3 takeaways from Bruins 3-1 loss to Columbus Blue Jackets

by Dakota Antelman

The Bruins were dealt a painful loss Saturday night, losing by a score of 3-1. Carl Soderberg scored Boston's only goal while Tuukka Rask was good for much of the game.

Below are some takeaways from the loss...

Winning streak over

The Bruins were riding high going into this game. They had won five straight contests and taken points out of their last 13 games.

Though they played similarly to the way they have been throughout this streak, Saturday's loss ruined the absoluteness of their early 2015 run. The Bruins, having also watched as the Rangers beat the Blue Jackets the night before to reclaim the first wild card spot, now have their record drop to 24-16-6 on the season and will have to wait until Tuesday to get their next chance at leapfrogging New York.

Bruins absorb loss of Marchand

One of the biggest storylines going into Saturday's game was that surrounding the suspension of Brad Marchand for slew-footing Rangers forward Derick Brassard. Marchand was suspended two games by the Department of Player Safety Friday and spoke to media Saturday morning on the topic.

While there was little opposition to the suspension within the Bruins or even Boston as a whole, there was much to be said about how the team would absorb the loss of him vs Columbus.

Very simply, the Bruins seemed to play seamlessly without the grit of Marchand. Fourth line winger Danial Pallie was promoted to Marchand's normal line consisting of Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith. He and his line rattled off 10 shots and played normal ice time.

Though the Bruins definitely missed Marchand, Saturday's game seemed to settle some fluttering fears that his absence would devastate the team's momentum.

Milan Lucic dominates finesse game

Milan Lucic, who already had three goals in the new year, played one of his best fundamental games fans have seen out of him in a while.

He and linemates, David Krejci and David Pastrnak, were connecting on passes with showstopping consistency Saturday. Furthermore, Lucic himself put up five shots in the loss, more than he had in any game this season. Though he did not factor into the score sheet in a major way, Lucic was arguably the Bruins best offensive player vs the Blue Jackets; something that has not been true for a long time.

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Tuukka Rask bails out slow Bruins offense: Bruins beat Jets 2-1 on Hamilton OT winner

November 29, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

The Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets engaged in a gritty, up and down game Friday night that ultimately culminated in an overtime decision in favor of the Bruins.

The Bruins, fresh off back to back losses to Montreal and Pittsburgh entered the game rested and revamped after a week of tough practice.

But after all their preparation, things did not get off on the right foot for Boston. An early penalty kill situation in the first period was not executed adequately by the Bruins and resulted in Jets forward, Dustin Byfuglien scoring with just four minutes left in the opening frame.

The late goal served as a bit of a slap in the face for the Bruins. They had spent most of the week addressing their scoring problems and stressing the need to work harder defensively in the middle portions of the ice. Of course, none of that happened.

“Everything we talked about (yesterday) morning didn’t happen in the first period,” said Julien.

The Bruins did manage to turn things around following the Byfuglien goal however. Bruins goalie, Tuukka Rask stopped a seemingly endless quartet of breakaways while stuffing countless shots on any number of the ensuing power plays that the Jets got.

“Tuukka’s one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie, in the league,” said forward Reilly Smith. “Sometimes we rely on him too much, but he does a good job handling the pressure that’s put on him.”

Rask ended the game with 35 saves, several of which came in some key moments during a four minute penalty kill at the end of regulation and the beginning of overtime. 

As for the goal that got the Bruins to overtime; that came from big bodied left winger, Milan Lucic.

After Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said earlier this week that the Bruins needed more size and physicality in front of the net, Lucic demolished Jets forward Mark Scheifele by skating hard to tip teammate Carl Soderberg’s pass into the net.

Finally, something they had worked on in practice paid off for Boston.

“We worked on that this week – going D-to-D and up, and that’s what we did,” Soderberg said. 

“Looch skated to the middle and left the puck for me, and I drove the net. So that’s how we scored.”

With the game tied, the onus was put back on Rask to at the very least keep it that way. Things were complicated in the final three minutes of the game though when Bruins pest, Brad Marchand, took a double minor penalty for high sticking.

Even then though, Rask stood tall once even gloving the puck down to his stick and clearing it out of the zone on his own.

“You’re just in survival mode there,” laughed Rask after the game. “You’re trying to secure that point.”

His work was finally rewarded by the rest of the team roughly four minutes later when defensemen Dougie Hamilton smacked a wrist shot from the hash marks into the net to win the game for Boston.

The goal was yet another product of a Bruins odd man rush that seemed to get better and better as the game went on. Carl Soderberg took the puck in the neutral zone and skated with it into the Jets end as Lucic and rookie David Pastrnak curled in towards the net. Rather than passing it to them though, Soderberg turned towards a trailing Hamilton and slid the puck to his stick.

Hamilton, using the screen of Pastrnak and Lucic let rip a screaming shot that decisively ended the game for Boston.

“Obviously, it felt pretty good. I don't know if I ever scored an overtime goal before, so a pretty — pretty good feeling, and a pretty good feeling to get the win after the start that we had.”

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No rest for Bruins during Thanksgiving layoff: David Pastrnak skates with first line, Chara, Kelly making progress after injuries

November 28, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

During a time while many were out digging out from this week’s snowstorm or relaxing ahead of their holiday feasts, the Boston Bruins were hard at work at their Wilmington practice facility, the Ristuccia Arena.

This three day period without any games has given the Bruins a chance to step away from the drama and competition of the NHL season and address some of the internal issues that have plagued them for much of the year.

Among the biggest and most publicized of those issues has been the injury bug that has bitten the Bruins badly this season. Going into the break they had five players on the injury report with at least three out long term.  Names like Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, Chris Kelly and David Krejci were all among those listed.

During the break however, considerable progress was made with milestones reached by several of those players.

Chara and fellow defender David Warsofsky were both skating for the first time since their injuries Tuesday morning. The next day, Kelly returned to practice and was seen running drills with the Bruins fourth line.

Kelly suffered an undisclosed injury last Friday vs Columbus and had been out of the spotlight since. When speaking to reporters on Wednesday however, he detailed the plan that the team training staff had set out for him. He spoke on the subject of how caution was an important quality in his rehab plan.

"I think we thought [it was] better to be on the cautious side of things," Kelly said. "It was exactly kind of how we thought it would be. And it felt good today [Wednesday], and we'll see how it feels again [on Thursday]."

Bruins fans and coaches alike were excited to see the returns of so many big names this week. But at the same time, Krejci, whose injury has still not been announced, was not present at any practices. Krejci, who might very well miss Friday’s game, has currently sat out three straight games. This recent absence comes during a stretch where Krejci has missed 9 of 11 games.

Bruins coach Claude Julian was non-descript in his discussing the terms of Krejci’s injury or his recovery plan.

“[we have to] Get the situation fixed so he's not in and out, in and out [of the lineup]," Julian said.

