The Bruins held an optional pregame skate in Toronto, with Johnny Boychuk out day-to-day & call-up Matt Bartkowski in the lineup.

Brad Marchand scattering the bucket of pucks for the Bruins’ pregame skate at Air Canada Centre Saturday morning in Toronto.

The juxtaposition of these photos was pure luck, as I went to snap a few photos of the group before skate, and No. 63 happened to dump the pucks at the exact same moment….

Also, in photo #2, you see Dougie Hamilton starting to crack a smile - just after this was taken, he skated over by the bench and joked, “you don’t want a close-up of me in the photo??”

^CS

“From, probably after the first month until now, he’s been pretty steady back there, been one of their good defenseman. He’s going to have a good opportunity here to show what he’s capable of doing at this level, we’ve seen him already a few times, so we’re confident he’s going to be fine back there.”

While No. 55 was the only defenseman not on the ice, forwards David Krejci, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton stayed off the ice to rest. Due to the optional, the B’s did not run through normal line rushes, so tonight’s warm ups will give the best indication of the lineup, though Coach did say that Rich Peverley would play tonight.

In between the pipes, Coach Julien talked postskate about the confidence he has in both Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin.

“Well, I think, certainly, approach it in a happy way because that’s what you want with a game every second night and the amount of games we have left in a little bit of time; you need both goaltenders to be good, and both of them have been. It’s not a problem, it’s a great situation for us and I’m going to continue to take advantage of it.”

-Caryn Switaj ^CS

Daniel Paille straps on his equipment prior to morning skate in Toronto #nhlbruins

OTTAWA, ON - Being a healthy scratch is always a tough scenario for an NHL player, especially when it doesn’t occur all too often.

Such was the case for Rich Peverley on Thursday night against Ottawa, as he had a seat up in the press box at Scotiabank Place, while the B’s battled through to edge the Senators, 2-1, off goals from Daniel Paille and Dennis Seidenberg.

Read the full feature by clicking here or on the link above.

BostonBruins.com – It was evident after the Bruins’ practice in Ottawa Friday morning, that the team is looking forward to building off Thursday night’s strong third-period effort that led to a 2-1 win over the Senators.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak, and sends the Bruins into the rest of an important stretch of divisional games – a home and home with Toronto Saturday and Monday, followed by the much anticipated rematch with Montreal on Wednesday at TD Garden – feeling a bit better about their play.

Read the full feature by clicking here or on the link above.

BostonBruins.com - It was a welcome sight to see David Krejci joining his teammates on the ice Thursday morning in Ottawa, and even better to see him suit up come game-time against the Senators at Scotiabank Place, prior to the B’s 2-1 win.

Thursday marked the first time he had played since being attended to on the ice during last Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh, after taking a puck in front of the net late in the third period.

Read the full feature by clicking here or on the link above.

Before the Bruins left Ottawa for their game against Toronto Saturday night, they took the ice at Carleton University for practice.

The Bruins recalled defenseman Matt Bartkowski on an emergency basis Friday, the same day that defenseman Johnny Boychuk left practice with a right leg injury.

Bartkowski will be available for Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs. The 24-year-old has three goals and 21 assists for 24 points in 56 games this season.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

Bartkowski will be available for Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs. The 24-year-old has three goals and 21 assists for 24 points in 56 games this season.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

BRUINS :30 Before the B’s took the ice at Carleton University in Ottawa for practice, Anton took a few one timers courtesy of his captain Zdeno Chara.

And in the case of Zdeno Chara, experts believe he is the very best in the business.

As part of its 8 Debate series, NHL.com listed the league’s best defensemen, and Chara ranked at the top of the list.

Ten NHL.com and NHL Network experts were polled, and five voted Chara as the best. Overall, he had 71 points, eight more than Shea Weber, who ranked second.

“The Norris Trophy winner in 2009, he’s a matchup problem for opposing coaches because Boston’s Claude Julien has no problem letting him play half the game,” Corey Massiak wrote on NHL.com. “Chara is basically the NHL’s version of a shutdown cornerback who takes away one side of the playing surface.”

The rest of the list, in order, is Weber, Erik Karlsson, Alex Pietrangelo, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Kris Letang and Ryan Suter.

Patrice Bergeron received a vote in NHL.com’s list of top centers but didn’t make the top eight, while Milan Lucic received the most votes outside of the top eight left wingers.

Patrice Bergeron, Jay Pandolfo, David Krejci and the B’s touch down in Toronto #nhlbruins

B’s Practice at Carleton University

OTTAWA, ON - Following Thursday night’s 2-1 win over the Senators, the Bruins stayed in Ottawa and held practice Friday morning at Carleton University, “Canada’s Capital University” before jetting to Toronto to continue the Canadian road trip.

Only four Bruins did not skate, with Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara and Andrew Ference staying off the ice to rest.

Ference had played most the night on the off side (left side) with Chara, after Coach had switched around the defensive pairings in McQuaid’s absence (shoulder strain, 3-4 weeks), logging 22:40 in ice time, just behind Zee.

Coach has said finding the proper balance of rest and staying sharp is very important during the shortened season - hence, the rest day for those four.

The brief practice saw a high-energy B’s group run through skating drills, net-front deflections and breakouts after faceoffs, among others, with skate ending on a spirited shootout.

Here were the jersey color schemes, with the makeshift line of Seguin, Spooner and MacDermid in the absences of Marchand and Bergeron.

White: Lucic-Krejci-Horton
Gold: MacDermid-Spooner-Seguin
Grey: Pandolfo-Peverley-Caron
Merlot: Paille-Campbell-Thornton

The other four defensemen were all on (Johnson, Hamilton, Seidenberg - always smiling and definitely reason for it today! - and Boychuk), as well as both goaltenders.

Of note: Rich Peverley spoke to media postpractice about being a healthy scratch last night vs Ottawa, so look for a story with his thoughts later today on BostonBruins.com.

-Caryn Switaj ^CS

The guys talked about bringing in pieces before the trade deadline. Is continuity overrated as to who you play with on a line night in and night out?

Do they need to worry about what kind of guy they add to this roster if they do bring someone in?

Gresh and Zo began the show discussing how the Bruins bounced back with a win against Ottawa even though they didn’t play well. Strong performances from Anton Khudobin recently have propelled the Bruins to big wins.

Pierre McGuire

NBC commentator Pierre McGuire spoke with Mut & Merloni Friday about where the Bruins stand among the top teams in the East, what problems Dougie Hamilton could be facing, and what might happen with Jarome Iginla before the trade deadline.

“I would say Boston, Pittsburgh and Montreal are the three best teams in the Eastern Conference,” McGuire said, noting that the Penguins’ fourth-line forwards contribute on offense and that the Bruins have a similar degree of depth.

“You go watch Danny Paille play — he’s having a great year for Boston. He’s a fourth-line player. His skill level is pretty excessive too, for a depth player. Gregory Campbell‘s skill level’s not so bad. Rich Peverley‘s skill level’s not so bad. So the Bruins can match [the Penguins] in terms of depth skill, and that’s one of the things you’re going to have to have if you’re going to win in the East.”

McGuire said fatigue could be a factor in the struggles of both Milan Lucic and Hamilton. Lucic’s game has been less physical this year, and McGuire said that’s been a trend across the NHL.

“Early on we were seeing the physical teams be physical,” McGuire said. “I would say right now, we’re starting to see some guys let up a little bit. I was talking to Mario Lemieux about this the other day in Pittsburgh, and he said one of the hard parts about the 48-game schedule is that as you get to the halfway point, it’s more than that, because you haven’t had training camp and you are fatigued and you are breaking down.

“There’s a little less physical play, there’s more speed play, there’s a lot more open ice. … I’m not saying that’s the problem with Milan, but I do think fatigue is becoming a very real issue for a lot of players around the league.”

Peverley’s benching has been seen by some as Claude Julien‘s attempt to send a message, but McGuire said he doesn’t think that’s the case.

“Sometimes the games go a lot slower when you’re upstairs and you get a chance to see, maybe you do have more time to make a play, maybe you do have a different outlet and a different decision you can make,” McGuire said. “It’s not really so much about message-sending, I think it’s more getting the player refocused and re-energized.

“They know now, because of the injury to Chris Kelly — [David] Krejci‘s gutting it out but he’s still not 100 percent — they’re going to need Peverley long term. He’s going to have to fit in really well as a centerman and it’s just a chance to get him re-energized.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page. For more Bruins coverage, visit the team page at weei.com/bruins.

On Hamilton’s play of late: “I think the biggest thing is fatigue. Especially players after a World Junior that’s in a different time zone, and Dougie was obviously over in Ufa [in Russia] playing for Canada — when they come back, it usually is three or four weeks where they ride the emotional wave and then they just crash and burn. That’s usually what happens, it’s a normal thing, and again, it’s not an easy thing to overcome. Your body clock is so messed up.

“I know it doesn’t sound like much, but believe me, it is a lot. And the other thing to compound it is, usually first-year players hit the wall around January in an 82-game schedule. So in a 48-game schedule, this would be about January in an 82-game schedule.”

On the Penguins’ goalies improving during their winning streak: “Gilles Meloche is the goalie coach in Pittsburgh and he’s done a fantastic job working with Marc-Andre Fleury on his 5-hole control, because that’s where a lot of goals have beaten Fleury, but they’ve really worked hard on getting him square and getting positioning for him. In terms of what they’ve done with [Tomas] Vokoun, it’s nothing complicated: get him in shape. He was really out of shape when he came over. He would cramp up a lot, he would cheat on plays because he just wasn’t quick enough or in shape. They’ve got them in shape and the goaltending situation has straightened out.

“But one of the things that’s helped the goaltending there? Total team commitment to defense. They’re getting their forwards helping out, they’re winning a lot of in-zone faceoffs, and they’re doing a real good job blocking shots, something they weren’t doing earlier this year.”

On Alex Ovechkin’s role in the Capitals’ struggles: “Alex hasn’t been great, but the last three games he’s been very solid. If you look at Washington, they’re 2-1 in those games, and they had a chance to win in Pittsburgh, they played relatively well. It’s part on him, it’s part on the conditioning level of the players that showed up — they were not in good shape at all. They could not play a 60-minute game coming out of the lockout. And they lost a huge component in Brooks Laich. He’s really the unseen hand behind the scenes, he’s such a revered player in the dressing room, and he didn’t play his first game through 29 games, it was the other night in Pittsburgh. So that was a big loss. You can combine those three things and then add in no training camp, really, for Adam Oates and the new system.”

On where Iginla will land: “He doesn’t have a contract for next year, so you’re talking about a pure rental. It’s a little bit like Marian Hossa. Pittsburgh paid [four] tangible assets to get Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. [Four] very important assets. Now, they went to the Stanley Cup final that year. They didn’t win, lost Hossa, and it took them a long time. You look at the next year, they won the Cup without Hossa, they were lucky. They won a Game 7 on the road. But then they haven’t won a playoff series in a while. They lost a lot of their internal depth. It’s taken them that long to build it back. To get Jarome Iginla, it’s probably going to cost you two very good prospects, one very good established player, or one prospect and a pick, to get Jarome Iginla as a rental. There’s no guarantee he’s coming back to you.”

On coaches’ challenges: “I think there’s an appetite for a coaches’ challenge. Now they have to formulate the criteria for what can be challenged and can’t be challenged. That’s something that’s going to require work, it’s going to require study, it’s going to require negotiation with the league and the players’ association. I don’t know whether it’s going to be in the next year or two, but at some point we are going to have a coaches’ challenge. The game’s just too quick. It’s virtually impossible for an official right now to catch everything. It just happens so fast. I do think the biggest question mark on coaches’ challenge will be the criteria.

“My theory is this: I think there should be one coaches’ challenge. If you challenge and you get it wrong, you lose your timeout. That simple. If they allow two coaches’ challenges and you challenge twice and you’re wrong, you get a minor penalty and lose your timeout. I don’t think it would slow the game down at all. It’s like one time-out per game. It’s not going to slow anything down very much.”

Seidenberg chatting with Campbell while he stretches before the B’s practice in Ottawa #nhlbruins

98.5 The Sports Hub’s Bruins play-by-play announcer Dave Goucher joined Ryan Johnston and WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche, who were in for Toucher & Rich, to discuss the not so pretty win over Ottawa, the issues plaguing this team, injuries and moves before the deadline.

