille were moved up onto the third line with Seguin, and the team saw immediate results. This line was dominate tonight, and I think this was Kelly’s best game all season. He has received some criticism for not meeting the lefty expectations his breakout season prior established for him. Despite being snake bitten in the scoring department; Kelly does all of the little things right that a team can appreciate, and fans can miss completely. He kills penalties, blocks shots, and leads by example on and off the ice. He was also a +2 on the night.

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(GIF: GoldandorSmith)

The Bruins endured a tough loss to the Chicago in triple overtime in Game One of the Stanley Cup Final. Milan Lucic did have a great game however. He netted two goals and destroyed a Jagr.

Looch collided with Jaromir Jagr and destroyed the Jagr’s beautifully dyed playoff beard.

But the Jagr goes down like no one else, just ask the ladies.

Pot Of Baked Beans Goes To Puck Drunk Love!

The Chicago Blakchawks took game one, and it took three extra overtimes to do it

As I sit here writing this recap, you can probably assume that I exhausted after watching game one, and I would say that you were correct. In what was possibly one of the best Stanley Cup finals games ever (and longest), The Blackhawks took a one game lead over the Boston Bruins with a heartbreaking double deflection in triple overtime.

The game started out pretty well for the B’s; Lucic got the Bruins on the board midway through the first period created by an excellent play by David Krejci behind the net. Krejci shook off a Hjalmarsson check and fed Nathan Horton, who ten threaded it to Lucic, who then beat a sprawling Corey Crawford.

The second period started out favorably for the Bruins too. Milan Lucic scored again, this time from an excellent Krejci feed. Crawford got a piece of the shot, but it wasn’t enough. The Bruins were sitting pretty with a 2 goal lead with plenty of the second period to play. The Hawks’ Brandon Saad got his team on the board minutes later with his first of the postseason following a great pass from Marian Hossa. The puck beat Rask clean over glove side, and was also the result of a defensive breakdown from the Bruins.

The third period started out well enough for the B’s, they got a powerplay from a Michael Frolik trip on Zdeno Chara. The Blackhawks came into the series with the best penalty kill percentage in the NHL, so you can imagine my surprise when the Bruins capitalized on the man advantage taking a 3-1 lead.

Things were looking pretty swell for Boston following the surprising powerplay goal, and it seemed like they were content to choke the life out of the Hawks the rest of the way through. Unfortunately for the Bruins, the Hawks weren’t going to roll over and die. They fought the B’s hard all throughout the rest of the period, and were fortunate enough to get the game tied. Their second goal was a result of a Torey Krug (his worst game yet) turnover, which led to a counterattack that saw Dave Bolland pot his first of the playoffs. Andrew Shaw made quite the pass to set him up leaving Tuukka helpless.

Chicago’s third goal was a lucky bounce. Hawks’ defenseman Johnny Oduya fired a shot from the point that went off Andrew Ference’s skates and in. It was tough to see the Bruins blow a two goal lead like they did, but this game wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

This game would take three more overtimes to get it done. The First overtime, I thought, favored Boston. They controlled the pace of the game, and were even lucky enough to get the dreaded Too Many Men on the Ice penalty called on their opponents. The powerplay looked good, but they did not score. The Bruins also lost Nathan Horton during the powerplay as it seems like he aggravated an injury that he has been playing with.  Horton did not return.

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The Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks are set to play each other in 2013 Stanley Cup Final.

The Boston Bruins are back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three seasons. They are currently preparing to face an excellent Chicago Blackhawks team that has fought their way to their second finals appearance in four seasons. Both of these teams had to overcome significant adversity to get where they are right now. The Bruins were famously down by three goals in game 7 against Toronto before mounting one of the biggest playoff comebacks in NHL history. The Hawks were down by three games against the rival Detroit Red Wings before storming back to take the series.

The point here is that both of these teams have had to come together as a team to overcome the obstacles in their way to get back to the Finals. This Chicago team will not roll over like the Penguins and Rangers did. This team is going to battle Boston over every single inch of ice in what is sure to be the most excited Cup Finals in years.

Forwards:

The Bruins have gotten some ridiculously excellent play from their top line. Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton are all playing at the top of their game, and they are a big reason why the B’s are where they are right now. Krejci leads all NHL scorers in the postseason with 9 goals, 12 assists, and a +14 in 16 games. Nathan Horton has been elite so far this postseason, which is big for a guy who many believed to be gone at the end of the season. Now it seems like Horty will become a big priority for the Bruins after Tuukka Rask is signed. He has 7 goals, 10 assists, and a +21 in 16 games. Lucic may not be dominating the score sheet, but he is making a significant impact on the ice. He has a team leading 68 hits, 3 goals, 10 assists, and a +13 in 16 games.

The Patrice Bergeron has also gotten it going since the end of the Toronto series. Bergeron leads all NHL forward in the postseason with a .61 face-off percentage. He has also scored some incredibly clutch goals for Boston as seen in game 7 against the Leafs. He also scored a massive goal against the Penguins in double overtime of game 3. Bergy has 5 goals, 6 assists, and a +4 in 16 games. Brad Marchand has been solid this postseason, and it appears as if he has finally found that fine line between pest and contributor. He has 4 goals, 9 assists, and a +7. Jaromir Jagr was also big for the Bruins against the Pens as 3 of his 7 assists came in that series. He has no goals (not for a lack of trying), 7 assists, and a +1.