Beyond injuries, a myriad of transactions with AHL Providence saw rookie sensation Seth Griffith return to the team while Alex Kohoklachv and Jordan Caron were both sent back down. Among those who stayed with the Bruins, was first round draft pick David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak was promoted to the first line for Wednesday morning’s practice. He was seen skating alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

Pastrnak made his NHL debut Monday vs. Pittsburgh skating 10 shifts for a total of 7 minutes and 53 seconds of ice time. He provided a presence in front of the net but did not manage to get a shot on goal.

The Bruins, who currently rank 20^th in the NHL in goals per game (2.5), are searching for a spark offensively and understand the need to put a flashy Pastrnak in a scenario where he can score. The first line, with Bergeron dishing out passes from the center position might very well be that perfect scenario.

"You try not to put him in a situation that may be too much, but at the same time, he's a good player, we know he's a good player - he showed that the other night, too," said Julien. "Offensively, he's a real good player, explosive, makes plays and he's pretty dynamic, and he'll only get better, so we need to continue to give him that opportunity to grow in the right environment."

Though experimenting with various positions in the lineup are definitely a positive for Pastrnak, with each new position comes a sort of acclamation period. The team is hoping Pastrnak can get into a grove on the first line as quickly as possible. 

The team's lack of scoring has definitely been noticed just as it has troubled team management.

“…The goal scoring, the offensive chances, the nature of the chances — getting better, but still has to get better,” GM Peter Chiarelli said. “I’m talking about heaviness on the puck, about competing, about not being stripped,” he said. “It’s a collective team thing.”

The Bruins understand that it takes goals to win hockey games. The Pastrnak move, as well as the Griffith call up, are both examples of the Bruins taking strides to give their team the best chance to get those goals.

Boston does currently hold a playoff spot; but with stalling goal scoring and nagging injuries, any number of teams currently breathing down their necks could very well come up and knock them out of that spot.

That is why nobody was resting within the Bruins organization this week. With the exception of a three hour Thanksgiving Day Dinner at Milan Lucic’s house, it was all work – top to bottom.

“I think what’s important with this group is that even with all of the injuries and everything, it can be easy to say we’re in a good spot right now,” said defensemen Torey Krug. “We’re happy with where we’re at, but we’re not a satisfied group, so I think that’s really important — especially when guys start to return. We’re a hungry group looking to move up in the standings, and that’s where that sits.”

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Seth Griffith goal big step down the long road to good team chemestry

October 22nd, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Midway through the 3^rd period of Tuesday night’s Bruins and Sharks game, rookie winger Seth Griffith charged in between the hash marks towards a large crowd of opponents and teammates. As the puck eventually trickled out of said crowd, Griffith swooped in to launch an off balance wrist shot on net. Sharks goalie Antti Niemi was already down on the ice at the time of the shot and could not get up in time to put a glove on the puck. As a result, Griffith scored.

The goal, scored just a few seconds after the five minute mark of the third period, was the first in a very young career for Griffith. His elated yell and open armed call of attention signified the importance of the moment.

“It was great,” Griffith said after the game. “I’ve had a couple of chances the past few games, so it’s great to get the first one out of the way.”

But beyond giving him a personal milestone, Griffith’s goal represented a much better effort by his entire line.

Since the departure of Jarome Iginla last season, the Bruins first line including David Krejci and Milan Lucic has lacked internal trust. There was loud talk this offseason about who would replace Iginla on Boston’s most crucial line and for a long time the answer was not known. Furthermore, even when it was, Bruins fans did not like it very much.

Nevertheless, due to a decent preseason, Seth Griffith ended up partnered with Lucic and Krejci on opening night. Bruins fans hoped that he could somehow bring that line together.

Though Tuesday showed that that did eventually happen, it has taken longer than expected.

But who is to complain?

“We’re starting to get a little chemistry going, so it’s good to see,” Griffith said of his line mates. “But it’s not too hard playing with two great players like that.”

The Bruins first line starters are good players but they are also at times painstakingly inconsistent. After failing to contribute earlier this month, Lucic broke out on Tuesday assisting on three of Boston’s five goals. Furthermore, Krejci who took some time to get his timing back after a shoulder injury in preseason, stretched his point streak into its 4^thgame with an assist and a goal.

Speaking to reporters about Griffith’s confidence in particular, Lucic talked about the joy and confidence getting a first goal gives a player.

“When you get that first one, the confidence starts coming and you can start feeling a little bit more loose. When you’re in those positions, they seem to go in once you get that first one. He’s done a good job so far playing on our line and hopefully he can pop in a few more if he gets a few more chances,” he said.

As the Bruins top line has since became more of a unified group, Lucic’s statement about confidence could be said not only for Griffith but for the entire line. Griffith getting his goal makes his achievements in the NHL more real and in a way it makes him seem like more of a solid player.

As Griffith’s reputation improves his teammates’ trust in him improves and thus the team’s communication follows suit. As the unit communicates more, passes are made. As passes are made, shots are taken; and as the entire first line begins firing off shots, an all-star attack in born.

Such is the evolution of this thing we refer to in sports as “team chemistry.” Team chemistry is something the Bruins have worked to foster for much of the past decade.  However, team chemistry is no easy thing to build. Though its process can be summarized in a few sentences, it takes hours of ice time to learn another player’s habits with and without the puck. In all truth, it is the willingness to spend that time that separates the good lines from the bad lines and by extension, the good teams from the bad teams.

The Bruins are a good team and that comes as a direct result of the emphasis they put on their players playing as a team.

We have seen that emphasis come through time and time again in the historic saga of trust building that Claude Julian has brought to this team. This recent evolution of trust between Griffith, Lucic and Krejci is only the newest example of that in action. 

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The post Iginla, inaccurately played trials of 2014 Milan Lucic

October 18th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

One year ago Milan Lucic played 80 games, scoring 24 goals and assisting on 35 others. He was a hitting machine, fore-checking teams into oblivion and mashing pucks loose in unthinkable ways. One year ago, Lucic was an all-star hockey player.

Now, 6 games into his 2014 season, Lucic is yet to score a goal. He has -2 rating and has mustered just 10 shots on goal. Now, Lucic is lost, more reminiscent of a 2012 season in which he would go weeks without a goal and less reminiscent of last year’s wonderful anomaly.  

What changed? The answer is simple; Jarome Iginla left Boston.

Iginla’s time in Boston was short but wonderful. He netted 30 goals, elevating his line mates (Lucic and Krejci) to a higher level of scoring consistency. Despite his success, due to painful cap issues, the Bruins were unable to keep him.

“I had one of the best [years] of my career, one of the most exciting years last year, one of favorite years, the whole experience coming to this,” Iginla said. “I made some good friends that are on their side playing with the team, and we had a very good team. So it was a little different, for sure. It hasn’t been too long, it feels almost like you’ve just been gone for a long vacation, but it’s part of the game.”

The loss of Iginla was painful for the Bruins who definitely recognized the consistency that Iginla played with.

"It was tough from the perspective of losing a player like that who can shoot, a right shot, and is obviously very experienced, a very good player, a Hall of Fame player,” said GM Peter Chiarelli.