Claude Julien sat Bruins center Rich Peverley, kept Milan Lucic off of the first power play of the night and the third line was pretty quiet. Is Claude Julien at the end of his rope with what he’s seeing from his players? Could the team get what it needs in a trade before the deadline?

The trade deadline comes on April 3rd and they guys wonder what moves Goucher would make if he were in Peter Chiarelli’s shoes. Goucher thinks the team needs more punch up front and should think about adding a piece at the blue line with the injury to Adam McQuaid.

Goucher went on to say that making moves could be tough as many teams are still in on the playoff hunt and my be reluctant to move players before the deadline.

It was a gritty win for the B’s as they battled through, found their game in the third and thanks to Seidenberg’s first of the season, the 2-1 win.

Claude Julien finally got two points Thursday night to end a two-game skid, but it's safe to say he also got his team’s attention. 

read more

The B’s are a long way from peak form, but to their credit, on a night when the Ottawa Senators didn’t allow them a whole lot of time or space, they kept grinding, made the third period their best of the night, and eked out a sorely needed 2-1 victory, their 11th consecutive win at Scotiabank Place.

First, the close call was made to let a less-than-100 percent David Krejci return to the lineup. But then Julien also opted to keep rookie center Ryan Spooner in the lineup — and scratch veteran Rich Peverley.

This was not about Spooner being a hometown hero who got to fulfill a lifelong dream and play his first game in Scotiabank Place.

Patrice Bergeron won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Zdeno Chara, the Boston captain fed Seidenbergand his shot found its way past goalie Robin Lehner through a maze of players.

Daniel Paille also scored for the Bruins (20-6-3), and Anton Khudobin made 27 saves.

Kaspars Daugavins scored for Ottawa, and Lehner also stopped 27 shots. The Senators dropped to 16-9-6 after winning their previous three games.

Things to Think About

- The Peverley “healthy scratch” decision seems too much like a coincidence. Can the move have something to do with showcasing Spooner more? Spooner was also playing in front of his home crowd.

- Rumor is that other GM’s are interested in Malcom Subban. Would you give up the goalie for a player like Iginla?

- Remember the words “emotionally invested.” I keep hearing it over and over this week, starting with last Saturday’s game against the Capitals. After showing a lack luster performance in the first, the Bruins were “emotionally invested” in the third as the game turned up a notch, ultimately resulting in a Bruin win.

- The Boston power play is now 0-for-8 in the last three games. Has the Bruins’ kryptonite returned?

- Krejci returned and looks like he hasn’t missed a step on the ice.

RELATED: Bruins Bizarro Win Over Senators

- It’s an extreme sellers market in the NHL as every team still feels like they have a chance to enter the playoffs. How realistic is it that Chiarelli pulls something off?

- After calling Rask out on Tuesday, Julien gave Khudobin the start on Thursday. Expected or is there a message being sent there?

Quick Hits

- After giving up leads in five out of their six regulation losses, the Bruins come back from an 1-0 deficit to beat the Senators for a third time this season.

- The win ends the Bruins two-game losing streak.

- It’s Boston’s 11th straight win in Ottawa — the longest winning streak in an opponent’s arena since 1984.

- Peverley has four goals and a team-worst minus-9 in 28 games.

- Khudobin is now 6-2-0.

- The only goal from Ottawa came from Kaspers Daugavains, the same player who had the odd shootout attempt against Rask the last time these two teams matched up.

- Paille put in his 6th goal to tie the game in the second. He has two more goals this season than Lucic and Peverley.

- Lehner has played in net for Ottawa in every single game against Boston this year, and has lost all three.

- The Bergeron lines continues to shine as number-37 won a big face off to set up the go-ahead goal in the third period by Dennis Seidenberg — his first of the season.

- The Bruins had the only two power play opportunities of the night and weren’t able to convert on either.

- Veteran Aaron Johnson took the injured Adam Mcquaid’s spot.

OTHER

- Montreal won as well, and remain two points ahead of Boston in the division (45).

- Martin Brodeur scored a goal in his first game back from the IR.

Mark Feldman has worked at 98.5 The Sports Hub for the last four years and currently works on the Gresh & Zolak show. Follow Mark on Twitter @Feldman985.

Seidenberg sporting the Rooster victory t-shirt postgame, thanks to Ference for the pic! #nhlbruins

At least that’s what I’m calling it.

Through nearly 59 minutes of hockey in Ottawa Thursday night, the only Bruins goal was scored by Daniel Paille. While that might not be as rare this season as in past years, it was weird to see the Bruins’ fourth line suddenly become their third line. The trio of Jay Pandolfo, Ryan Spooner and Jordan Caron all played less than nine minutes, while Paille, Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell all saw increases in their recent playing time.

Then with just a few ticks before the game’s final minute, Dennis Seidenberg scored the game-winner – his first goal in 30 games. The Bruins hung on for the 2-1 win, which was their 10th straight victory on the Senators’ home ice.

Boston’s goal-scorers weren’t the only things contributing to this backwards victory. For once the Bruins weren’t leading entering the third period, so there was no last-stanza lead to blow.

Rich Peverley, one of the Bruins’ go-to guys the last couple seasons, was sat out in favor of the rookie Spooner. That seemed odd considering there were better candidates among Pandolfo and Caron, but Bruins coach Claude Julien obviously wanted to send a message to the slumping Peverley, who scored just one goal in his last 10 games.

Julien started the night with the unorthodox decision to turn to goaltender Anton Khudobin to stop the Bruins’ two-game losing streak. While it was probably the Bruins backup’s turn to start, one might’ve expected Julien to give Tuukka Rask a chance for redemption after consecutive defeats and a soft game-losing goal last game in Winnipeg.

Boston’s “Dr. Khu” rewarded the coach and he had the cure for the Bruins’ ills with 27 saves, including some big ones at the end of the first two periods that could’ve shifted momentum all the way in Ottawa’s favor.

There’s no doubt the Bruins have to play better. But sometimes earning two points without your best effort can be a boon. At least in this case, a victory might calm down some of the calls for general manager Peter Chiarelli to mortgage the future and add a broken-down old winger or two. That would be a “Bizarro” move if there ever was one by Chiarelli.

So now the Bruins can look for improvement against the other Ontario team they consistently own, the Toronto Maple Leafs. A Superman effort might be required prevail in Toronto, but for now the Bruins can relish being on Bizarro’s side.

Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg’s goal (No. 1) with 64 seconds left in the third was the winner for the B’s, who had their two-game losing streak end.

You know things are sliding for the Bruins when they’re having a tough time against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place, an arena in which they own a 10-game winning streak.

Dennis Seidenberg‘s first goal of the season was a huge one, as the veteran blue liner took a feed from Zdeno Chara following a Patrice Bergeron faceoff win with just over a minute to play and blasted a one-timer past Robin Lehner to break a late tie and give the Bruins a 2-1 lead over the Senators Thursday nigh

read more

Dennis Seidenberg

Dennis Seidenberg‘s first goal of the season was a huge one, as the veteran blue liner took a feed from Zdeno Chara following a Patrice Bergeron faceoff win with just over a minute to play and blasted a one-timer past Robin Lehner to break a late tie and give the Bruins a 2-1 lead over the Senators Thursday night in Ottawa.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bruins and improved them to 20-6-3 on the season. The B’s got the win on a night in which Claude Julien made Rich Peverley a healthy scratch, keeping Ryan Spooner in the lineup as David Krejci made his return from a knee injury.

The Senators got on the board when Kaspars Daugavins fired a wrist shot past Anton Khudobin early in the second period. After a sloppy showing throughout the second period for the B’s, Daniel Paille beat Lehner with a wrister with 1:22 remaining in the second to tie the game.

The Bruins will play the first game of a home-and-home with the Maple Leafs by wrapping up their four-game road trip Saturday night in Toronto.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

- Julien treated the Merlot line as his third line Thursday night, and it paid off with Paille’s goal. The Paille-Gregory Campbell- Shawn Thornton line got got more shifts and ice time than the trio of Spooner between Jay Pandolfo and Jordan Caron, with Campbell playing 15:33 to Spooner’s 8:17.

- Khudobin came through for the B’s in the final 30 seconds of the first period, making big stops with the Senators buzzing in the offensive zone against the Spooner line. The backup netminder came up with stops on Kyle Turris, Jakob Silfverberg and Patrick Wiercioch in what was a frantic end to the first period.

- Paille’s strong offensive season continues, as his six goals put his total through 69 games last season (nine) easily within reach. Paille’s career-high for goals is 19, which he got with the Sabres in the 2007-08 season. His best total as a Bruin is 10 in 2009-10.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

- The B’s were sloppy, sloppy, sloppy from an offensive standpoint in the second period. Krejci’s line blew a 3-on-1 when Milan Lucic made an extra pass to Nathan Horton and failed to connect. Later in the second, the B’s were on an odd-man rush and Lucic passed to Tyler Seguin, who had turned back to go for a line change.

- Speaking of line changes, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron were getting off as the Senators went the other way on the rush on which Daugavins gave the Senators the 1-0 lead.

- The Bruins went without a shot on goal in both of their power plays, as the B’s made it three straight games without a power-play goal (0-for-8). Julien tweaked the units for the first power play, putting Seguin on the second unit and replacing him on the top unit with Spooner. Dougie Hamilton was also moved to the second unit, with Seidenberg taking his place on the point on the first unit.

Bergeron takes a sharp turn around Ottawa’s net in pursuit of Lundin #nhlbruins

David Krejci was back in the Bruins’ lineup for Thursday night’s game against the Senators, marking his return from a knee injury sustained when he was hit with a Johnny Boychuk slapshot Sunday.

With Krejci returning, Ryan Spooner was kept in the lineup, while Rich Peverley was made a surprise healthy scratch. Spooner replaced Peverley on the third line with Jay Pandolfo and Jordan Caron.

read more

With Krejci returning, Ryan Spooner was kept in the lineup, while Rich Peverley was made a surprise healthy scratch. Spooner replaced Peverley on the third line with Jay Pandolfo and Jordan Caron.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

Anton Khudobin will be in net tonight for the B’s vs OTT #nhlbruins

BostonBruins.com – Tonight, the Bruins face a challenge they have yet to come across this season: trying to prevent a three-game losing streak.

Back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Winnipeg, games in which the B’s managed one goal each, marked the first time this year that they had lost two straight games in regulation.

Read the full feature by clicking here or on the link above.

OTTAWA, ON - When the Bruins hit the ice Thursday morning for pregame skate at Scotiabank Place before facing the Senators tonight, there was a welcomed addition to the group: David Krejci.

The center skated for the first time since leaving late in the third period during Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh after getting hit by a puck in front of the goal, and will be a “game-time decision” tonight, per Coach Julien.

Read the full feature by clicking here or on the link above.

Should the Bruins commit to goaltender Tuukka Rask?

Offense or defense? What do the Bruins need by the deadline? What players could be on the Bruins radar?

How can Milan Lucic get himself back on track?

What kind of potential does Malcolm Subban have?

If the Bruins stand pat at the deadline, could the Bruins make a run at the Cup with the current lineup?

David Krejci joined the B’s on the ice this morning and will be a game-time decision tonight, Aaron Johnson is also expected to start in the absence of McQuaid.

Krejci exits the ice after pregame skate this morning & will be a game-time decision vs OTT #nhlbruins

The Bruins’ center skated Thursday morning with the team, and coach Claude Julien said Krejci will be a game-time decision Thursday night in Ottawa.

“We’ll see how he feels after warmups,” Julien said of Krejci. “If he feels good, then he’s gonna go.”

Krejci suffered his injury Sunday afternoon when Johnny Boychuk’s slap shot hit him in the knee in Pittsburgh. He did not play Tuesday night in Winnipeg, but he said he’s feeling better each day.

“The first two days felt awful,” Krejci said after the morning skate. “Then yesterday I woke up and it was so much better. Today was better again. So, it’s a game-time decision, we’ll see.”

Ryan Spooner filled in for Krejci on Tuesday, registering two shots on net in 15:29 of ice time in his second career NHL game.

Following the Bruins’ morning skate Thursday in Ottawa, Claude Julien said that center David Krejci will be a game-time decision against the Senators.

“We’ll see how he feels after warmups,” Julien told reporters. “If he feels good, then he’s going to go.”

read more

“We’ll see how he feels after warmups,” Julien told reporters. “If he feels good, then he’s going to go.”

