Bruins Mix and Match Way to a Win

Welcome to the Show Brad Marchand!

Kind of an old school win for the Bruins tonight, grinding their way to a 3-2 win over Nashville. Old school in the sense that the B’s didn’t try to fancy their way around their opponents. Rather, they bore down in the face of adversity and came up with a group effort reminiscent of the early stages of last season.

As disheartening as it is that a win over the lowly Predators is a “huge win” it is just as promising that the guys in the Bruins’ locker room realized the importance of this contest and came away with the two points. Let’s remember the factors working against the Bruins heading into tonight’s game:

1.)    Leading scorer Marc Savard was placed on the Long Term Injured Reserve List with a broken left foot. He will be out for about 4-6 weeks while he recovers. Apparently he broke the bone in the preseason and still was Boston’s best player over the first seven games of the year. Pretty impressive.

2.)    Freight train on skates Milan Lucic had a screw inserted in a finger on his right hand, also landing on IR. He too is slated to miss about a month. He has arguably his best game of the year in Dallas last week – the game in which he broke the digit – and is relegated to the press box until December.

3.)    The team traded away a 20-goal scorer in Chuck Kobasew on Sunday. While he wasn’t the second coming of Cam Neely, Chucky was a competent player and was well-liked in the room.

4.)    The team added Daniel Paille from Buffalo in exchange for a few draft picks. He is a former first round choice of the Sabres and had fallen out of favor up in Buffalo. Adding a new face from outside the organization can be a tricky situation at times.

5.)    Two players, Vladimir Sobotka and Brad Marchand were called up from Providence. Would they fit in seamlessly or would they be out of place?

6.)    Shawn Thornton was out with injury. He had been one of Boston’s best overall players so far, thumping in corners, scoring a goal and playing the fourth-line role perfectly. He is the heart and soul of the team, how would the players react without him?

Those were just the tangible issues facing Claude Julien’s team tonight. Never mind the mental games going on in Tim Thomas’ head as he struggles early in the season or how players such as David Krejci or Blake Wheeler would react due to their own struggles. Management has shown they are willing to make a deal to change the mindset of the team and that a valuable component can be moved if needed. Theoretically, the Bruins’ locker room should have been a bit toasty tonight with all the fires lit under their asses.

Imagine the panic and frustration around the Hub of Hockey after the first period when the B’s trailed the Predators – they of the five-game losing streak coming into the game – by a score of 1-0. It is safe to say Claude also felt some frustration and unloaded on the team in the intermission. Before the fans could even get back from the restroom or beer line, Michael Ryder had tied the game with a nice goal 26 seconds into the second period. Marchand started the scoring play with a nice chip of the puck at the blue line through a defender onto Ryder’s stick. The sniper went cookie jar on Dan Ellis, finding the top shelf to even the game.

Five minutes later, ex BU standout Colin Wilson scored his first NHL goal, picking up some garbage in front of the Bruins’ net. After a 3-on-2, Wilson was left open as the B’s were a bit slow to backcheck. He took a swipe at a puck that trickled over Thomas and the Preds had the lead again, 2-1.

Bergeron tied the game again six minutes later with a hard-working goal in the slot. A good shift from his line resulted in a shot from Zdeno Chara. Bergeron took a few whacks at the rebound and found the back of the net for the third time this year.

In the third period, the Bruins finally claimed the lead with a Steve Begin goal. Begin was finally rewarded for his effort all season, taking a wraparound pass from new linemate Paille and going top shelf on Ellis for a 3-2 Bruins advantage.

The final 12 minutes of the game saw the B’s generate a few chances, but focus mainly on clamping down on defense to protect the lead. Timmy Thomas came through many times, with notable stops on Steve Sullivan and Patric Hornqvist to end the game. The Preds battled to the end, working with the goalie pulled, but the Bruins were there to reject any advances before they lit the lamp.

A very big confidence booster for this melting pot of a team heading into tomorrow’s big battle with Winter Classic opponent Philadelphia. The Bruins will need more of the same against a very good Flyers team in a hostile Wachovia Center.

