Boston Sports Then and Now

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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Toronto Maple Leafs forward #81 Phil Kessel celebrates his 2nd period goal with his teammates

It was only a matter of time before Phil Kessel scored in regulation against his former club, and boy did he pick a great time to do it. His goal is a perfect testament to the way the Bruins played last with their sloppy defense which allowed multiple 2-1′s. Kessel was able to sneak away from five B’s forwards who were too deep in the offensive zone as Tuukka Rask was helpless when the Toronto forward came down on him. The goal would ultimately prove to be the game winner, and Phil Kessel’s first even strength goal against his former club in every game he has played against Boston since becoming a Leaf.

The Bruins’ effort last night was a far cry from the dominant effort in game one. Players were sloppy with the puck and turned it over constantly. In fact, it looked as if the shoe was on the other foot, because Toronto encountered the same problems all throughout game one.

Various Bruins came away with minus efforts including Dennis Seidenberg with a -3, which is probably his worst game in a Boston sweater. Jaromir Jagr has yet to contribute offensively in the series and was a -2 on the night. Also in the negative with a -1 was Wade Redden after such an excellent performance in game one, Gregory Campbell, Johnny Boychuk, Dan Paille, and Chris Kelly.

Tuukka Rask’s game two was a bit of a roller coaster ride. He at times looked outstanding as he stopped flurry of shots from the Leafs in the second period in a desperate situation, but then he allowed himself to get beat five-hole on a Phil Kessel breakaway. A breakaway is always the defense’s fault, but in the playoffs you need your goaltender to make timely saves. Kessel’s goal gave the Leafs a 3-1 lead at the time and eventually became the game winner. A goaltender’s game is often determined by the men in front of him, but tonight Rask could have been better. He allowed 3 goals on 28 shots for a save percentage of .875, and a goals against average of 3.00.

Rich Peverley was in the lineup for game two after being a healthy scratch in game one. It looked as if he was trying to do too much as he would constantly make short passes to both of his linemates Kelly and Jagr, in situations where they wouldn’t be able to properly handle them. Dougie Hamilton also got his first taste of playoff action with Andrew Ference serving a one game suspension, and was obviously a little shaky. He got himself caught in the offensive zone more than once do to ill advised pinching. It is hard to be to down on him as he has barely played in weeks, and the NHL playoffs always give rookies the jitters.

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Boston Bruins center #37 has been the team’s MVP this season

The Boston Bruins regular season has ended, and in many cases it has left the fan-base with a sense of disappointment. These Bruins didn’t really play up to expectations throughout most of the season and they lost the Northeast Division to a rival Montreal Canadiens because they lost 7 of their last 9 games. We have come to expect more from a Bruins club that is only two years removed from a magical Stanley Cup run. This was the first “Post Thomas Era” season for the Bruins and their was plenty to get excited about. There was also some areas for concern too. Here are my grades for the 2012-13 Boston Bruins regular season.

One thing to note before I proceed, I am only doing players that were with the B’s to start the season and played the majority of the year. So no Jagr, Redden, Soderberg, Bourque, Spooner, Johnson, Caron, Bartkowsky, and Daugavins to be graded here.

Centers:

Patrice Bergeron: The NHL’s face-off champion was nothing short of spectacular this season. If there was ever a question as to who the best player is on the Boston Bruins; you can put it to rest. Bergeron is the B’s MVP. He contributes in every single area of the game, and does so while staying within the team’s top 5 scorers. There isn’t really much more that can be said about him, everyone in Boston knows what he brings to the table every night. He put together another great season, and I expect him to have another Selke award to his credit at season’s end. Bergeron had 10 goals, 22 assists, and a team leading +24 in 42 games. If this were a full season he would’ve been on pace for 18 goals, 40 assists, and a +43. Wow indeed. Grade: A+

David Krejci: Krejci is probably one of the most underrated Bruins. You could argue with me regarding the accuracy of that statement, but he has consistently produced for the team over the last three years. It is humorous to say he has been consistent for the Bruins as his scoring is streaky at best, but when Mr. Krejci is on, there are few players that can control the puck like he can. His ability to slow down the play and leave the opposing defense at his mercy is such a rare gift. It is too bad he played with the two biggest disappointments on the Bruins this year because he deserved better. Krejci scored 10 goals, 23 assists, and a +1 in 47 games. If it were a full season he would have been on pace for 17 goals, 39 assists, and a +2. Grade: B+

Chris Kelly: One of the biggest disappointments of the 2012-13 season had to of been Chris Kelly. Coming off a season where scored 20 goals, 19 assists, and a +33, Kelly came into the 2012-13 season with some pretty lofty expectations. Unfortunately he failed to meet just about every one of them. He was unable to match the previous seasons scoring numbers or even come close for that matter. An injury to his tibia given to him by Ottawa’s Chris Neil certainly didn’t help him get it together, but upon his return he became more like his old self. Kelly scored 3 goals, 6 assists, and a -8 in 34 games. If it were a full season he would have been on pace for 6 goals, 12 assists, and a -16. If I were grading him based on his offensive performance it would have been a C-, but given the fact that he is still one of the B’s pest two way forwards and penalty killers, and played like a champ down the stretch he gets… Grade: C+

Gregory Campbell: Ah Soupy, you consistent man you. Campbell had a pretty quiet season, but when your in a 4th line grinding role a quiet season isn’t too bad. He was also played all over the lineup this season as it seemed at times Claude Julien was willing to try anything to get a spark out of his guys. Campbell is a reliable bottom six who can be plugged into any forward role and have marginal success. Soupy was also one of four Boston Bruins to play in every game this season. He had a pretty solid showing in the scoring department with 4 goals, 9 assists, and +2. If it were a full season he would’ve been on pace for 6 goals, 15 assists, and a+3. Grade: B

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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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How many games has Gregory Campbell gone since his last multi-goal night? When was the last time he scored points in three straight games? When is the last time the Bruins lost a game when he scored? (Hint: it’s been a while). Hope you like soup because there is a lot of it featured in this second-to-last regular-season installment of Boston Bruins: Last Two Weeks By The Numbers. Sorry, all the stats aren’t as impressive as Campbell’s.

More soup?

0: The team registered zero shots on goal on their game-ending six-on-four power play on April 6 against the Canadiens. Had a lot of good passes though.

0: Zdeno Chara logged no short-handed time on ice on March 30 against Philadelphia with two of the team’s three penalties on the day called against the big man.

0: The Bruins did not register a single shot on goal during their five-minute man advantage against the Devils on Wednesday.

0: Anton Khudobin has yet to be involved in a shootout this year.

0: Jay Pandolfo has zero points in 18 games played.

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The Boston Bruins led by Shawn Thornton participated in the 6th Annual “Cuts For A Cause” to raise money for the Tufts Floating Hospital for Children. And raise money they did, to the tune of $76k. The previous five events amassed $200k.

Fred Toucher and John Wallach of 98.5 The Sports Hubs emceed the festivities as 18 Bruins players including Zdeno Chara, Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Dougie Hamilton & Brad Marchand got buzz cuts as the winning bidders worked the shears.  The highlight of the day was Bruins defenseman Adam “Darth Quaider” McQuaid getting his hair literally mowed.

No magnificent mullet this year.

There was also a raffle held for cool prizes such as the players autographed smocks and a signed Shawn Thornton jersey. For the Bruins fans that braved the downpours in line, it was a fun-filled day for all.

Because at the end of the day, it’s all about the kids.

To see more picture from the event check out the Big Bad Bruins photo album on Facebook.