Krejci missed Tuesday’s loss to the Jets after getting hit in the knee with a Johnny Boychuk slapshot in Sunday’s loss to the Penguins. Ryan Spooner filled in for him, centering the top line on Tuesday.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

Gresh and Zo were joined by Joe Haggerty to talk about the Bruins and their recent struggles and the mounting injuries the team’s trying to deal with.

Injuries are starting to pile up for the B’s, so far they have lost Chris Kelly to a broken left tibia, Adam McQuaid to a strained left shoulder and David Krejci to a injury to his right leg. What does the team lose by not having these guys out on the ice?

Do guys like Ryan Spooner and Jordan Caron have a spotlight on them the next few games before Peter Chiarelli has to think about making a move before the deadline? Plus, does next year’s salary cap tie Chiarelli’s hands in terms of the moves he can make this season?

Goaltender Ross Brooks was a standout as backup for the Bruins of the mid-1970s despite not playing an NHL game until the age of 35. (Nick DeWolf)

“The biggest thing was looking around the room and seeing all those names on the seats — Esposito, [Ken] Hodge, Dallas Smith, Terry O’Reilly — you could just go around the room. And then I saw my name,” Brooks said. “And I just stared at it for a while, and you almost want to pinch yourself to make sure that it’s right.”

Brooks spent three seasons — 1972-73 to 1974-75 — with the Bruins, playing in 54 games. He posted goals-against averages of 2.64, 2.36 and 2.98, respectively, and in the ’73-74 season he tied an NHL record with 14 consecutive wins. He finished that year with a 16-3 record, serving as the backup to Gilles Gilbert.

It all happened rather suddenly. Brooks broke into the NHL at age 35 after a 12-year minor league journey that took him from Phoenix to Rochester. Despite his stellar statistics, he spent just three seasons in the league, retiring when Gerry Cheevers returned to the Bruins from the World Hockey Association.

“In hindsight, you’d wish that had happened at 21 years of age, but you know what? At least it happened,” Brooks said of his chance with the Bruins.

Despite never earning a starting job, Brooks maintained patience and a good attitude, according to Orr. The two have kept in touch over the years and still golf together from time to time.

“Sometimes, being a backup, they’re unhappy all the time and moaning and groaning, and that wasn’t Ross,” Orr said. “Ross was a great team guy. Everybody loved him, and when he was called upon to play, obviously, by his record, he played very well for us. … He’s a fun guy. He’s a jokester, and we always had a lot of fun.”

Brooks, 75, now is the arena manager at Providence College. His longest minor league stop involved seven seasons with the AHL’s Providence Reds, and with a few interruptions he’s been based there ever since. Even as a Bruin, he made the 45-minute commute from the Providence area and says he was only late for practice in Boston once.

Brooks credits the Reds with making his NHL career possible — by firing him during the 1970-71 season. That led him to finish out the year with the CHL’s Oklahoma City Blazers, then a farm team of the Bruins. He attended training camp with the Blazers, the AHL Boston Braves and the Bruins the next year in London, Ontario. There, then-Bruins GM Milt Schmidt liked the way he played, and the Braves signed him.

Brooks said he didn’t change his style of play in between being cut and being signed again (“In those days, the style you had was the style you got”), but that Boston’s faith in him gave him the motivation and confidence to play better.

“You want to do it even more so because somebody did give you a chance,” Brooks said. “You look at the team you’re on and you say, ‘I can’t screw this up.’ ”

As a Brave, Brooks played 34 games, the most he had started since 1962-63 with the EHL’s Philadelphia Ramblers, and recorded a 3.01 goals-against average. He also got the chance to stick it to the team that gave up on him, and distinctly recalls winning the start he made back in Providence against the Reds.

The Braves played at the Boston Garden, and although they didn’t pack it the way the Bruins did, Brooks was impressed by crowds of a size he hadn’t seen anywhere else in the minors. But even that couldn’t prepare him for the first time he took the ice in a Bruins sweater, an experience he describes as “seventh heaven.”

“I don’t think a lot of guys take it for granted, because it’s so hard to get there,” Brooks said. “And then when you get there, you really realize it’s worth all the aggravation.”

Starting at the Garden was nerve-wracking at first, Brooks said, but nothing was as memorable as his second Bruins start, which he made at Maple Leaf Gardens in his native city of Toronto. He remembers giving up a goal on the first shot he faced, through the 5-hole, but he held on for the rest of the game to secure the win with his parents in the stands.

“My poor mother, she walked the concourse through the whole third period. She couldn’t watch it,” Brooks said. “That would have to be the biggest thrill. Winning the first game, playing at home, against the Maple Leafs, with your parents there — what the hell more could it be?”

Brooks never started more than 21 games as a Bruin, but Orr said the team knew he’d give them a chance to win when the took the ice, no matter how long it had been since his last start.

“To have that guy that can sit for a long period, and then put him in and play the way he played … that made it very good for the No. 1 guy,” Orr said. “It was pretty good when you could put your backup guy in and not have to worry.”

At 38, Brooks knew his time had come when Cheevers returned, and he moved on. He coached high school hockey for a time, worked for the Providence Bruins, and even operated a bar/restaurant for 15 years. He took the job running Schneider Arena 11 years ago.

The photo of Orr above Brooks’ desk is a rare splash of black and gold in an office full of Providence Friars logos (and a Canadian flag magnet on the filing cabinet). Brooks watches all the Friars’ home games and has plenty to say about goalies around New England, from Providence freshman standout Jon Gillies to Tuukka Rask to Tim Thomas.

Like many Bruins fans, his admiration for Thomas’ goaltending is tempered by his opinions on Thomas’ off-ice decisions.

“The White House thing was a big mistake,” Brooks said. “I don’t care if you don’t like the guy, or you’re not a Democrat or whatever — you’re a team.

“These guys would have made him go,” he added, gesturing to Orr’s picture. ” ‘You’re going. We’re all going.’ And he could have sat in the back of the room. He could have gone to the washroom. He could have done a lot of things, and then just left, like everybody.”

He’s enjoying watching the Bruins this season, but Brooks is even more pleased about another recent hockey-related development: his 6-year-old grandson has begun learn-to-skate classes and recently skated with a stick for the first time, clad in a new Bruins jersey with his name on the back.

Although he’s proud to see his grandson skate in black and gold, Brooks also remains a devout Leafs fan, which complicates matters when the Northeast Division rivals play.

“Both,” Brooks said with a laugh when asked who he roots for in those situations. “If I was watching the game in Toronto, I’d be cheering for the Leafs. If I was in Boston, I’d be cheering for Boston.

“It’s pretty hard to root against a team when they’ve taken such good care of you,” he went on. “You can never forget who brought you to the dance.”

Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk joined Ryan Johnston and WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche, who were filling in for Toucher & Rich, to discuss the struggles the team is having closing teams out in the third period, dealing with injuries and the season being more than half over.

Last season the Bruins were 32-0-0 when leading after two periods and 38-0-0 in games they led by two or more goals at any time. This season the B’s have a 9-4-1 record when leading after two periods. Why is this team having trouble closing team out at the end of games?

“I’m not sure, it just seems like we let teams back into it when before we would just push on the pedal and and go after the teams.”

Is it a case of players getting away from Claude Julien’s system late into games or just poor play and mistakes?

“I think it’s a combination of things, having some turnovers at the blue line and losing a couple battles. There’s a combination of things.”

Injuries are starting to pile up for the B’s, so far they have lost Chris Kelly to a broken left tibia, Adam McQuaid to a strained left shoulder and David Krejci to a injury to his right leg. How does the team deal with losing guys in the middle of games?

Plus with the shortened season how does it feel having more than half the season over and starting to focus on the playoffs?

Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich on Thursday — with Ryan Johnston and Dan Roche filling in — to break down a couple moves the Bruins may make before the April 3 deadline.

“The priority is going to be to address the injuries to (Chris) Kelly and (Adam) McQuaid – bringing in a physical defenseman as well as some checking line depth,” said Richardson. “The fans desire to see a guy like Jerome Iginla or a guy like Daniel Aflredsson out of Ottawa… I wouldn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of Chiarelli going after a big fish, but the priority is replacing Kelly and perhaps bringing in a short-term replacement for McQuaid.”

Read: McQuaid Out 3-4 Weeks With Shoulder Strain

So who is out there for Bruins?

“I know the Bruins have been scouting (forwards) Ryane Clowe of San Jose and Brenden Morrow, the captain of the Dallas Stars,” said Richardson. “Both players are going to be restricted free agents this summer, and it doesn’t sound like they’ll be resigned. The Sharks would like to sign Clowe, but they’ll have some salary cap issues.”

“The problem is that while they can play some solid third-line minutes for you, the quality of their play has declined,” he said of those two potential targets. “This season, Clowe has been struggling to score offensively… and there is some concern about his health.”

Kalman On T&R: Time For Bruins’ Stars To Step Up

Clowe has just seven assists and no goals this season, while Morrow — a 12-year vet — has just five goals and six assists in 25 games.

Right now there isn’t too much on the open market due to the strike-shortened start, but that could change soon.

“Because of the shortened season you have so many teams still in it. I would suggest over the next couple weeks we may see some things shake loose a little more,” said Richardson. “In the East I’d keep an eye on Washington; there is the thought that Mike Ribero could be available. He’s their top center this year, but again, he’s a restricted free agent after this year. Bufalo is another team to keep an eye one, guys like Robert Rigger. If you’re looking for someone to replace McQuaid he might be a good addition.”

Too often this season, the Bruins have lost their fight against those monsters.

Four times in 28 games, the B’s held leads well into the final period — once by three goals, twice by two — yet crumbled down the stretch as the opposition stormed back.

In Hour 2, Mazz and Bertrand were joined by Boston Bruins radio play-by-play announcer Dave Goucher to discuss the B’s current road trip. Mazz and Beetle went on to discuss the potential of a scheduling conflict between the Baltimore Raven and the Baltimore Orioles. The home stadiums of the O’s and Ravens share a parking lot and both teams can’t play at the same time. On Thursday September 5th, the Ravens would be scheduled for the season-opener at home, but the Orioles are hosting the Chicago White Sox. Should MLB adjust a September game or should the NFL move the home-opener of the Super Bowl Champion Ravens?

To kick of Hour 3, Mazz and Beetle talked some Boston Red Sox and David Ortiz’ progress. Yesterday Ortiz hit off a tee and today he took some soft-toss. Why was Ortiz given a 2-year deal? The Red Sox are going to faced with an other issue and that is how to handle Jackie Bradley Jr.. This spring Bradley Jr. is batting .444. Is Bradley Jr. ready to be on the opening day big league roster? The guys went back to discuss the September 5th scheduling issue in Baltimore. Should the NFL or MLB make the adjustment?

In the 4th and final hour, Massarotti and Bertrand went back to the talk about the Boston Bruins and their issues with keeping a lead. Do the Bruins want Tuukka Rask as the goaltender of the future? Is Rask worth $6.5 million a year? Finally, it’s the Final Word with Joe Murray.

"Adam sustained a shoulder strain and will return to Boston for further evaluation by the Bruins medical staff. It is anticipated that he may be out 3-4 weeks," Chiarelli said.

The Bruins are already missing Chris Kelly (broken leg) and David Krejci (knee) from the lineup.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli announced Wednesday that defenseman Adam McQuaid is expected to miss three to four weeks with a left shoulder strain suffered in the first period of Tuesday’s loss to the Jets.

read more

Adam McQuaid

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli announced Wednesday that defenseman Adam McQuaid is expected to miss three to four weeks with a left shoulder strain suffered in the first period of Tuesday’s loss to the Jets.

McQuaid suffered the injury on his second shift of the game when he was shoved into the corner by Jets forward Eric Tangradi. He left the game and did not return. Chiarelli issued the following statement Wednesday:

“Adam sustained a shoulder strain and will return to Boston for further evaluation by the Bruins medical staff. It is anticipated that he may be out 3-4 weeks.”

Through 25 games for the B’s this season, McQuaid has one goal and and three assists for four points and a plus-4 rating. He is tied with Shawn Thornton for the team lead with five fighting majors.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon, adding that McQuaid will return to Boston for further evaluation by the team’s medical staff.

McQuaid suffered the injury in the first period on Tuesday night against the Jets, when he skated toward a loose puck and tried to throw a body check on Eric Tangradi. The Jets forward outweighs McQuaid by more than 20 pounds and got the better of him, sending McQuaid awkwardly into the boards. McQuaid immediately grabbed at his left shoulder, and after a brief stop on the Bruins bench, ended up going to the locker room before intermission.