At the same time though, Chiarelli felt that his team could fill the void left by Iginla.

“The year before we had a Hall of Fame player in [Jaromir] Jagr, a few years before we had a Hall of Fame player in [Mark] Recchi, so my point is we usually manage to rebound,” he said.

But so far, that has not happened.

The absence of Iginla on the Krejci/Lucic line is glaring and the Bruins are paying the price for not paying the price Iginla demanded in last summer’s market. David Krejci is the only member of the 1^stline who has scored this season as wingers, Milan Lucic and Seth Griffith has been nearly non factors.

What was worse was due to an injury to Krejci in the preseason, the line was missing its center for the first week of the year.

When they played the Avalanche, Iginla discussed how he still had faith in his former line and supported them specially when Krejci returned.

“Oh, I think it’s early,” Iginla said. “I think everything is so magnified at the beginning of the season. I do follow, looking at the scores at night. I’ve got a lot of friends over on the other side, so I follow how they’re doing and stuff, and they’re close games. To get Krech back will be a big boost. He’s a big part of the offense, big part of the team over there. And they’ve had some guys out, so I don’€™t doubt that they’ll be just fine and hard to play against as ever.”

But they are not! The Bruins first line is not fine. Milan Lucic is no longer consistent, Milan Lucic has simply been playing unintelligently this season, making bad decisions and inaccurate plays with the puck.

However the low point came Thursday in Montreal. After a minor penalty for tripping, Milan Lucic flashed an obscene gesture at Canadians fans while skating to the penalty box. He was swiftly fined $5,000 by the league garnering some bad publicity about his professionalism and discipline.

In a scathing column published on ESPN Friday afternoon, reporter, Joe McDonald wrote “…when it comes to pro athletes gesturing toward the fans in the manner in which Lucic did Thursday night? That’s not acceptable.”

AP writer Stephan Harris said in his article in the Boston Herald , “And as much as passion and emotion are key elements in his play, he should be long past the point where he is in need of an anger management course.”

Hockey players are professionals but so far this season, Lucic’s play has begged otherwise. Being so dependent on the presence of another player, as Lucic is with Iginla, is something that is far from appealing. Furthermore, his continually offending fans through lewd gestured and arrant postgame comments has shown that Milan Lucic is no first line rock. 

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Bruins roster taking shape ahead of season opener

October 7th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

In the past week or so, the Boston hockey universe has been abuzz with talk of trades, demotions and contested promotions. 

On Friday, Johnny Boychuk was traded to the Islanders. Just a few hours after the Boychuk trade was finalized, the remaining Bruins took the ice in Detroit as they provided their final auditions for parts on this year’s starting roster. Guys like Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak were tested hard and often in the game that culminated in a shootout in which the two were Boston’s only shooters.

Members of the Providence blue line made their case to be picked to fill the role of Dennis Sidenberg’s defensive pairing left by Boychuk while many other players who had since been cut watched from afar.

By Tuesday night, just under 24 hours before the regular season kicked off, the roster had begun to take shape.

Perhaps the most talked about young prospect in this year’s preseason, David Pastrnak, was informed of his destination for the 2014 season Tuesday afternoon. In short, he has none; at least not now.

“We’ll have a little more time to watch and assess him,” Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli said.

Pastrnak missed much of the preseason with a shoulder injury making the Bruins indecisiveness understandable.

“We'd like to see him down there and play some games. It’s a good opportunity to have him on our soil and close by to watch him,” Chiarelli said. “In two or three weeks we’ll look at it and make a decision as to what the next step is.”

Thanks to a team friendly rookie contract, the Bruins have the freedom to have Pastrnak play in the AHL, send him back to the Swedish Elite League where he spent last season or call him up to Boston. Furthermore they could foreseeably toss Pastrnak into an awkward back and forth transit between Providence and Boston. Basically they have very little that they need to commit to in regards to Pastrnak.

Beyond him however, the Bruins shook things up in much more unexpected way Tuesday when they announced that 33 year old Bobby Robins had earned himself a roster spot.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Robins said. “It definitely proves that sticking to the game plan and the program of just working hard every day, and getting a little bit better every day and over the course of a long time -- nine years actually -- so over the course of that long time you can improve and get better and accomplish your dream.”

Robins’ is a long story. 9 years in the AHL have spawned 81 fights and a painful list of concussions and upper body injuries for him. His massive 220 pound frame is a mix of the hard skating power of Milan Luchic and the fists-flying ferocity of Shawn Thornton. The latter of those two established NHL’ers just so happens to, by no instance of coincidence, be the sole reason Robins made the cut this year.

In the wake of Thornton’s signing with Florida, the Bruins needed an enforcer. 9 years in the violent street fight league that the AHL can sometimes periodically become have made it so that Robins can be that.

“In Providence he was a great forechecker. As Claude said, he finished all his checks, he’s a hard player,” Chiarelli said. “Right through this camp he’s shown that he’s belonged, and it’s a great story.”

Robins does not deny that his place on this roster was not earned through skill but rather through physical power. He literally fought his way to where he is now.

“When you’re playing that style of hockey, fights are going to happen,” Robins said. “I’m going to be playing that style. I’m looking to hit guys and get on the forecheck. Then when somebody challenges you, that’s when you fight. All the stage fights are getting weeded out of the game, but when you’re playing with passion and fury, fights are going to happen and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Between the decision to not do anything drastic with Pastrnak and the impressive leap of faith to bump Robins up to Boston, the Bruins were praised by fans. Though they had not yet erased the confused pain solicited by the loss of Boychuk, the front office proved that they were doing what was best for the team.

But not everything was so fun in Boston Tuesday.

Former Edmonton Oiler, Simon Gange lost his battle with Ryan Spooner for the title of 3^rd line right winger. Also, highly touted goaltending prospect Malcom Subban lost a close race with Niklas Svedberg for the backup goalie spot late last week. He will start 2014 in Providence.

Lastly, the Bruins were dished a major blow when it was deemed that 2^nd line center, David Krejci would be unable to make Wednesday’s start.

Krejci missed Tuesday’s practice following an injury suffered when he collided with the boards in last weekend’s preseason finale. He was placed on IR Tuesday afternoon meaning that he would have to sit out at least 7 calendar days following the injury.

After the missed practice, Krejci was non-descript in regards to the actual injury and how it was suffered.

 “I don’t really want to talk about exactly what happened. It didn’t feel good enough to finish the game, so I was just being cautious,” Krejci said. “Obviously, I wasn’t on the ice today. It didn’t heal as fast as I would like to, so I would say it’s kind of day-to-day. We’ll see when I wake up tomorrow and how it feels tomorrow.”

His veteran presence on the back half of the Bruins 1-2 offensive punch will be sorely missed verses Philadelphia. However at the same time, if the injury is to his upper body, starting a game like this, against a team as physical at the Flyers could be greatly detrimental to his long-term health.