Big, Bad Bruins
1.) Can’t say enough about the play of Patrice Bergeron tonight. He scored a big goal, played solid defense as always and won 65% of his faceoffs. He did a good job on the PK and was the best player on the ice. With Savvy out until December, this is Bergeron’s offense now and he needs to be a go-to guy.
2.) On a night where the four forward lines were all in their first games together, it was hard to find one that really looked that way. That shows the versatility of the team and the professionalism of the players. Excuses would have been plentiful if the Bruins looked lost tonight, but they rallied around each other and moved past any of that to move forward.
3.) Hard to say any of the new players looked out of place. If I had to grade them; Marchand – A, Paille, B+, Whitfield – B, Sobotka – B. Marchand had reason to be the most nervous, playing in his first NHL game, but picked up an assist, worked well with two veteran players and got under the skin of a few Predators along the way. Paille won’t be asked to do too much with the Bruins – mainly defense and penalty killing. Lowering expectations on him may be a good thing. It will allow him to focus on his role and not live up to a first-round pedigree. Sobotka was the last player sent down in training camp and is one an interesting line with Whitfield and Wheeler. Hard to gauge how they will interact as a group, but look for Sobotka to go hard on the forecheck and backcheck in what appears to be a grinder’s role. Whitfield, a veteran player, did what old guys know is the best way to get NHL ice time – he went unnoticed. He won more draws than he lost and played his position. He is probably a short-term plug while Thornton heals up and it is always nice to have experience, especially in trying times like these.

Blah, Blah Bruins
Not a lot to find fault with tonight. Expectations have been tempered for this team by sane observers based on the injury hand dealt. While Chara and Derek Morris each picked up assists, there is still a need for a bit more offensive production from the blueline. The backend has only come through with four goals. The loss of Dennis Wideman didn’t help matters, but he is back and after hopefully when he has his legs back his offense returns as well. Also, while Tim Thomas made some very good saves to hold the fort late, he still allowed a softie for the second goal. He needs to corral that puck and limit second and third chances – especially when his team is expected to take a step back in terms of their own scoring. That is just nitpicking, though.

A Quick Look Ahead …
Not a lot of time to rest for the B’s as they take on Philly tomorrow in the City of Brotherly Love. The Bruins played a tough game tonight while the Flyers have been off for five nights. Will it be a fresh team overpowering a tired one? Or will the B’s be in game shape while the Fly Guys are rusty? In a matchup of what many felt were two of the top-four teams in the East, this may not be an accurate barometer. The Flyers like to fire pucks on net at will with the likes of Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and even IR-constant Danny Briere leading the way. Their defense jumps in the play frequently as three of the top five scorers in burnt orange are defensemen. The Flyers have struggled after opening the season with three wins. Two regulation losses and a shootout defeat in the last three games have erased some of the glow coming off the Flyers after the first week. Knowing the way the Flyers like to play, I wouldn’t be shocked if they try and up the intimidation factor in the early going. With the Phillies nine outs away from a trip back to the World Series as this is being composed, times are good in Philly and the Flyers want to keep pace. Given the current state of the Bruins’ lineup, it may be in their best interest to play pacifist and see if they can net a few power play goals early.

The Massachusetts Lottery Presents: Thanks Phil!
The Bruins and the Mass Lottery unveiled a new instant game this week that features the Bruins. In honor of the Bruins partnering with one lottery, the weekly check on how bad the Maple Leafs are is now sponsored by the Massachusetts Lottery.

The Leafs still find themselves at the bottom of the league. After picking up a point on Opening Night with an OT loss to Montreal (a game Toronto had a late lead in), the Leafs have not sniffed a point since. Over the past 14 days, Burkie’s Bunch has been outscored 28-11 for an 0-6-0 record. They have allowed a power play goal in six of seven games – and two PPs scores in four contests. The future doesn’t look any brighter as Toronto heads out on a five-game roadie to finish October. On the plus side, Phil Kessel has been practicing and looks to be ahead of schedule with a probably mid-November return instead of mid-December. That only speeds up the projected date where he gets benched by Brian Burke for lack of defensive effort or grit.