McQuaid has a goal, three assists and a plus-4 rating in 25 games this season.

The Bruins are already without Chris Kelly (broken tibia) for a long period and David Krejci (lower-body injury) for an unknown amount of time after he took a Johnny Boychuk shot off the leg on Sunday.

McQuaid left the team and returned to Boston.

Andy Brickley

NESN’s Andy Brickley spoke with Mut & Merloni Wednesday about why the Bruins have struggled to maintain leads, what general manager Peter Chiarelli might do before the trade deadline, and how the lineup could be shuffled after some recent injuries.

On Tuesday, the Bruins gave up three third-period goals and lost 3-1 to the Jets. Brickley said the way the B’s have played with leads, especially late in games, has been problematic.

“With one-goal leads, even sometimes two-goal leads — for some reason, their inability to make plays when it’s coming out of their own zone, at center ice, when they do have possession, putting pucks into areas in the offensive zone, it requires discipline,” Brickley said. “You don’t want to have to play that way, because you have the lead and you think you can extend the lead by making plays, when the real play is to put pucks in areas to force the other team to have to go and then have to come 200 feet.

“Games are going that way this year because of the 48-game schedule. Things are different this year. Those are not excuses for this Bruins team, because they’re better than they’re showing. They should have close-out ability and they haven’t shown it consistently enough. That said, they’re still in pretty darn good shape.”

There’s been talk of the Bruins pursuing a stay-at-home defenseman to help support Dougie Hamilton before the April 3 trade deadline. However, Brickley said they may make a play for an offense-oriented defenseman instead, despite the potential cost of such a trade.

“As much as we like Dougie Hamilton and what he’s brought to this team, you still see his minutes reduced late in the game, when they’re playing good competition, playoff teams, and goals are hard to come by,” Brickley said. “He’s not the player that you can look at and say, April, May and June, he’s going to be real good for us. That would be a total guess. So maybe you do have to add a puck-moving defenseman, and that’s probably where the premium is at, but there are a lot of puck-moving defensemen … that would be available.”

To get that offense-minded defenseman, the Bruins might have to give up a top prospect or high draft pick, and making a deadline deal for an elite player is rarely simple.

“If you’re talking one of those high-end guys, you’ve got to deal with no-trade clauses,” Brickley said. “You’ve got to deal with, what is his salary cap hit, can we fit him into the compliance buyout next year if it’s too much money but we want him for the rest of this year. There’s a lot of names getting chatted about, and obviously, that’ll only get even hotter between now and 15 days from now.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page. For more Bruins news, visit the team page at weei.com/bruins.

On whether Hamilton’s minutes are limited due to concerns about injury or a lack of trust in him: “It’s all of the above. It’s more, can he make plays that we need him to make late in the game, can he make the right decision, how’s his gap control, is he eliminating players? He’s been very, very good, but when you’re trying to put games away, and obviously they’re having difficulty with everyone doing the right things, he’s as guilty or more so on the back end than most. You can’t just keep rolling [Zdeno] Chara and [Dennis] Seidenberg out there.”

On Claude Julien saying the Bruins didn’t get “timely saves” from Tuukka Rask Tuesday: “I was a little surprised by that, too. That’s some frustration from a coach that knows third periods have been an issue. I think he’s very satisfied with his goaltending to be honest. I think it was frustrating because of the fact that they didn’t extend the lead, and now it’s everybody’s fault, from coaching to goaltending to special teams to players up and down the lineup.”

On Ryan Spooner and the first line’s issues: “I thought Ryan Spooner looked a lot more like an NHL player than he did in his first attempt. He played less than six minutes in that game against Montreal — I’m not sure what kind of opportunity that is to really evaluate his ability to play at this level. But he was going to get the opportunity. I think he appreciated that, that they were going to stick him right in [David] Krejci‘s slot and give him a chance to play with two real good players when they were on top of their game. He certainly didn’t look out of place, looked pretty comfortable. We had a quick little highlight package of him after the first period and into the second where he was doing his job defensively and involved offensively. He has a chance to be a very good NHL player somewhere down the line.

“But it reminds you that with mounting injuries, with [Chris] Kelly going down, now with Krejci going down, now [Adam] McQuaid goes down, your strength in the middle is affected. Your team toughness is affected. When you try to shorten your bench late in games and you want to maybe rotate four or five defensemen, that’s affected as well. But what does it mean for Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton? It just puts more pressure on them to perform, to be better than they’ve been on a consistent basis.”

On Spooner going from Providence to the first line: “This kid is an offensive guy. He’s leading Providence in scoring. He should play with offensive people in offensive situations, not just stuck on a third or fourth line and worrying about chipping pucks in and chipping them out. Give him some power-play time. I like that, when you call up a guy and try to play to his strengths and put him in a position to succeed, and I think that was the thought process in putting Spooner where they put him.”

On breaking up Patrice Bergeron’s line: “Sure. I think that’s even been bandied about with the absence of David Krejci. Do we keep Lucic and Horton together? Do we slide [Rich] Peverley right in between the two of them? … Do you even give [Tyler] Seguin some time to play in the middle, break up the Bergeron line, which is probably the least desirable because they’re so good together?Let’s keep that one line together, maybe they’ll be a difference-maker on some nights and we can win hockey games.

“Sometimes you just try to keep twosomes together. It doesn’t have to be the three guys, outside of the Bergeron line. They’ve got to find a way to get more offense, and they put that game away last night if their power play could produce a goal when it’s 1-0, or certainly take a point out of it. They could at least get to overtime, I’m sure, if they had a two-goal lead in the third period. Even by tweaking those forward lines a little bit, get people’s attention, maybe you reduce somebody’s ice time, give somebody’s ice time to somebody else. As currently constituted, this roster, with the injuries that they have –you can see the need, there is a need, and you may have known that there was going to be a need all along to add to this roster, but now it’s being amplified.”

Gresh and Zo began Wednesday’s show breaking down the Bruins’ 3-1 loss to the Jets. The Black and Gold have now lost two games in a row and now sit five points behind Pittsburgh for first place in the East.

The B’s lost Adam McQuaid to injury in the first after he went hard into the boards. The team is already without Chris Kelly, who suffered a broken left tibia, and David Krejci, who according to coach Claude Julien hurt his right leg.

Today is Orr’s 65th birthday, and it’s certainly brought about quite the reaction from the hockey world.

Robert Gordon Orr, age 65? Today? Nah, must be a misprint. Doesn't look a day over 45 and makes us all feel old. Happy Birthday, Bobby.—
Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) March 20, 2013

The, ah, four most poetic words in hockey history: Number 4, Bobby Orr.—
Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) March 20, 2013

Don't know why Bobby Orr's birthday isn't a holiday in Massachusetts—
Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) March 20, 2013

Happy birthday to Bobby Orr, 65 years old today but an evergreen icon for as long as hockey is played.—
Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) March 20, 2013

Happy birthday to number four, Bobby Orr! #nhlbruins instagr.am/p/XFZ6tFRKlp/—
Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 20, 2013

CBSBostonsports.com’s Bruins writer Matt Kalman joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich on Wednesday, and says Boston’s struggles stem from their inability to add-on to early leads.

“When they get a lead, they tend to sit back; they’re not really attacking as much,” said Kalman. “We’re seeing that with their best players not getting the chances in the second and third period – and not cashing in on them especially. They definitely need a little kick in the rear end, whether that’s a lineup juggle or a trade somewhere along the line. They have to get back to the way they were playing last year.”

Read: Matt Kalman On CBSBostonsports.com

“When they get these leads, they’re not dumping pucks in or going in on the fore-check. Even Patrice Bergeron, who we’re not supposed to criticize, even he made a few iffy plays when they were killing a penalty and when Winnipeg got their first goal,” said Kalman. “They’re forcing plays, thinking too much, and it’s really starting to hurt them.”

“It’s also going to start being a confidence issue… They get these leads and start to panic. We saw them protect some of their third period leads, but they did it in shaky fashion. Down the road here we’ll see a trade or two to bolster their lineup, but really it’s on their top guys playing at their best,” said Kalman. “They really need their best players to step up, and there really isn’t time to recover.”

With injuries to centers Chris Kelly and David Krejci, and with defenseman Adam McQuaid going down in Tuesday’s loss, Kalman says there will be room for a trade before the April 3 deadline — but not to expect anything big.

Bear Essentials: Quick Hits From Bruins-Jets

“It’s not going to be a sexy trade that will send a tingle up your leg. It’ll be something like they’ve done in the past where they’ve added veteran players. When they got Kelly and Peverley people weren’t dancing in the street, but then a few months later they were,” he said. “I think with the way prices are and how many teams are in the race with the short season, it’s not going to be a sexy deal. But  you’re going to see them get a couple solid role players and that’s really all this team needs. With this team’s star power they should be fine with Lucic and Chara. They just need a supporting cast and they’re just kind of thin in that department.”

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes coverage to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

After going 32-0-0 when leading after two periods last year, and under the defensive-based system of Claude Julien, it’s been startling to see the team blow a third-period lead for the fifth time this season.

Yet, the blown third-period lead is only the end result. The real issue with the Bruins is what happens prior to the blown third-period advantage. Or, more specifically, what doesn’t happen.

They can’t score.

Their only goal Tuesday night came after a bad bounce off the end boards put the puck on Brad Marchand’s tape, and one of the few Bruins who’s actually scored with frequency this season was able to bury his chance.

The same could not be said for Nathan Horton, who backed into the slot moments after Blake Wheeler’s tying goal in the third and, with Ondrej Pavelec scrambling back into position after getting caught behind the net, fired the puck almost comically into the Jets logo on the goaltender’s chest. Thirty-one seconds later, Evander Kane was scoring the go-ahead goal for Winnipeg.

The Bear Essentials: Quick Hits From B’s Loss In Winnipeg

It would be wrong, though, to single out Horton for missing one opportunity, because the lack of scoring is certainly widespread on this Bruins team. Marchand’s 13 goals are nice, but he is the only Bruins player in the top 20 in the NHL in that category. Tyler Seguin’s 10 make him the only other Boston skater in the top 70 in the league.

That’s not going to cut it. Not for a team with championship aspirations. Not for a team that is 1-3-1 against the Eastern Conference’s two best teams. The Bruins can play defense and rely on Tuukka Rask all they want, but until they prove they can consistently turn a one-goal lead into a three-goal lead, the third-period collapses are going to continue.

And those leads are never going to grow until the Bruins rediscover a sense of urgency. In the early part of the season, the Bruins weren’t shy about priding themselves on their resiliency. To this day, you’ll hear the players express their confidence in the team because most of the roster from the 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team is intact.

That’s undeniably true, but the roster that lost in seven games in the first round of last year’s playoff is also largely intact, and the team that’s lost five games after leading in the third period is very much intact as well.

The Bruins know they were capable of doing all that was necessary to win games in 2011, and they know they were perfect last year when leading after two periods. That now needs to move to the backs of their minds, and they need to worry more about their current problems than their past successes.

Look at the trend of the blown third-period leads this season. In the 7-4 loss at home to Buffalo, the Bruins did not score in the final 18:15 and were outscored 4-0 in that time. In the 4-2 loss in Buffalo, the Bruins didn’t score in the final 37:31 of the game, getting outscored 3-0 in that span. The Bruins took a 3-2 lead over Montreal right around the midway mark of the game, and didn’t score for the rest of the night in a 4-3 loss. Then there was the loss in Washington, perhaps the worst of the season, when the Bruins built a 3-0 first-period lead but didn’t score in the final 42:07 in the 4-3 loss in overtime. In Pittsburgh last Monday, the Bruins played “hang-on” hockey, hoping a 2-0 lead built in the opening 14 minutes would hold up for the final 46 minutes, when they didn’t score. The Penguins won 3-2. And again on Tuesday, the only whiff of the back of the net for the Bruins came eight seconds into the second period.

It’s telling that almost unanimously, the players and coaches all agreed that the 3-0 win over Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago at the Garden was the Bruins’ most complete effort of the season. The Bruins were able to score three goals in the first period of that game, but they did not score in the final 45:49 of the game.

Saturday’s 4-1 win over Washington may be the Bruins’ other candidate for best win of the year, but when you have to look to games against the sub-.500 Flyers and Capitals for the points of pride in your season, you know you have to be better.