After an offseason of roster turnover, there are many questions being asked of the Bruins ahead of their opener. Those questions cannot be answered with words, rather, they must be and they will be answered by actions in Wednesday’s game. 

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Cost per goal is changing the landscape of the NHL: Colorado Avalanche is the team of the future

Since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011, their core that was once renowned as an archaic foundation for a dynastic reign similar to those enjoyed across the NHL in the 70's and 80's. And yet, as the salary cap as sliced down on the team's roster like a butchers knife does a flank of beef, there remains hope. Now devoid of guys like Michael Ryder, Mark Recchi, Andrew Ference, Shawn Thornton, Nathan Hornton, Tyler Seguin, Tim Thomas and now Jarome Iginla, the Bruins have been shown that veteran talent is beginning to become something that no team can win a Stanley Cup off of. 

More and more often now, cup champions have been winning via homegrown and or young talent. In both LA Kings victories, guys like Dwight King, Kyle Clifford and Jordan Nolan have made great, sustained contributions to the team at very little cost. The same could be said for some of the Blackhawks key role players like Dave Bolland, Viktor Stallberg and Nick Leddy who also contributed to the team 2013 Cup win at minimal cost to the team. 

Among many other trends that are all becoming more and more evident in the evolving NHL, rookies are now the way to win. Small figure deals to young players with not enough experience to command any more money allow for teams to get the best bang for their buck. Or more simply, if you are able to base your team around rookie deals and rookies goals you end of paying much less money per goal than you would if you based your team around the Jaromir Jager's and the Jarome Iginla's of the league. 

To solidify that assumption, I point towards the Tampa Bay Lightning. By the end of the year, the Colorado Avalanche had produced a Calder Trophy winning player in Nathan McKinnon. McKinnon scored 24 goals for Colorado last season but cost the team a cap hit of just $925,000. When you divide those two numbers, you are given a cost per goal total of $38,541. When you compare him to Johnathan Tavares who scored the same number of goals in 2014 as McKinnon, the $229,000 the Islanders paid per Tavares goal was nearly 6 times more than that that the Avs paid for McKinnon's goals.  

Now an argument could be made that Tavares had an off year in 2014 that was obviously cut 20 games short by an MCL tear suffered in Sochi and so therefore the stunning rip off that the Islanders suffered was a onetime thing. However, if you look at an player with much less of an offensive reputation than Tavares, the veteran vs rookie cost per goal trend still stays true and says the same thing. The Bruin's Milan Lucic who was not even the top scorer on the team scored 24 goals in 2014 just like McKinnon. But unlike McKinnon, Lucic made 6 million dollars thus inflating his cost per goal to a whopping $250,000 per goal.  

Furthermore, beyond the pay checks handed out to individual players, one could also look to overall team payroll to judge the truth behind this trend. Looking at a veteran heavy team like the Bruins, the overall payroll is whopping. Last season the Bruins paid out over 73 million dollars to a total of 26 players. Those 26 players scored a total of 258 goals in repayment of their team. But much like the sheer rights to name those players on their roster, the Bruins had to pay dearly for all those goals. They had to pay $282,945 for each of those goals. That is an astounding number but some believe that it is a necessary sacrifice because to win a Stanley Cup a team needs veterans.

Nathan McKinnon's Avalanche however, do not agree. As of now, the average age of players listed as Avalanche starters is 25.6 years old. The average age of the players listed as Bruins starters is 27. While almost a year and a half difference is not a very big difference in the spectrum of life, when you take into account the quirks of contract negotiations it is substantial. Most great players start their careers by signing a 3 year rookie deal worth 3 million dollars paid when a player is 19 years old. That deal concludes when a player is 22 at which point a player, if he is good enough, then signs a longer generally 5 yearlong deal that can at times cost a team 20+ million dollars. Obviously the more players under the age of 22 a team has the lower their payroll will be. As of now the Bruins have just 1 such player while the Avalanche have 3.

As a result of that that they paid their players a total of only $54,799,000 last season which amounts to a cost per goal of $239,995. That is $42,949 fewer dollars than those paid per goal by the Bruins.  

So what does this all mean? This means that unless teams like the Bruins, Penguins and Blackhawks ditch their veteran hungry ways, they will quickly run out of money. Looking forward if the NHL continues to turn towards this rookie driven future than we could be treated to a nearly constant turnover of NHL dominant teams as the worst teams one year nab top picks the next and run away with the league for a few years before loosing their stars and falling back to the bottom. 

*** Please note ***

All salary statistics for this report were gathered from Capgeek.com and Sportscity.com. 

All ages of players discussed were gathered from Bostonbruins.com and Coloradoavalance.com.

All goals scored statistics discussed in this report were gathered from NHL.com

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Dominance redefined: In a superior month of March, Jarome Iginla helped distance the Bruins from the rest of the NHL

In a resurgent season that had already featured 18 goals for Jarome Iginla, the month of March was just plain dominant.

At the beginning of the year, March was earmarked by many in the Bruins following as the biggest obstacle the team would have to overcome this season. Those people cited its ravenous schedule of 17 games in 31 days combined with there being a road trip of 3 games in 3 time zones that once completed gave way to a week of games against a list of teams that included the Blackhawks, Canadians and Capitals. These people saw the month of March, a month that I point out has been one marred with the struggles of the Bruins in recent years, as a month the Bruins would just have to grind through and hope that it would not diminish their playoff positioning too much.

Instead, the Bruins exploded out of the mid February, Olympic Break finding their groove as these March games got under way and slowly but surely climbing to the pinnacle of NHL regular season excellence. As the Penguins went 7-7-4 in March for example, the Bruins went 15-1-1 earning 31 points in the standings, clinching the Atlantic Division, soaring away from the Penguins for the Eastern Conference lead and jumping 3 points clear of the Blues for the number one spot in the entire NHL. Furthermore, with 110 points accumulated so far, the Bruins have already eclipsed each of their points totals in the past 4 seasons and were just 6 points shy of topping their output from 2008 (the largest points total since 1971).

Their defense has helped win them games just as their goaltender has. Those arguments are fairly defended solely by the team GAA average of 1.94, that the Bruins posted in the month of March coupled with the 3 shutouts (2 by Rask and 1 by Johnson) during the same span. But as we look back on this stretch of superiority, it is the offence that has played the biggest role in these 15 wins.

The Bruins have averaged scoring 3.58 goals per game. Among the list of 61 goals scored by the offence, Jarome Iginla and Patrice Bergeron have accounted for 13 and 11 goals respectively with Iginla basically doubling his scoring output for the season in one month and Bergeron solidifying his case for the Selki Trophy awarded to the league's top defensive forward. Iginla and Bergeron both nabbed "3 stars of the week" honors from the NHL during the month while Iginla also finished the month with the number one star.

Iginla's work in March helped lock up his 12th career 30 goal season while also boosting his season +/- to an immaculate +34. He was also clutch as in 4 different games he scored 2 goals against opponents that included the Capitals as well strong goal-tending teams like Phoenix and Minnesota.