Losing Gregory Campbell will certainly hurt the Bruins, but it also provides an excellent opportunity for someone else to step up. Guys like Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly, and Tyler Seguin have all had massively disappointing postseasons. Hopefully one of them can step up and fill in the void Soupy has left.

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By The Numbers lives on. If you haven’t heard by now, the Bruins swept the Penguins Friday night to earn a second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in the last three years. Here’s a much closer look at the series as the Bruins’ season continues.

The best offense in the league scored just two goals in more than four full games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

0: Torey Krug has not been on the ice for a goal against in the playoffs.

0: Despite allowing one goal in Game 2, no Bruins finished with less than an even rating.

0: The Penguins never trailed after the second period in the first two rounds. They trailed after two in both Games 1 and 2.

0: No one besides a Pittsburgh center won a faceoff for them in Game 4 (0-for-4).

0: The Penguins never led in any of the four games in the series.

0: Since the NHL expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967, no home team down 2-0 in a series has come back to win it.

0.44: Tuukka Rask put up a 0.44 goals against average in the Conference Finals.

1: Sidney Crosby has been minus-2 with zero points just one time this season. It was in Game 1.

1: Rask registered the first shutout of his playoff career with his 3-0 victory in Game 1. He added his second in Game 4.

1: The Bruins scored on their first shot of the night in two consecutive games – Games 2 and 3.

1: The Eastern Conference Finals is the first time the Penguins have trailed in a series this postseason.

1: Milan Lucic played his first career game on his birthday Friday night and celebrated with a sweep.

1: Andrew Ference recorded his first point of the postseason in his first game back in Game 1 against the Penguins with an assist on David Krejci’s first goal of the game.

2: The Bruins won twice as many faceoffs as the Penguins in Game 1 (32-16).

2: Before Game 1, the Penguins had not been shut out at home in over two years – since April 27, 2011.

2: Pittsburgh has been involved in both double-overtime games this postseason and are 0-2 in them.

2: Each of the last two times the Bruins have clinched a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, the score sheet of the clinching game of the Conference Finals has looked the same: 0 0 1.

2: The two goals the Bruins allowed in the Conference Finals were tied for the second-fewest in a playoff series in NHL history.

2: Before the Bruins won the first two games on the road, only the Sharks, in the first round against the Canucks, had also done that this postseason.

2: Adam McQuaid’s goal in Game 4 was his second of the postseason, doubling his regular-season total of one.

2: The Bruins have now been up by two games at some point in each of their three playoff series so far this postseason.

2: Pittsburgh lost two straight home games for the first time since their first two of the season on Jan. 23 and 29.

2: Kaspars Daugavins and Chris Kelly are the only Bruins yet to record a playoff point.

2: The Bruins have won two 1-0 games in the last three years to advance to the Stanley Cup. Before that, the last team to win a game 1-0 to clinch a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals was the 1950 Red Wings.

2: With Gregory Campbell now out for the remainder of the playoffs, the only two Bruins to have played in every regular and postseason game are Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin. Campbell and Andrew Ference played in every regular-season games before each missing time in the playoffs.

2: Patrice Bergeron’s fight against Evgeni Malkin in Game 2 was the second of his postseason career and first since April 18, 2009 in the 5-1 Game 2 win over the Canadiens in the opening round. He fought Josh Gorges that night and the B’s went on to sweep that series as well.

3: Of Pittsburgh’s 54 shots on goal in Game 3, Crosby had just three of them, including only one in regulation.

3: Pittsburgh had not lost three straight games all season.

3: Nathan Horton figured in all three goals in Game 1 with a goal and two assists.

3: At one point in the first period of Game 2, the Bruins scored on three consecutive shots, resulting in Tomas Vokoun being pulled.

3: Crosby was held without a single point in the first three games of the series. It is the first time he has gone pointless in three straight games since November 2009. Malkin was held pointless in three straight for the first time since December 2010. Crosby had never gone four straight games without a point in his career. But now he has.

3: Ference was plus-3 in Game 2 without recording a point. Bergeron, Horton and Jaromir Jagr were also plus-3, but combined for six points.

3:56: Shawn Thornton played just 3:56 out of 95:19 in Game 3.

4: Brad Marchand was plus-4 in Game 2 – the highest rating for him since Dec. 23, 2011 when he had a hat trick and two assists as he finished plus-5.

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Pens goon Matt Cooke got an earful from Bruins fans in the penalty box in Game Three.

And it was glorious.

No one deserves taunting and ball busting more than this “Re-Born” tool bag.  Every Bruins fan must of got out of their seats and off their couches when Looch threw that puke around in the corner. Of course, Cooke went in to the fetal position praying Looch did not rearrange his face.

Well done Mr. Lucic well done.

Pot Of Baked Beans Goes To The Nose Bleeds!