When it comes down to it, everything falls on the players. Julien can take turns calling out underperforming players every other game in order to try to spark a temporary burst, but the guys who are supposed to score goals are going to have to … score goals.

On Tuesday, it seemed to be Rask under Claude’s microscope for letting in the second goal, but Julien knows the Bruins’ problem in Winnipeg was not their goalie. The problem was trying to make a gift-wrapped goal scored in the 21st minute of the game stand up as the game-winner. Nine times out of 10, that’s just not going to work.

It’s not rocket science. In order to change an undesirable end result, one must change the process. For the Bruins to learn how to maintain third-period leads, they must first learn to tack on goals. They have shown an ability to dial up the urgency this year, but only when playing from behind. They need to realize that with the current roster, they’ve gotten enough first-hand experience to know that having a one-goal lead is just as dangerous as trailing by a goal.

The other team can’t come back in the third if you don’t let them hang around in the first place.

Read more from Michael by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

Since when are the Bruins a nerve-wracking team to watch? Since when does a third-period lead mean a good chance of a nail-biter and a pretty good chance that they won’t come out of it with any points? 

read more

And though it was a tough night for the B’s, who squandered a third-period lead and lost, 3-1, Spooner looked comfortable on both sides of the puck. He played 15:29, had two shots and won half of his eight faceoffs. He looked like a kid with an NHL future.

But that’s where the Bruins found themselves last night, having played a strong three-zone game for 50-plus minutes against the Winnipeg Jets and leading by a goal — only to see the home team score twice in 57 seconds, then add an empty-net goal to grab a 3-1 victory.

Wheeler added an empty-netter for the Jets, who passed Carolina again to take the lead in the Southeast Division with 34 points. The Hurricanes lost 4-1 to Florida and have 32 points.

Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins, who dropped their second straight and are two points back of Montreal for the lead in the Northeast.

Until the third period, the Bruins had given the Jets a lesson in tight defensive play and it was only Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec who kept them in the game.

NEGATIVES

- Boston suffers its third consecutive loss on the road.

- Adam McQuaid was injured in first and the Bruins were forced to go to a five-man D rotation:

• Seidenberg plays 27:57
• Chara: 26:51
• Ference: 22:10
• Boychuk: 21:41
• Hamilton: 17:40

- Once Winnipeg received news of Carolina loss to the Panthers the team shifted into second gear. Meanwhile, Bruins played a sloppy third period.

- On Saturday, Julien stressed “emotional investment” against Washington and Boston came out flying. But it seemed like Jets were more emotionally invested in the game’s final frame.

- Pavelec played very well, stopping 27 of Boston’s 28 shots.

- The Bruins have lost six games in regulations this season. Out of those six, five were because of blown leads in the third period.

- Kevin Paul Dupont Tweets: Bruins have gone from shut down to shot down in third periods.

-  Blake Wheeler’s PP goal ended Bruins’ 27 successful penalty kills.

- Bruins power play was unable to convert, including on a 5-3 opportunity. Overall, they went 0-4 on the man-advantage.

POSITIVE

- Ryan Spooner made no major mistakes filling in for the injured David Krejci on the B’s top line.

- Brad Marchand netted his 13th goal of season, ending a seven-game goal drought.

- Josh Deering Tweet: Only four more games until Bruins get back-to-back days off for the first time this month. Last time this season.

OTHER

- Pittsburgh became the first team in NHL history to have a 10-game winning streak in three consecutive years.

- The Canadiens five-game win streak was snapped in Buffalo.

Mark Feldman has worked at 98.5 The Sports Hub for the last four years and currently works on the Gresh & Zolak show. Follow Mark on Twitter @Feldman985.

The Bruins led the Jets 1-0 and seemed to be solidly in control deep into the third period at the cozy MTS Centre until the Jets struck for two goals in 0:57 to steal a 3-1 victory.

Brad Marchand’s don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it goal (No. 13) 0:08 into the second period was the first score of the night and looked like it would stand up as the winner, until old friend Blake Wheeler scored with a power play tip-in at 11:44 of the third.

The third period hurt the Bruins once again Tuesday, as they saw the Jets erase their 1-0 lead and hand them a 3-1 regulation loss in Winnipeg.

The loss highlighted a troubling pattern for the B’s, as they have led in the third period in five of their six regulation losses this season, blowing third-period leads to the Sabres (twice), Canadiens, Penguins and now Jets.

read more

The loss highlighted a troubling pattern for the B’s, as they have led in the third period in five of their six regulation losses this season, blowing third-period leads to the Sabres (twice), Canadiens, Penguins and now Jets.

Brad Marchand scored eight seconds into the second period to get Boston on the board, and that lead held up until former Bruin Blake Wheeler redirected a Zach Bogosian shot past Tuukka Rask on a Jets power play with 8:16 remaining in regulation. Less than a minute later, Evander Kane scored on a rebound to give the Jets the lead and a big win for a Jets team that overtook first place in the Southeast Division with the victory. Wheeler added an empty-netter with 6.8 seconds left to give him 14 goals on the season.

The loss stung more than usual for the Bruins, who were already without Chris Kelly (broken tibia) and David Krejci (knee) and lost Adam McQuaid early in the first period to an upper-body injury.

The Bruins will continue their Canadian road trip when they face the Senators Thursday night in Ottawa and the Maple Leafs Saturday in Toronto.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

- The Bruins lost Adam McQuaid for the game after a hit he took from Jets forward Eric Tangradi in the corner on McQuaid’s shift. McQuaid appeared to hurt his shoulder on the play, and the B’s announced after the first period that McQuaid would miss the rest of the contest with an upper-body injury.

With McQuaid out, his usual partner in Andrew Ference was paired with Johnny Boychuk, while Dennis Seidenberg saw time with both Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton. Chara led the B’s with 20 shifts and 18:52 of ice time through the first two periods.

- The Bruins had two power plays in the first period (both penalties drawn by Johnny Boychuk) and mustered a grand total of zero shots on the man advantage. Though they got a pair of shots on goal on their first of two third-period power plays — including a Pavelec robbing Zdeno Chara in front — the B’s finished 0-for-4 on the man advantage.

- Wheeler’s power-play goal halted Boston’s consecutive penalties killed streak at 27. The Bruins held the Jets without a shot on the power play that followed a Hamilton interference penalty, but Wheeler came through with the key goal with Jordan Caron in box for hooking Bryan Little in the third period.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

- Marchand’s goal was his first in the last eight games. The Bruins’ leading goal-scorer wasn’t exactly slumping over his gaal-less stretch, as he had five assists in his seven games without a goal.

- Claude Julien said that he was going to start Ryan Spooner on the top line and then adjust over the course of the game if need be, but he didn’t have to do the latter on Tuesday. Spooner handled the responsibility thrown at him well, holding his own centering Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton and getting power play time. He made a nice backhanded pass to Lucic on Boston’s third-period power play to set up a Lucic bid that was denied by Ondrej Pavelec. Spooner also created a turnover behind the net following the Jets’ goal that allowed Lucic to set up Horton in front.

- Rask came up big with the Jets piling on the pressure in the third period, stopping Eric Tangradi and then turning in a huge save on the follow-up bid by Chris Thorburn.

Tuesday marked Spooner’s second career NHL game. He played 5:29 last month against the Canadiens and 15:29 Tuesday.

In Hour 2, the guys do this week’s edition of “10 Questions with Wiggy.” Mazz, Beetle, and Wiggy went on to play some sound from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick discussing a player’s injury history. Do the Patriots have concern about Danny Amendola’s health history? Also, the fans get a chance to ask Jermaine “Wiggy” Wiggins some questions.

During Hour 3, Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge joined Massarotti and Bertrand to talk some C’s. From one front office guy to the next, Boston Bruins President Cam Neely was next in line to talk with Mazz and Beetle.

In the 4th and final hour, Mazz and Beetle took calls on all topics covered today. Including Jeff Green’s performance against the Miami Heat last night and Robert Kraft’s comments about Wes Welker and his agent. Will there be teams that are happy to see Welker out of New England? Also, it’s the Final Word with Adam Kaufman.

Mazz and Bertrand also asked Neely about the team’s feeling toward potentially adding Carl Soderberg once his postseason ends in Sweden.

“I’m probably more confident than I’ve ever been with Soderberg,” Neely said. “But having said that, it doesn’t mean it’s going to come to fruition. But at least the conversations that Peter [Chiarelli] has been having with his agent, it appears as though we’re as close as we’ve been to having him come over here.”

Neely noted that the two sides would still have to negotiate a contract, and shortly after Neely’s interview ended, Soderberg’s team took a 3-1 series lead with an overtime win in Game 4.

“But at least the conversations have been positive,” Neely said.

With the trade deadline approaching in early April, Neely also offered his opinion on what moves he’d like to see the Bruins make.

“I think that if we were looking at possibly one thing, it would probably be adding something to the forward group,” Neely said. “But we understand that there could be some limitations there. As I’ve said many times, we’re constantly looking at how do we upgrade our team and how do we give ourselves the best chance to win. We’re going to continue to do that. Obviously, things will play themselves out if Soderberg comes or doesn’t come. That may or may not change how we think as well.”

98.5 The Sports Hub is the only place to hear every game of the Boston Bruins season with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes before the puck drops, with Postgame coverage following each game.

He’ll have a lot more ice time and responsibility in his second go-around on Tuesday night in Winnipieg.

Spooner will center the Bruins’ top line Tuesday night against the Jets, stepping in for the injured David Krejci.

Read: Bruins-Jets Preview

The 21-year-old Spooner had 12 goals and 33 assists in 50 games for the Providence Bruins of the AHL this season. Drafted by the Bruins in the second round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Spooner made his NHL debut last month in a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens — recording one shot on goal in eight shifts.

Spooner will center Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton on Tuesday night.

Krejci is day-to-day after taking a Johnny Boychuk slap shot to his leg Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. Boston is also without their third line center with Chris Kelly out indefinitely with a broken left tibia.

98.5 The Sports Hub is the only station to hear every Boston Bruins game during the 2013 NHL season. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes before every game.

Ryan Spooner has only played one career NHL game, but it appears his second one will carry a ton of responsibility.

read more

"He's doing better, and that's a good sign," said B's coach Claude Julien of Krejci, who was struck on the knee by a Johnny Boychuk shot Sunday in Pittsburgh.

What makes Spooner, who leads Providence (AHL) is scoring with 12-33-45 totals, a good fit between Lucic and Horton?

It didn’t look good for Krejci when he was nailed by a Johnny Boychuk slap shot and lay on the ice, writhing in pain. But he was lucky to avoid serious injury, and there’s a chance he will play tonight against the Jets.

In Hour 2, Mazz and Bertrand talked about the Boston Bruins and yesterday’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. During yesterdays loss, David Krejci took a shot off his knee. Reports are there are no broken bones and he is listed as day-to-day. Robert Kraft spoke today about Wes Welker’s decision to sign in Denver with the Broncos. Kraft admits Welker was their first choice, but Danny Amendola was the backup plan. Was Welker overpriced by his agent?

During the 4pm Hour, Tony Mazz and The Beetle continued to discuss Robert Kraft’s comments about the negotiations with Wes Welker. The Patriots are usually pretty quiet when it comes to discussing what goes on behind the scenes. Why did Kraft say what he said? Does the Patriots organization expect backlash from the fans for letting Welker go elsewhere? Tonight the Boston Celtics have a chance to put an end to the Miami Heat’s 22-game winning streak. The Celtics are saying that Kevin Garnett has a strained left adductor, which kept him out of Saturday’s game against the Bobcats and could cause him to miss tonight’s game. What will a win for the Celtics tonight mean?

In the 4th and final Hour, Tony Massarotti and Marc Bertrand continue to talk about Wes Welker leaving New England for Denver and Robert Kraft’s comments made earlier about that situation. The guys play some of Kraft’s comments and try to figure out who is to blame for Welker leaving New England. Is it Welker’s fault? His agent’s fault? The Kraft’s? Finally, it’s the Final Word with Adam Kaufman.

Spooner will join the Bruins in Winnipeg for Tuesday's game. Boston is already without Chris Kelly (broken leg) and David Krejci is day-to-day after injuring his knee in Sunday's loss to Pittsburgh.

In 50 games for Providence this year, Spooner leads the team with 45 points and 33 assists. Spooner's 12 goals are also tied for third on the team.