But most of all he has been more consistent than any other player in the sport scoreing in 9 of the 17 games in March.

"It's an honor," Iginla said of the award. "It's been an enjoyable month. For our whole team, we've had a great month. There have been a lot of guys who had great months, great streaks. You look at [Patrice Bergeron] -- he's been as hot as I've seen. So it's been good.

"It's been fun, but it's one of those things you don't really expect. I've gotten some good bounces, some great passes from my line mates, and as a line we've had some fun. But bigger than that it's been a great month for our team and we've all benefited from that."

All and all, Iginla has played with a kind of passion this season that even he has not shown in a long time. 

Mighty Jarome Iginla, with all his brilliance has never won a Stanley Cup and he sees this season in Boston as one of his last chances to change that. 

"I definitely feel blessed that this has gone as well as it has," Iginla said. "I was given a great opportunity to play with Krejci and Lucic right from the start. We had some hiccups during the year, even as a team we had some spells and stuff, but we've been able to work through them. I haven't been on a team in my career where you're battling at the top of the standings for pretty much the whole year, and it's fun. It's a different type of pressure."

"I probably enjoy more battling at the top of the league and preparing for the playoffs. I do feel fortunate to have experienced that this year. I knew it was a very good team I was joining."

As has been well documented this season, Iginla has greatly elevated the play of his line mates. The Bruins first line has scored 67 times this season up increasing their consistency and creating momentum better than any other line in recent Bruins history.

In one month, Jarome Iginla has shown the league that he still has it dominating the hockey world and helping the Bruins become the best team in hockey. 

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The Old Man Nets 30: After scoreing his 30th goal Jarome Iginla has solidified his position as the MVP of the Bruins and the entire NHL

After scoreing his 30th goal of the year, Jarome Iginla has solidified his position not only as the most valuable player on the Bruins but also the entire NHL. But for Bruins fans, they did not always want or expect that things would turn out this way. If you do not remember, there was a bit of anger on the part of Bruins fans for Iginla at the beginning of this season because of what happened the year before. 

Prior to the April 15st trading deadline, 35 year old right winger, Jarome Iginla let it be known that he wanted out of the Calgary Flames organization that had employed him for the entirety of his then 15 year old career. He wanted to go somewhere where, as his career drew to a close, he would have a chance to nab that elusive Stanley Cup ring. He told Calgary of 4 teams where he believed that would be a possibility including the Kings, Blackhawks, Penguins and Bruins. However as the deadline came even closer Chicago and LA fell out of contention for Iginla’s services and so all of the focus turned to the Eastern Conference's twin powerhouses - the Bruins and Penguins. On March 27th, it seemed that we had been given out answer and Iginla's destination had been set.  He was held out of the Flames game with Colorado that night and rumors of a deal with the Bruins quickly turned from roomers to reality...so we thought. 

However, at the last possible moment, these flightless birds swooped in and robbed Iginla from Boston at the least possible moment. After the fact, Iginla admitted that he chose the Penguins because he believed they had a better chance at winning the cup that year. Honestly though, can we blame him. On March 27th 2013, the Bruins had posted a win loss record of 5-4-1 in their last 10 games while the Penguins had just won their 13th straight game beating the Bruins twice in that period of time. But from there, things did not work out so well for Iginla. He scored just 5 goals and assisted on just 6 others in the final 13 games of the regular season and in the playoffs showed that he never really meshed with the finesse based offence of the Penguins. But for Jarome undoubtedly the hardest part of the Pittsburgh debacle was the final 4 games of it. The team he picked was swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Bruins team he rejected. Furthermore it was only fitting that it was Iginla who fired the final shot of that series right into the glove of Tuukka Rask as the buzzer sounded. 

But as tough as it was to swallow, Iginla still wanted that Stanley Cup. Just after free agency opened, Iginla's agent - Don Meehan - sent the Bruins front office a "take me back plea" basically begging them to sign Iginla the second time around. He was done with Pittsburgh and so in mid-July, he signed a 1 year 6 million dollar contract with the Bruins. 

But if you do not remember, Bruins fans were not so quick to forget what Iginla did just months before. They were mad that he passed them up and Iginla knew that. It would not be so easy for him to earn himself with these die hard hockey fans and so he knew that he would have to go above and beyond in Beantown. 

On this day just about 1 year to the day after the first attempt at acquiring Iginla, the aged scoring star has proved he still has it. He has scored 30 goals this season, assisting on 30 others while completely elevating the game of those playing around him. Playing alongside David Krejci and Milan Lucic, the Bruins first line has scored 37 goals beyond the 30 scored by Iginla himself. As has been noted by many across the Bruins media community in the past few months in particular, Iginla's poise under pressure and his constant execution combined with his knowledge with the strategy that the game of hockey demands has brought a kind of constancy to the games of Milan Lucic and David Krejci that we have never seen before. 

"It's been great having him here," Lucic said of Iginla. "You can see he's obviously come into his own here and starting to feel good about himself. We all know what he can do from what he's done in the past and he's definitely a confident guy that's always pushing for more. You see the little things in him that has made him so successful throughout his career and it's starting to show more and more as this season goes on."

Obviously, Lucic would want this stunning vet with him even after his contract ends this season. An extension is preferable. 

"Obviously it's out of my control, but he's been a great fit for us on the ice, on our line and in the dressing room, so obviously that would be great,"

As for Claude Jullian who has now coached 3 future hall of famers in the past 4 seasons including March Recci and Jaromir Jager undoubtedly recognizes that Jarome Iginla may be better than all of them. 

"He's exactly what he was advertised as," Julien said. "He's a good team player, a hard worker, and a competitive guy. I can see why he had a letter in Calgary because he has that leadership quality in him."

But with all the praise, Iginla recognizes that he is not the number one leader here in Boston and so he deflects much of this appreciation towards his teammates. 

"They're right up there and I'm very fortunate to get to play with them," Iginla said when asked about how he would rank his current line mates compared to those in Calgary and Pittsburgh. "It's awesome to play with these guys. They're very competitive. They're very hungry. It's not just their skill level, which is very high, but it's their compete level, their drive and physicality." 

As the season concludes, Jarome Iginla jumps into the playoffs looking for the one thing he has not been able to do in this illustrious NHL career. That is, winning a Stanley Cup. 

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Retaliation dooms Bruins: In violent game against Montreal, Bruins see their 12 game win streak snapped in the shootout

It was the most violent, nasty, old fashioned hockey game the Bruins had played in a long time. With 40 penalty minutes, and 4 either roughing of cross checking penalties assessed the statistics it produced confirmed that. And lastly, the feel in Boston Monday night also reflected the fact that we had just been treated to something special. A world class beat down between bitter rivals as well their thirst to live both in the magic of their history and the promise of their respective futures. Even in loss, Mondays game between the Bruins and Canadians was something that we only rarely see and so, from start to finish, the atmosphere inside the garden was one of excitement and bitter hatred for the guys in red and white.