The Bruins called up Ryan Spooner from Providence on an emergency basis Monday, shortly after it was learned that David Krejci is day-to-day with a right knee injury. Spooner will join the team in Winnipeg and will be available for Tuesday’s game against the Jets.

Spooner was up with the B’s once last month, playing 5:29 in his NHL debut on Feb. 6 against the Canadiens. In 50 games this season, he has 12 goals and 33 assists for 45 points.

With Krejci day-to-day after taking a slap shot off the knee in Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh, the Bruins have recalled Ryan Spooner from Providence.

The 21-year-old Spooner had 12 goals and 33 assists in 50 games for the Providence Bruins of the AHL this season. Drafted by the Bruins in the second round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Spooner had three goals and four assists in eight games for Providence prior to this season.

Power Rankings: Bruins Fall Back To #4

The 5-10, 175-lbs Spooner will give Boston another center on their roster should Krejci missed extended time. The Bruins are already without third-line center Chris Kelly, who is out indefinitely with a broken tibia.

Boston resumes its road trip Tuesday night in Winnipeg against the Jets.

Bruins coach Claude Julien updated the media after practice on Monday and said that David Krejci did not suffer a broken bone on Sunday, and he is considered day-to-day.

Krejci left Sunday’s game with 5:14 left in the third period in Pittsburgh after Johnny Boychuk’s slap shot hit the Boston center just above his knee in what looked to be an unprotected area between his shin pad and pants.

Julien said he didn’t know if Krejci would be able to play Tuesday night in Winnipeg, but the news of no broken bones is very much welcomed by the Bruins, who lost Chris Kelly to a broken tibia last week.

“Hopefully he’ll be back soon,” Julien said of Krejci.

Krejci entered Sunday’s game coming off his best performance of the year, when he scored a goal and added two assists on Saturday against the Capitals. His line, with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, had come under criticism a bit for underperforming lately, but the trio had nine points on Saturday.

Krejci missed Monday’s optional skate, which only eight forwards, three defensemen and the two goalies participated in.

Can other players like Tyler Seguin switch positions to compensate for the loss without compromising the good team chemistry?

“While there is going to be the urge of putting Segiun at center, I don’t want to mess with the top two lines,” said Gresh. “If there is one thing I’d like to do it’s keeping together Bergeron, Seguin and Marchand.”

With the injury, even more pressure will be placed on the Bruins third line.

“”It could end up being three completely new guys there if Peverley stays up and they don’t do anything to the second line,” added Gresh. “You’re probably looking at Caron, Spooner and Pandolfo.”

“I’m not that worried about the way this team is playing right now,” said Zolak. “They can overcome the injury over a two-week span. Long-term if he’s out awhile, they have problems.”

Center David Krejci was forced to leave Sunday’s 2-1 loss in Pittsburgh after taking a Johnny Boychuck slapshot to the right knee with about five minutes remaining in the game. Krejci jumped to avoid the shot, but jumped right into it. He immediately crumbled to the ice and grabbed his knee, where he reamined for several minutes as he was tended to by Boston’s trainer.

Krejci was helped off the ice and didn’t put any pressure on the leg as he made his way to the Bruins’ locker room.

The team did not have any updates after the game, but head coach Claude Julien expects Krejci to travel with the team to Winnipeg as the Bruins continue a four-game road trip.

Kalman: Penguins’ Depth Bests Bruins Twice In Six Days

“I haven’t been told that [Krejci] hasn’t, wasn’t or isn’t,” said Julien said when asked if Krejci would travel — according to CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty. “That’s basically all I have.”

Haggerty notes that Krejci was able to stiffly walk to the team bus on Sunday, but warns that center Chris Kelly was also seen walking on his own shortly after he suffered a broken tibia last week. Kelly is out indefinably with his injury, so if Krejci were to miss an extended period of time as well the Bruins would be thin at the center position.

Rich Peverley moved up to the to center Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton on Sunday following Krejci’s injury.

The Bruins play next in Winnipeg on Tuesday night.

Joe Vitale scored the go-ahead goal with 31.8 seconds left in the first period and, despite the Bruins outshooting the Pens, 32-18, and having good offensive-zone time, that stood up as the game-winner in a 2-1 finish.

The B’s may not have had a ton of great chances, but they had enough of them to come out of this one with at least a point. It didn’t happen.

Are the Bruins the best team in the Eastern Conference? They're on pace to finish first, but they've lost their only two meetings against the Penguins and haven't seen the surprising Canadiens go away.

read more

Nonetheless, you have to imagine the Penguins are sick and tired of hearing about how the Bruins are so deep and perfectly built, especially in the time after Boston won the 2011 Stanley Cup championship.

Not long ago, the Penguins were the model NHL franchise and seemed destined for multiple Cup wins. A couple Sidney Crosby concussions, a few other injuries, and some inconsistent goaltending have combined to limit the Pens to as many Cups as the Bruins since 2009.

It’s in front of this background that the Penguins have to be savoring their two wins in six days against Boston.

The Penguins’ 2-1 win Sunday was a tribute to the depth that has them not only ahead of the Bruins in the Eastern standings right now, but on the list of Cup favorites for 2013. Joe Vitale, Pittsburgh’s fourth-line center, scored the game-winning goal. Pittsburgh lost its top puck-moving defenseman and a Norris Trophy candidate, Kris Letang, to injury before the second period and didn’t miss a beat.

Although the Bruins outshot Pittsburgh, 32-18, and Tomas Vokoun did well to stop all but one of those Boston offerings, the total shots from threatening areas definitely favored the Penguins. The Bruins weren’t able to establish a forecheck and weren’t able to create much traffic. Rebounds off Vokoun that landed on Bruins players’ sticks were few and far between.

Vitale’s goal was only one example of how, even with Evgeni Malkin out with an injury, the Penguins’ depth is superior to the Bruins’ right now. They’re able to play goal-scoring forward James Neal, usually Malkin’s running mate, on what amounts to a third line right now. The Bruins, on the other hand, have Patrice Bergeron’s line mostly firing on all cylinders, David Krejci’s line showing up about 50 percent of the time, and then two lines that amount to average fourth lines right now.

Krejci’s potential injury absence aside, there just aren’t enough threats in the Bruins’ lineup to make teams worry. Even Boston’s most dynamic offensive defenseman, teenage rookie Dougie Hamilton, plays the second fewest amount of 5-on-5 minutes among the Bruins’ blueliners.

One simple fix, if Krejci’s healthy enough to fill his top-line spot, is to bump up Daniel Paille to the third line. Rich Peverley is too solid a playmaker to be straddled with both grinder Jordan Caron and long-toothed plugger Jay Pandolfo on his wings. Paille has at least shown an ability to finish a little more this season than in recent years.

As far as out-of-organization options to help provide a little more offense up front and from the back end, it’s still too early get involved in the trade market. There are only about five or six sellers right now, and prices are sky-high.

If the Bruins’ two losses to Pittsburgh taught us and general manager Peter Chiarelli one lesson, however, it’s that the Bruins still have to close the depth gap if they’re going to best the Penguins in the postseason.

Still, it hardly matters for the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sidney Crosby scored his 13th goal, Joe Vitale added his first in more than a year, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 31 shots as the Penguins beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Sunday for their ninth straight win.

Mike Knuble was a healthy scratch for the Philadelphia Flyers in last Saturday’s 3-0 loss to one of his formers team, the Bruins. When the Flyers needed a player earlier this season, they brought back the 40-year-old forward, who played for them from 2005-09. That’s a testament to what many people in the business think of Knuble.

The B's played well again in the second period, but couldn't cash in on a power-play, but then they were able to kill off a late Penguin man-advantage after it was ruled Patrice Bergeron won a faceoff with Brandon Sutter by using his hand, although that didn't appear to be the case even though his hand was down near the ice.

Now they hope they can bring a little bit of that edge into their game this afternoon at the Consol Energy Center against the Penguins, who scored three third period goals to beat the B's here last Tuesday.

Not only did Adam McQuaid fight, but so did top liners Brad Marchand and Nathan Horton.

Horton had enough and dropped the gloves with Hendricks, the Bruins power forward’s first fighting major this season and first since he was sidelined with a concussion in February 2012.

But it would be silly to suggest such labels have no meaning. Just check the paychecks of the players on the four lines and you’ll see how much their teams value each.

Going into this season, any analysis of the Bruins would have rated the team’s No. 1 line to be David Krejci centering Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

If Nathan Horton and his linemates continue to play the way they played yesterday, opponents will be flying the coop.

Horton produced a Gordie Howe hat trick and combined with David Krejci and Milan Lucic for nine points as the B’s defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-1, at the Garden.

The Bruins have the pieces to be a great team -- that much can’t be debated. Yet in order to be as dominant as possible, they need the right guys going at the same time. Too often recently, they haven’t had their top line producing like a top line, and they’re going to need that line going as the games get more important late in the season heading into the playoffs. 

read more

In 32 games this year with the Harvard Crimson (ECAC), Fallstrom scored nine goals and 12 assists.

In his 113-game college career, Fallstrom has 33 goals and 37 assists good for 70 points.

The 6’2’’ 203-pound native of Gotenborg, Sweden was drafted Minnesota Wild in the fourth round (116 overall) of 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

The Bruins acquired the rights to Fallstrom, along with Craig Weller and a 2011 second round pick in a 2009 trade that sent Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota.

The always sunny alternate captain, who was injured in a collision with Ottawa forward Chris Neil on Monday, is out indefinitely. Kelly said doctors haven’t given him a time frame for his return. And he’s keeping an upbeat attitude about his health and the rest of this season.

It would help if he could get more shots on net.

The B’s bench boss earned his 246th win with the team, moving him past Milt Schmidt to sit at No. 2 on the Bruins’ all-time coaching list. Julien now only trails Art Ross, who won won 361 games as coach of the Bruins.

Despite the major milestone, Julien very quickly downplayed the accomplishment.

“Not a lot, to be honest with you,” Julien said when asked what the milestone meant to him. “I certainly don’t perceive myself to be in the same category as Milt Schmidt. You’ve got to understand, it’s a different era. Ties were ties, and that’s the way it ended. We play 82 games, and I think they played somewhere around the 60 mark, if not less. [It was] a lot different era. It’s a number, it’s a number of wins, but certainly not ready to compare myself to him. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Milt, and even for Grapes [Don Cherry]. Those guys have done a lot for the game. It’s something that’s nice, to know that you’re with them in regards to the number of wins, but certainly not willing to say I’m in the same category as them yet.”

As for passing Ross one day, Julien laughed at the thought.

“That doesn’t mean anything, because I am so far away from that right now it’s not even something we need to talk about,” Julien said.

All this week, we’ve asked you to vote on the face of each Boston sports franchise, and the votes are in.

While we now know which players best represent each team, it’s time to take it a step further.

Which athlete represents the face of Boston sports?

The Candidates

Tom Brady (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Tom Brady

The list begins with Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., and for many folks, it ends there, too.

He’s been the Patriots’ starting quarterback since 2001, only missing time with his knee injury in 2008. He is, of course, a three-time Super Bowl champion, two-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time NFL MVP and arguably the best to ever play his position. He’s shown very few, if any, signs of slowing down, averaging 37 touchdowns and nine interceptions per year in his five seasons since 2007.

While to some folks, Brady’s reputation has taken somewhat of a hit since not earning another Lombardi Trophy in — gasp! — eight whole seasons, there’s little doubt that when Brady’s career finally ends, he’ll forever be remembered as a legend in New England.

Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

As soon as the name is brought up, images of the undersized second baseman diving around the infield and launching bombs immediately come to mind. Since joining the team full-time in 2007, he’s won a World Series, Rookie of the Year, MVP and two Gold Gloves, and he’s been willing to bat anywhere in the lineup without complaint. Those are all big reasons why his No. 15 jersey is among the most popular seen around Fenway Park these days.

Perhaps the best indication of Pedroia’s popularity among fans is that despite the team’s free-fall in public opinion since September 2011, he remains what most fans consider to be the heart and soul of the team and the best hope for the team to eventually turn around its fate.

Patrice Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron (Photo by Marianne Helm/Getty Images)

The longest-tenured member of the Bruins, it’s hard to believe Patrice Bergeron is still just 27 years old. The talented two-way forward has always shown maturity beyond his years, going back to his rookie season of 2003-04, when he scored 16 goals and added 23 assists as an 18-year-old. Following the ’04-’05 lockout, he led the team with 73 points in ’05-’06 and posted 70 points the next season. His career was threatened by a serious concussion suffered in 2007, and he faced another concussion scare the following season.