Things were nasty right from the get-go.

Just 1 minute and 19 seconds into the game, the Canadians version of Brad Marchand - Alexi Emilin - caught 228 pound Bruin monster - Milan Lucic - in his sights. But as Lucic came across the Spoked B at center ice and Emilin went to deliver the hit, instead of going straight up on the man who was bigger than him in every quality, Emilin dropped down and delivered a crushing center ice hip check right to Lucic's lower thigh. The Bruin forwards was literally flipped 360 degrees and after he slid for a few feet, he crashed violently into the boards. The hit was without a doubt clean but nevertheless, it was delivered in a situation where a straight up shoulder check is more commonly delivered. Also, the speed and ferocity at which the hit flipped the big body of Milan Lucic at first glance pointed strongly towards the hit being delivered more to the knee of Lucic than he front of his thigh or even his lower abdomen which would have been a clipping penalty and would have earned Emelin an automatic 5 minute major. The combination of all of these apparent factors led Bruins captain Zdeno Chara to make a bee line for Emilin who he proceeded to mash into the ice with a check, slash with his stick and then punch in the head earning him a 2 minute roughing penalty.

After the game, Lucic was enraged by the cowardliness of Emilin's hit.

"Whether it's fair, legal or whatever you want to call it, if he wasn't scared, he would stand up and hit me and not go after my knees," Lucic said of Emelin. "It just shows how big of a chicken he is that he needs to go down like that to take me down. It shows what kind of player he is, and on my end, you know you've got to keep your guard up at all times."

By the way, that comment did not help to extinguish the feeling of excitement about the game after it ended.

Within minutes of the Emilin incident, Kevin Miller shoved Montreal forward Dale Weis from behind as the two skated in towards the boards. While Weis did have a little time to protect his head from a direct collision with the boards he was visibly injured as he skated off the ice. Seeing this, 31 year old Montreal tough guy - Travis Moen - went after Miller ready to drop the gloves. Miller obliged but gave Moen a little more than he thought he was getting. Miller tagged Moen once on the shoulder and then slammed a huge right hook into Moen's ear. But Miller was not done. He dragged Moen back to his feet and proceeded to wreck Moen's face. He landed 2 more knocks to the head of Moen before his arm was tied up. As the two spun towards the boards however, he finally got his fits loose and slammed the punch of the year into Moen's temple. 

Travis Moen would have to be helped off the ice. 

In just seconds, Montreal had lost two of its best players. But none of that stopped the physicality of this game. During the Miller penalty assessed as a result of the cross check of Weis, Emilin scored a power play goal to give the Canadians the lead. 

But the game was not over and while the Bruins knew they needed to tie the game as soon as possible, they were still caught up in that hatred for the Habs that would only be fulfilled when a player was knocked on his backside every time he touched the puck. 3 minutes into the 2nd period, Brad Marchand and the hated PK Subban got tangled in a fight for the puck that resulted in Marchand's clipping Subban up high with his stick. 

Towards the end of the period, the Bruins were penilised again when Carl Soderberg basically body slammed goaltender, Peter Budaj as Zdeno Chara took a point shot. But even that was not the end of things. 

In the final 2 minutes of the period, with the Bruins already killing a penalty, PK Subban delivered a hip check to Johnny Boychuck along the boards and then shoved him while he was down. Once Boychuck got up, he proceeded to throw two punches at Subban and then violently slam him into the ice. He was penilised for roughing but was lucky he was not kicked out of the game. Finally however, the Bruins got things under control and in the 3rd period it was Montreal who was undisciplined. They took 4 penalties in the period and allowed the Bruins to drag the game back via a Patrice Bergeron tip in of a Zdeno Chara slapshot. 

But for Boston it was too little to late. 

Montreal won the game in the shootout. 

But even though they lost their historic 12 game win streak, the Bruins were positive as they remain a team who has had just 1 game without a point in the month of March. 

"Obviously, you don't want to lose the way that you do in shootouts, especially getting all the chances that we did during the third period, but with 10 games left, now you've got to expect every game to be like that," Bruins forward Milan Lucic said. "Look at our last stretch of eight games in 13 days. We were able to get 15 out of 16 points, so that's pretty good. Unfortunately, the winning streak comes to an end tonight, but we've got to look forward to the next one."

But a win like this for Montreal could be troubling for Bruins fans not because they could knock Boston out of any positioning whatsoever in the regular season but more so because as it stands a playoff meeting between the Bruins and Canadians is not an unlikely possibility and a win like this could give Montreal momentum going into such a meeting. 

"It's a big win for us, for sure," the Canadiens' Brian Gionta said. "By no means was it a perfect game, but it showed a lot of character sticking with it and battling through. That first period, we were just kind of hanging on, but we pushed back in the second, got in some penalty trouble in the third but showed a lot of character on that penalty kill. Unfortunately, they scored on one, but I thought we did a good job with them."

But regardless of that, the Bruins lost a game Monday that they could have won if it were not for their inability to stay out of the penalty box. 

"At times, absolutely," said Julien, when asked if 'undisciplined' is a way he would describe the game. "The Marchand penalty was frustration because he got tripped on the faceoff before — it wasn’t called. Those are things that are going to happen in a game and you can’t retaliate by taking a bad penalty."

"[Johnny] Boychuk’s penalty was a bad one too, so you know, there’s discipline, but they didn’t score on those, so that’s not why we lost. But I think we have to be better disciplined against them."

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On a mission: Bruins extend winning streak to 11 games and clinch playoffs using their size to their advantage

The Bruins have not lost a game since March 1st against Washington. That means that in 21 days, the Bruins have won 11 straight games, to account for their longest win streak since 1971. This streak has included wins over great teams like the Rangers, Habs and Lightning but it was Friday night that drew the attention of the hockey world. 

In a game that started at 9PM, Eastern Time, the Bruins were in a position where, if they could grab a win against the surging Avalanche, they would be in the playoffs regardless of what any other team did. But Colorado did not plan to make it easy and they certainly followed that plan. 

You see this game was a one played by opposites. The Bruins are a team built on power and brutality on and off the puck. They are also a team that relies on guys like Jarome Iginla, Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic to pound the puck into the net. Those are all veterans. But Colorado is different. Coming into the game, they had logged just 26 fighting majors that were enough for 19th in the league. But Colorado does not need fights. They win games not with checks or punches but instead with dazzling explosions of speed and proficiency and calmness with the puck on their stick. They get the large majority of their scoring from players like 3rd year left wing - Gabrial Landeskog and rookies Matt Duchane and Nathan McKinnon. 

With these two teams going at each other with playoff positioning on the line, this game threatened to turn into one of those documentaries about the Serengeti. The small nimble wildebeest (Colorado) spends hours running as fast as it can away from the angry lion (Boston) only making that lion angrier when it cannot catch dinner. 

Instead, this game just followed the plot line of World War Z. After pushing back in the first few minutes of the game, the Avs were caught puck watching early and eventually converted from foe to victim of the Bruins army. 

Even the referees could not stop the onslaught. Just 1 minute and 48 seconds into the game, massive Bruin rookie - Kevin Miller, locked his sights on Avalanche rookie, Nick Holden. Locked up in a tight puck battle, Miller, finally delivered the hit that sent Holden crashing to the ice wondering what state he was in. Bizarrely, the hit was deemed an elbow and Miller was sent to the box. But that did not crush the Bruins sprites. Just about 3 minutes after the Holden hit, Patrice Bergeron broke the game open with his 21st goal of the year. The goal came as a result of great work by Patrice Bergeron to push the puck through 4 Colorado players. 

Dougie Hamilton took the puck at the blue line and awakened the Avalanche to their defensive error that left both Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara wide open inside the hash marks. Colorado overcompensated though and did not leave a man to cover Bergeron who proceeded to dash towards the net, and bang in Hamilton's rebound for the goal. 

“He made a good play to go to the net, and I just put it into him,” Hamilton said when asked about the goal. “I think I hit him right in the chest at the start, and it was a good finish after that, so I was pretty happy to have that.”

Colorado mustered a bit of a push after that goal, but the Bruins quieted that when Gregory Campebll dropped the gloves against 6 foot 2, 210 pound Cody McLeod. Though McLeod pounded at Campbell's head like he would a nail, Cambell held his own and eventually came back in the fight to land at least 3 strong jabs to MeLeod's jaw. That fight showed that the Bruins were not here to play street hockey. 

Over the next 2 periods, his were common. 

“I think it was a normal situation, considering we've been off for a couple of days, and again, there's thin air here, and that first period's always a bit of a challenge,” Coach, Claude Julien said. “So all of those things together, we knew we had to grind it out through the first.”

But in the second, they were just plain bullies. They defended their blue line like it was their house and the Avalanche were a hoard of zombies and forechecked and backchecked as if the winner of this game were not the team who scored the most goals but instead the team who broke the most bones.

“Second period, we kind of had to start getting pucks behind their Ds and playing more in their end, and the further the game went, the better we got. I thought we played a smart third, just putting pucks in deep and making them go back for every puck they wanted to bring up the ice. So that was kind of what we looked for and as the game wore on, I thought we got better all the time.”

The hits helped generate chances especially in the 2nd and 3rd periods when strong forechecking by the Bruins wingers allowed for their centers to pick up at least 3 great chances in front of the net. But the big hero of this game was Chad Johnson who earned his 2nd shutout of the season Friday night. He saved all 31 shots taken against him. 

“To be in front of these guys with such good systems, and a good D corps, and offensive players that want to play defense, too, you know, it helps me out a lot,” Johnson said after the game. “It helps the goalies out, and our whole team, so it's fun to play in front of our team when we're so committed defensively and we're out there to win and we expect to win.”

All and all, the Bruins are looking to be one of the scariest teams in hockey for other teams to play against. In a part of the schedule Bruins fans have dreaded all year, their team has owned the hockey world, climbing out from a tight race for the division and into a position now where massive numbers work to fairly define the magnitude of Boston's late season charge. They are 16 points clear of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Atlantic Division lead. They are 6 points clear of the Penguins for the Eastern Conference lead and they are tied with St Louis for the title of best team in hockey. For the 4th time in the Claude Jullian era and the first time since 2011-2012, the Bruins have topped the 100 point plateau and for the first time in the Claude Jullian era, they have won 11 straight games.

Bruins fans, whatever you have been doing during these games for the past 2 weeks, DO NOT CHANGE IT! Let’s keep this streak going. 

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These games are always fun: Bruins snag 3-1 win at home in yet another great game with the Chanuks

No one likes the Chanuks and yet, whenever they come to Boston, the ensuing game is wholeheartedly dubbed one of the best games of the year.

When Alex Burrows chomped on Patrice Bergeron's finger like it were a sausage, we hated his team and he. When Aaron Rome most nearly killed Nathan Hornton and effectively wiped out the physical facet of Hornton's game, we hated his team and he. And yet, when we saw that 4-0 Bruins trashing of the Chanuks in Game Seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup we cheered and proclaimed it the greatest game in years. And yet when we saw the infamous 8 on 8 brawl from the 2012 rematch of that game, we cheered and proclaimed it the greatest game in years.

If you did not catch on with that paragraph, I will say this: whenever the Bruins and Chanuks have got together these past 4 years, there has been a story to tell. But nevertheless, Tuesday's game in Boston was different. In the 2011 Stanley Cup the story of that historic series' first few games was the evolution of the dirty play. One year later when we arrived in Boston for the Stanley Cup rematch, the story was the biggest brawl since when 8 Chanuks jumped Shawn Thornton and just started pounding away before the Bruins team managed to get bodies in to help. And even this year, there was the renewed calls of "Brad Marchand is a dirty player" that ran rampant as the Bruin forward raised his hands to the sky in a meme of his hoisting the Stanley Cup above his head.

But now, there was no controversy, no cheap shots, no concussions and no taunting. Just 5 penalties were called from the start to finish of this game and none of them involved anything more haenous than a hooking minor and yet, these players involved in this wonderful game were not playing any sort of laid back style of play.

From the first puck drop on, Johnny Boychuck was a 1 man wrecking crew smashing 3 out of Boston's 27 hits, adding an assist on a miracle pass to Danial Pallie as well as logging 2 shots on goal in upwards of 24 minutes of ice time.

“I was really tired,” Boychuk said. “I’m not going to lie – we were out there battling and I just looked up and Danny was coming off the bench, and I just had to make the pass. It’s not as easy as it looks, especially when you’re at the end of a long, long shift.”

But he was not alone in his brilliance. Much like Boychuck, Jarome Iginla was a man contributing to the win in multiple ways than just in goal scoreing. After grabbing his 600th career assist on Lucic's goal in the 1st period, Iginla kept on his inhuman scoreing pace when he added a bang in goal that eventually would be logged as the game winning goal midway through the second.

Without a doubt it was the sequence that ended with Iginla's 2nd period goal that effectively swung things fully in favor of the Bruins. With the Bruins on the power play and their lead still sitting at just 1-0, Danial Sedin grabbed a Lucic giveaway and skated in alone down towards Tuukka Rask. In any other scenario against most other goalies, that breakaway would have and should have tied the game. But Tuukka Rask was back to his shot stopping ways and simply got down and made the save.

“Thankfully,” said Milan Lucic when asked about the Rask save “Tuukka made the save.”

“Those are usually the momentum-changers and game-changers,” Rask said. “You want to make that save more often than not. Today it was good that I did and we scored right after – that was really huge.”

As Rask and his fans reveled in this game saving stop however, those who love the goals in hockey soon took over as David Krejci grabbed the puck at the face off dot and turned up ice. After Krejci passed to Lucic and Lucic dropped the saucer pass back to Chara who was pinching in towards the goal, an out of place Chanuks penalty killing unit realized that they had left Jarome Iginla with far too much space when you take into account his all-star qualities. But he did not care. In true hall of fame caliber play, Iginla barely moved as he poked the shot past Roberto Luango.