Yet, Bergeron persevered to get back to the B’s, and he eventually scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. It’s still early in Bergeron’s career, but it’s hard to picture him ever playing anywhere other than with the Black and Gold.

Paul Pierce

Paul Pierce (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

“Six-seven, from Kansas, the captain, and The Truth, number 34, Paullllll Pierce!”

It’s been the introduction for Pierce since 2003, as the Los Angeles native has fully embraced life as a Boston Celtic since he was drafted in 1998, and if all goes according to plan, it will continue until the day he retires.

He will finish his career one day with either the second-most or most games ever played in a Celtics uniform in the history of the storied franchise, which alone says plenty about Pierce. He’s also second all time in Celtics scoring with more than 23,700 points, second behind only Larry Bird in scoring average, fourth in assists, seventh in rebounds, his name among legends and Hall of Famers in too many categories to list.

Nicknames can often be a silly thing in sports, but there’s no question that Pierce has proven to be The Truth.

The B’s eventually beat the lowly Florida Panthers, the worst team in the NHL, by a score of 4-1 at the Garden last night, but it was far less comfortable than the final tally indicated.

But one guy’s misfortune is another’s opportunity, and Burlington’s Jay Pandolfo now has a chance at a regular shift.

Perhaps going from playing against the Penguins to playing against the Panthers is like taking the weight off a weighted bat. The Bruins were doomed by a bad final 30 minutes Tuesday in Pittsburgh, yet an uninspired first two periods Thursday against Florida were enough to give them a lead and eventually a win at the Garden. 

read more

Boston won for the 10th time in 13 games and hasn't lost consecutive games in regulation since March 2012. Florida lost for the fifth consecutive time and has dropped eight of nine.

Boston scored twice in the first to take a 2-0 lead. Zdeno Chara's scored at 3:55 when his slap shot from the left faceoff circle beat Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen.

Bergeron connected for his seventh after converting a pass from Brad Marchand at 14:56.

Shawn Matthias scored a short-handed goal for Florida after outhustling Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton and recovering an errant Milan Lucic pass to beat Rask, cutting the lead to 2-1 at 3:10 of the second period.

Yet anyone who watched the events unfold knows it was anything but a blowout. More importantly, nobody wearing a black sweater felt all that good about the win.

“We’re not necessarily playing our best hockey right now,” said Patrice Bergeron, the game’s second star who scored two goals but spoke in front of his locker as if  he’d just lost a 5-0 laugher. “Two points, I guess we’ll take it, but we gotta be much better.”

The issues for the Bruins have been obvious this season. After going 32-0-0 last year when leading after two periods, they entered Thursday night’s game with a 7-3-1 mark in the same situation. While they opened up a 2-0 lead in the first, they were outworked, outshot, out-hit and out-everything in the second period.

Bruins coach Claude Julien admitted it was a bit painful for him to watch the events of the second period unfold before his eyes.

“Try being behind the bench watching the second period like that,” Julien told a reporter when asked about the struggles of the second 20 minutes. “It no doubt wasn’t a pretty period, and certainly there are times when you have to bite your bottom lip and let things happen. Between the second and third, all [the players] had to do was talk to each other and I think our guys are smart enough to know that they had to go back out there and be better.”

READ: Bruins Too Much For Panthers In 4-1 Victory

While the Bruins were able to get a goal from Shawn Thornton and later an empty-netter from Bergeron, there wasn’t much of a feeling of triumph in the locker room.

“We picked it up a little bit,” Julien said, “but there’s still lots more we can do as a team to play better than we did tonight.”

The Bruins are clearly hard on themselves when they don’t play as well as they feel they should, but it’s not as if they don’t have a fair number of reasonable excuses. Thursday’s game was the team’s eighth in 13 nights, part of a stretch of more than a month in which the team does not have any two-game breaks between games. It was evident on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh that the players’ legs ran out of gas midway through the second, and while some lingering fatigue appeared apparent again on Thursday, the players know the schedule is not going to change and they can’t lean back on excuses.

“We’re all going through it – the whole league is,” Bergeron said. “I think that’s the bottom line. You can’t even use it. It’s about worrying about that next game and not looking at the schedule and making sure you find your legs. There’s no ifs and buts; it’s about finding ways.”

“Those excuses,” Julien added, “we can make them all day long, but we don’t live on those kinds of things. We take responsibility for our own actions and we should’ve been better tonight. We wanted to be better but we weren’t.”

By the end of the unsatisfying night for the Bruins, they sat at 18-4-3 on the season, one point behind Montreal and Pittsburgh for the top spot in the East, despite three games in hand on the Penguins and two on the Canadiens. They couldn’t ask to be in a much better position.

But in the shortened season, when each and every night almost feels like a playoff game, the Bruins aren’t letting the final score determine how they feel about their team.

“I don’t think we’re any different than any other team right now. We want to be different,” Julien said. “Right now, we’re average at best. We’re still finding ways to win, so there’s a lot to be happy about with your team, when you can win games like that when you don’t feel you played well. Through the course of a season, that’s the sign of a good hockey club, and that’s what we feel we are.

“It’s not about getting down on ourselves,” Julien added. “We know we can play better, and we’re going to work on playing better.”

Read more from Michael by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

In Hour 2, Felger and Mazz continued to discuss Welker signing in Denver and Amendola signing in New England. With the Pats bringing in Amendola, is this another sign that the Pats are becoming Josh McDaniels’ team? How upset should Tom Brady be? Taking a quick break from the football talk, Mike Milbury joined Felger and Massarotti to some Bruins. Should the NHL bring the shoot out to the playoffs?

During Hour 3 of Felger and Massarotti, the guys continued to react to the Patriots losing Wes Welker to the Denver Broncos. How can the Patriots make a splash in free agency? The guys look back at the Patriots draft history of wide receivers. Who has been the best drafted wide receiver in the Bill Belichick-era?

In the 4th and final hour, Patriots free agency was still the topic of the day. Also, we hear from Wes Welker as he is introduced as the Denver Broncos newest wide receiver. Finally, it’s the Final Word with Marc Bertrand.

In 48 games with Barrie this season, Camara has 36 goals and 24 assists to go along with a plus-17 rating. He played for Canada in the World Junior Championships in December and January.

Third period, 57.2, 4-1 Bruins: Patrice Bergeron into an empty net, and this one’s over. The “BS” chants from the crowds might have inspired that one, who knows?

Third period, 2:34, 3-1 Bruins: Just as time expired on a Bruins power play (too many men for Florida), Nathan Horton scores, but the goal is waived off due to Lucic interfering with Clemmensen. Good call.

Third period, 7:17, 3-1 Bruins: The fourth line had some really nifty passing for the entirety of their shift, but it didn’t really result in much. Then, Shawn Thornton threw one on night, and the puck bounced off Clemmensen and a skate or two, and he was able to pounce on a loose puck in front of an empty net and bury it into an empty net to stretch the Bruins’ lead to 3-1. Sports work in funny ways sometimes.

Third period, 8:48, 2-1 Bruins: Once again the Bruins nearly get their insurance goal, but this time, Clemmensen flashes the left pad and makes a nice toe save on a Hamilton slap shot from the blue line.

Third period, 13:30, 2-1 Bruins: There wasn’t much reason for optimism for the home crowd in the opening six minutes of the third period, but the Bruins nearly cashed in on their lone opportunity of the period just before the whistle. Nathan Horton carried the puck through the neutral zone and down the right wing before sending a pass to Lucic. The puck deflected off Lucic’s skate and toward his stick blade, but he wasn’t able to get to it before it passed the right post and out of harm’s way.

Shots are all square at 24-24, and the game could still very much go either way.

Third period, 20:00, 2-1 Bruins: The Panthers’ record when trailing after two periods is 1-12-2. It would be really bad for the Bruins to have an ugly period and let this one get away.

End of second period, 2-1 Bruins: That was not a very good period for the Bruins, who didn’t match the Panthers’ energy (you saw how dangerous that can be on Tuesday night) and are fortunate to still be leading. The period nearly ended with a Florida goal, but the Bruins’ defense was able to sweep the puck away from the goal mouth.

So this game could go two different ways. The Bruins could either gather themselves in the locker room and come out and establish themselves as the clearly better team. Or, they could let the pace of the game be dominated by Florida and risk a loss in a game they shouldn’t lose. Based on what we’ve seen from Boston this year, it’s hard to know how this one will play out.

Second period, 1:03, 2-1 Bruins: At least the Bruins’ penalty kill looks good tonight. Another sterling effort.

Second period, 4:12, 2-1 Bruins: The Panthers can’t get anything on net during the power play, and Dennis Seidenberg was able to lay the hit of the night on a flying-out-of-control Gudbranson. The B’s will now have another penalty to kill though. Too many men on the ice. That’s at least three of those penalties for Boston this year, which is about three too many.

Second period, 7:32, 2-1 Bruins: The Panthers are on the power play, with Horton to the box for high sticking. Pretty black and white call there.

Second period, 8:00, 2-1 Bruins: Dougie Hamilton got tangled up in front of the Boston net with Jonathan Huberdeau, and Huberdeau got a lot of hands on Hamilton’s head, but there was no penalty call.

The Panthers definitely seem to be in control of the momentum a bit here in the second, as they’ve outshot Boston 9-5 thus far in the period.

Second period, 16:51, 2-1 Bruins: It started with a bad pass from Milan Lucic to Dougie Hamilton and led to a foot race between Shawn Matthias and Hamilton. Hamilton had the edge, but Matthias dived for the puck and took out the defenseman. Matthias then popped up with the stick on his blade and deked Rask for a short-handed goal.

Second period, 18:22, 2-0 Bruins: Boston gets the first power play of the night, as Erik Gudbranson let his elbow loose on Pandolfo in the neutral zone. The call was for interference.

Second period, 20:00, 2-0 Bruins: The B’s have had their fair share of holding leads this season, but the Panthers are 1-12-3 this year when trailing after the first period. Tonight would be a good night to get some practice on building a big lead.

End of first period, 2-0 Bruins: The B’s take a 2-0 lead into the locker room, thanks to solid goaltending from Rask (11 saves) and a persistent offense that has generated 16 shots already. Clemmensen may need to ask his teammates to actually play some defense for the rest of the night.

First period, 5:04, 2-0 Bruins: When Tyler Seguin carries the puck through the neutral zone with speed, good things happen.

It showed there, as Seguin burst into the offensive end before dishing to Marchand on the left wing. Marchand held the puck for just a moment before passing to Bergeron, who was crashing to the right post. As one Jack Edwards would say, tic-tac-goal.

First period, 9:49, 1-0 Bruins: The B’s top line of Lucic-Krejci-Horton has gone cold of late, but the trio is playing like they have something to prove tonight. They’ve had two great shifts in a row, with Lucic just now backhanding a pass through traffic to Krejci for a hard one-timer from close range. Clemmensen was able to make a nice glove save, though. Still, that line looks good thus far.

First period, 12:13, 1-0 Bruins: Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau is dealing with rejection after Rask just flashed the glove on a golden opportunity for the Panthers’ leading goal scorer. He slipped through the Boston defense after a shoddy change of the defensive pair, and he skated all alone down the slot, aiming high to Rask’s glove side. Rask made the save and fell to the ice for his eight save of the night already.

First period, 14:12, 1-0 Bruins: The Bruins nearly doubled their lead on — of all things — a long Shawn Thornton slap shot. Gregory Campbell tried to stuff home a loose rebound through Clemmensen, but the netminder gathered himself to cover it up.

First period, 16:05, 1-0 Bruins: The B’s are on the board.

A David Krejci slap shot from the high slot went wide, but the puck bounded around the boards and ended up going right to Zdeno Chara at the top of the left faceoff circle. He fired a bomb past Scott Clemmennsen, and the Bruins lead 1-0.

First period, 18:20: We’re just 1:40 in, and already the Panthers have generated a couple of opportunities for a garbage goal. The Bruins have been able to steer the puck out of danger but will want to avoid letting the puck hang out near the net if they want to avoid an early hole.

First period, 20:00: The teams are ready, so let’s play hockey.