The Bruins have now played 10 games against the Chanuks since 2011 and frankly up until this one the large majority of them have been dirty ones. We have seen finger bites, career changing cheap shots and then humiliating taunting of the Chanuks. But Tuesday in Boston we simply were watching a great hockey game. Tuukka Rask came back to life in this game turning in his best outing on over a month all while Jarome Iginla continued his scoreing dominance and Johnny Boychuck admittedly decided he wanted to personally shred the Chanuks to pieces. The fans were cheering, Roberto Luango was crying and yet the Bruins and Chanuks brains escaped the ice intact. This was a hard hitting, bone splitting game and yet nobody was injured.

This was a hard fought, wonderful hockey game where both teams hate each other with a passion and in this era, even with all the history that stems from Bruins/Canadians, we find ourselves 1 or 2 good games like this away from being forced to recognize Bruins/Chanuks as a new, nasty hockey rivalry .

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Bruins beat Tim Thomas and then beat him again in 6-2 Boston win over Florida: A look at one of Boston's most explosive 3 game stretches in years

I will say this, after enjoying my thrilling trip to a Bruins game Tuesday night, my voice has left the building. Why? Because when David Krejci scored with 2 minutes and 9 seconds left in Tuesday's game against the Panthers, that goal not only marked the 6th of the game but also the 18th Boston tally in the last 4 days. 

In 3 games, the Bruins have blasted 3 straight 6 goal games lifting their fans out of their seats and keeping them there as goals against 5 different goaltenders have proven that even after last off seasons overhaul, the statistics put up by the Bruins can be misleading. While they have not had a 30 goal scorer since 2011 and have had just 2 since the dawn of the Claude Jullian era, the Bruins remain a team that can tussle with the big boys not only physically but also on the score sheet. That mantra of play that goes against that of guys like Sidny Crosby and Evgeni Malken, Patrick Kane, Stephan Stamkos of Alex Ovechken, has been reflected not only in Tuesday's scorecard but in every one since this offensive assault began Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.  

In these 3 games, Zdeno Chara has scored 4 times, Reilly Smith has netted 3, Patrice Bergeron, Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic have all scored 2 goals while Loui Eriksson, Brad Marchand, Carl Soderberg, Shawn Thornton and David Krejci have all scored. If you lost count that is 9 different players combining to score 18 goals. By comparison, when the Pittsburgh Penguins notched their most productive 3 game stretch of the year back in November, their 14 goals, spread out over wins against the Leafs, Lightning and Panthers, were scored by just 6 different players. 

By pure strategic reasoning it is no secret that if a person were presented with the opportunity to score the same amount of goals with more players scoring those goals than less, the smart option would be to choose the more distributed option solely because it is harder to defend and set match ups to a 9 man attack rather than a 6 man attack. 

But the story last night was not that of the Pittsburgh Penguins unbalanced attack. No, rather it was a game of many facets, more complex than just a simple 6 goal onslaught of goals and just as thrilling as a 1-0 final would be…but for different reasons. Before the game even started, we knew what was coming, feisty Tim Thomas, who cited the Bruins 2013 cup run as the reason he returned to hockey was back on Garden ice for the first time since Game Seven of the 2012 ECQF match-up between the Bruins and Capitals. But now, the roles were switched. Since Timmy Thomas elected to forgo the 2013 season, he has been replaced in the hearts of Bostonians by the man who for so long waited for his turn to shine in such a hockey driven city. In this season alone, Thomas who, despite being the starter down in Florida, has backstopped his team to just 14 wins in 33 games has been by far the inferior goalie to Tuukka Rask and while he knew that and we knew that, coming into this game, Bruins fans remembered what Thomas meant to this team. Despite his quirks, despite the fact that he certainly is prone to saying controversial things, Tim Thomas was the biggest reason the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and so we knew coming in to this one that there would be no disowning of the former star. 

Coming in, he deserved a cheer, and so we gave it to him, raising our unified voice to a roaring cheer as his name was introduced on the scoreboard prior to the game.  

But from there on, he was nothing, nothing more than the goalie who seemed to be lacking a little bit of the jump and agility that made him so unique in Boston. As Boston rode through the first minutes of the game, Boston dominated the neutral zone and actually tallied 6 shots before the Panthers even got one. Before long, those shots turned into a mid-period tap in by Milan Lucic and eventually what was originally deemed a tip in by the same Bruin. Also embedded within that 2 goal 1st period was a standing ovation given to captain and veteran defencemen Zdeno Chara when the Garden HDX scoreboard paid tribute to his 500th career NHL point scored Monday night in against the Islanders. As he gazed up at the scoreboard, and Tuesday's referee, Chris Rooney allowed the game to be put on pause for the moment, Chara finally smiled towards the camera that was pointed at him and gave a slight wave to the crowd that launched the arena into delirious cheering. 

But nonetheless, as fans flooded towards the bathrooms and concession stands, during the intermission break there was a scoring change that may have been missed by a few Bruins fans. The 2nd goal of the game, originally credited to Milan Lucic, was given instead to Zdeno Chara, a change that when Lucic scored his real 2nd goal of the game, 1 minute and 46 seconds into the 2nd period was not remembered by a few Bruins fans. As he wrapped the puck into the side of the net, many thought that this was his hat trick goal and so, as 4 or 5 hats fell to the ice, you could imagine the dismay when the reminder was made that this was goal number 2 not number 3. 

For the rest of the game that before long was one summarized entirely by the 4-0 lead held by Boston, it was no secret that quite a few people would have loved to see Lucic get a cheap goal from sitting in front of Tim Thomas and snag the hat trick for real this time. Long story short, that did not happen. But what did happen was a sudden surge by the Panthers that at one point cut the Bruins lead to 2 and seemed to say to the team hey, time to go out and score a few more!

They listened and even Shawn Thornton pitched in to grab his piece of the goal scoring pie, when he pulled off a miracle move that saw him pull he puck between 3 defenders legs and the roof it past Tim Thomas on the backhand shot. For a guy known for his fighting, this goal was something to be remembered as even when you think about last season’s penalty shot beauty scored by Thornton this might likely be the best goal of Shawn Thornton's career. At least Milan Lucic thinks so. 

"It will definitely be a highlight of the night around North America," Lucic said. "I would say for right now I would put it in the top three or four of goals of the month."

"It was awesome to see him do what he did there, and I know everyone had a good chuckle because we love seeing him score and get rewarded when he does. It almost seems like when he does score he gets the pretty ones, and that one was probably his prettiest since he’s been here on the Bruins."  

In a season dominated by the work of Tuukka Rask, and the unseen talents of Reilly Smith the Bruins big guys have taken center stage these past few games, scoring time and time again, pelting their opponents into submission and making their fans awake each morning with a bit of a soreness in the backs of their thoughts. 

Wait, I should not include that, I mean, too many goals: what a nice problem!

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