7:03 p.m.: We’re minutes from puck drop, so here are your starting lines tonight:

Boston

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton

Tuukka Rask

Florida

Tomas Flesichmann-Marcel Goc-Tomas Kopecky

Filip Kuba-Tyson Strachan

Scott Clemmensen

6:37 p.m.: It is indeed Pandolfo-Peverley-Caron on the third line, and Boychuk is paired with Johnson.

6:30 p.m.: Good evening from the TD Garden, where the Bruins and Panthers are a little over a half-hour away from puck drop.

In this wild condensed schedule, it feels like it’s been a while since the Bruins have been at home, even though it’s only been five days since the B’s put forth a complete effort in a 3-0 win over Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

A lot has happened since then, though. Chris Kelly broke his leg in Ottawa on Monday, Kaspars Daugavins turned the hockey world on its head with a crazy shootout attempt, and Adam McQuaid suffered a mystery injury Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. Aaron Johnson will skate in McQuaid’s place tonight, and Jay Pandolfo will likely remain on the third line with Rich Peverley and Jordan Caron.

We’ll know more in a couple minutes when the Bruins go through their line rushes, and I’ll update the blog as soon as they do.

Read more from Michael by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

Kelly suffered the injury in a collision with Ottawa forward Chris Neil and missed Tuesday's game at Pittsburgh.

Kelly has two goals and four assists and a minus-6 rating in 23 games played this year.

With Kelly out, the Bruins were forced to adjust the third line on Tuesday, moving Rich Peverley to center with Jordan Caron and Jay Pandolfo at forward.

That's the large, lower leg bone, or shinbone. Assuming six weeks to heal a fracture, the 32-year-old would return just before the end of the 48-game season.

The Bruins wrapped up the first half of their 48-game schedule in horrific fashion Tuesday, blowing a two-goal lead in the final 6:18 against the Penguins and suffering their fourth regulation loss of the season. 

read more

PITTSBURGH -- Brandon Sutter scored twice in the final seven minutes to cap a furious rally and the Pittsburgh Penguins slipped past the Boston Bruins, 3-2, on Tuesday night.

Chris Kunitz started Pittsburgh's third-period surge with his 18th goal of the season and Sutter beat Boston's Anton Khudobin twice in less than four minutes, including the game-winner with 2:03 remaining.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 14 shots for the Penguins, who broke loose late against the NHL's best defensive team.

Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin scored first-period goals for the Bruins. Khudobin made 31 saves and the Bruins kept Pittsburgh's high-powered offense in check until the final minutes of a matchup between two of the Eastern Conference's best teams.

read more

Kelly suffered the leg injury early in the second period in what looked like an accidental collision between the Bruin center and his former teammate Chris Neil. Kelly could not put any weight on the leg as he was helped down the runway.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- David Krejci scored the shootout winner and had an assist in regulation as the Boston Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, on Monday night.

Tuuka Rask made 30 saves in regulation and stopped three of four Senators in the shootout, including a bizarre attempt from Kaspars Daugavins. The Ottawa forward carried the puck by pressing down with the tip of his stick before attempting a failed 360 move in front of Rask.

Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille scored for Boston, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win its 10th straight in Ottawa.

Guillaume Latendresse -- in his first game back from injury since Jan. 30 -- and Kyle Turris scored in regulation for the Senators. Robin Lehner made 33 saves through three periods and overtime.

The Sens come into tonight's contest, which is a 7:30 start, with a 9-1-2 record at home.

We know that despite the panic that sets into the fandom when a two game losing streak hits, all it takes are a couple of solid wins to get everything back to normal in Boston Hockey land.

The Bruins have settled the bridge jumpers as of late by not allowing the third period breakdowns that have lead to all three of their regulation losses. Add to that some solid goaltending from both Anton Khudobin and Tuukka Rask along with the number two line being upgraded to the number one line — with Patrice Bergeron centering Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand — and producing a mountain of points (38) in their last ten games, and all is right once again.

Even Seguin is picking things up after a season-beginning slump, scoring six goals and 13 points in his last 11 games.

As head coach Claude Julien says, putting together a full 60 minute effort consistently is what is most important for his hockey club.  In Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Bruins did exactly that in all phases of the game. Rask was stout in goal on the limited number of chances Boston’s defense allowed, Seguin continued his torrid pace with another power play goal, and even better was the contributions from the third and fourth lines. Chris Kelley and Daniel Paille each potted a goal in that win, and the Bruins are 26-0-0  since the start of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs when Kelly finds the back of the net.

Kelly admits he needs to score more in order for the Bruins to continue their winning ways, and without those contributions from lines three and four, the opposition will put their best checkers out against the B’s top lines. If the likes of Bergeron, Marchand and Seguin can’t fight through those checks, the Bruins are in trouble.

But, so far, the team has been able to avoid a losing streak of any significance. Julien remains steady in his coaching philosophy of rolling out four lines, and more importantly, preaching the play in their own end is as important as any other place on the ice. As frustrating as that can be for fans and media alike — and it takes a lot not to question him at times — I respect Claude for not allowing outside sources to influence his decisions of how his brand of hockey should be played. After all, we do have June 15, 2011.

Bostonians have become somewhat spoiled in how they view their team’s success, so even a two-game hiccup is known to cause some mass hysteria. The Bruins will be just fine as long as everyone does what is asked of them and they continue to get contributions from all four lines that Julien roles out.

Nearly halfway through this shortened season, there is no reason for panic with the Boston Bruins.

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

Last year, Tyler Seguin got two Selke votes, which is probably on par with the ridiculousness of Mariano Rivera potentially not getting voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame unanimously on the first ballot when his name comes up. It was so absurd that when told of it, even Seguin laughed in bewilderment. 

read more

Providence put up numerous shots in the second period looking to get on the board first. Tyler Randell took it upon himself to fire up his team in a bout with Blake Parlett and scored an easy takedown. It was Randell's fourth fight in as many games.

Randell got an extra two minutes for roughing, but Providence killed it off and then 15 seconds after it expired Chris Bourque sent a beautiful pass across the middle to Hirschfeld, who beat Jason Missiaen (37 saves) to make it 1-0.

Both teams came out firing for the final period of play. It worked against the Whale when Brandon Segal tripped up a Providence player and was sent to the box. Only moments into the power play, Sauve got possession of the puck and tapped it into the net to make it 2-1.

Only 30 seconds later, Andrew Yogan beat Hutchinson to tie the game. The Whale got on the board again via Kyle Palmieri at 7:43 to pull ahead, 3-2.

Brandon Mashinter added an empty-net goal.

Niklas Svedberg made 45 saves for his sixth shootout win of the season, an AHL high.

For Providence, Craig Cunningham scored his fifth and sixth goals in his past three games, Christian Hanson added his ninth goal of the season before Whitfield scored the shootout winner.

Sebastian Stalberg, Freddie Hamilton and John McCarthy scored for the Sharks. McCarthy game-tying marker came with one minute left in regulation.

Harri Sateri made 39 saves for Worcester.

The Bruins needed something to get their bottom six forwards going. Maybe it was a new addition to the third line (Jordan Caron), maybe it was just some grit (Shawn Thornton to set up a goal) and maybe it was just facing a Flyers team that isn’t very good this season.

read more

After a scoreless first period, there were five fights in the second period. Providence's Tyler Randell squared off with Zach Sill. Colby Cohen battled the Pens' Paul Thompson. Providence's David Warsofsky and former Brown winger Bobby Farnham went at it. Kevan Miller of the P-Bruins took on Chris Minella.

Finally, Bobby Robins, playing with a broken nose, took off his full cage to take on Philip Samuelsson.

Robins, the league leader in penalty minutes, received a major for boarding, a major for fighting, and a misconduct. He is up to 273 PIMs in 56 games.

In the third period, Providence's Cunningham took a pass from Jamie Tardif just outside the crease and snuck it under Jeff Zatkoff's right pad to make it 1-0 on a power play at 5:58. Ryan Spooner was also credited with an assist.

Mink added another power-play marker at 15:51, with assists to Christian Hanson and Colby Cohen.

Zatkoff made 23 saves for the Penguins.

Chris Kelly had no idea that the Bruins had placed Chris Bourque on waivers until he was asked about it following Boston's 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs Thursday. The team had made the move well earlier in the day with the intention of assigning Bourque to Providence, but Kelly both looked confused and said he was confused when asked what Bourque could work on in the AHL, assuming he was to clear.

read more

Anton Khudobin stopped 25 shots for Boston, which blew leads in each of its previous two games and lost both.

David Krejci also scored for Boston, and Brad Marchand had a pair of assists. With the win, the Bruins moved three points ahead of Toronto in the Northeast Division while remaining one point behind first-place Montreal. Nazem Kadri and Mikhail Grabovski scored for the Leafs, and Ben Scrivens made 21 saves for Toronto.

The Bruins placed the 27-year-old winger on waivers Thursday. If no team claims him by noon on Friday, he probably will be assigned to Providence.

The son of all-time Bruins great Ray Bourque, Chris Bourque has been a prolific scorer in the American Hockey League. He led the AHL in scoring last season with 93 points in 73 games.

But he had just one goal and four points in 18 games this season with Boston. He played on the second power-play unit and averaged 12:04 in ice time per game.

His linemates Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley have struggled, too. Peverley has three goals and six points in 20 games. His minus-eight is the worst on the team. Kelly has one goal in 20 games and is minus-seven.

"(Bourque) was stepping in for a guy (Benoit Pouliot) that had 17 goals last season. Sometimes chemistry doesn't start off the hop. We just have to keep working hard,'' said Peverley before the game with Toronto on Thursday.

"I before I feel bad for (Bourque). He's coming into a tough spot and we haven't played well. And his linemates haven't played well. That's the way it's going right now.

"You never know because we're not doing well. You can't focus on it because it's going to bring you down and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You just have to work hard and do the best job you can. You really need to look in the mirror and not get scored on because that's a frustrating thing," he said.

Thirty-eight-year-old Jay Pandolfo appeared to be penciled in to replace Bourque on Thursday.

Bourque was acquired from Washington for Zach Hamill last spring. He signed a two-year, two-way deal with Boston that pays him $550,000 in the NHL and $200,000 in the AHL this year. Next season, his AHL salary jumps to $550,000.

Playing in Providence during the NHL lockout, Bourque led the team in scoring with 8 goals and 28 points in 32 games.

Before coming to Boston, Bourque had scored a goal and four points in 33 NHL games with Washington and Pittsburgh. Washington's second-round pick in 2004, Bourque played one season at Boston University before turning pro.

The April 3 trade deadline is less than a month away. The Bruins have both a very good team and over $12 million of cap space (well, the prorated number of that) to play with. If Peter Chiarelli wants to make a big move (or two), he can. 

read more

WASHINGTON -- Eric Fehr scored 37 seconds into overtime Tuesday night, and the Washington Capitals rallied from a three-goal, first-period deficit to beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 in a thriller reminiscent of the teams' seven-game playoff series a year ago.

Pinched by two defenders, Fehr was falling forward as he got off the shot that hit the upper right post and went in, giving the Capitals their seventh win in 10 games as they attempt to climb out of the lower echelons of the NHL standings.

Wojtek Wolski and Mike Ribeiro also scored, and Tomas Kundratek got his first NHL goal for the Bruins. A short-handed penalty shot by Brad Marchand, an even-strength goal by Zdeno Chara and a power-play tally from Dougie Hamilton gave Boston a 3-0 lead in the first period.

Their 14-3-2 record is their best start in the lifetime of anyone who’s reading this, and it has them second in their division in the thick of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been a consistent lot since the beginning of the year and have been able to sustain the pressure of close games and come out with the victory.

That wasn’t the case Sunday night, when you had just your average run-of-the-mill, regular-season game against the Montreal Canadiens. Yeah, right! The furor is still raging from all the so-called “embellishment” — did he or did he not cross-check? Is there jealousy of not being in first place after 19 games?

Lets face it, as cliche as it is (and I really do hate cliches), the Bruins hate the Canadiens, the Canadiens hate the Bruins, the fans hate each other and see nothing but Black & Gold or Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge. That is never going to change and I would rather it not!

In all my years of watching hockey, I’ve never liked the Canadiens. I’m not supposed to. I was born in Boston and remember when “Jesus Saves but Espo Scores on the Rebound.” I remember the first half of my life when the Bruins couldn’t beat the Habs in the playoffs no matter what. So the sniping will continue. It’s an ongoing saga that will continue for the next 75 years, when most of us will no longer be here.

What will be interesting is to see if the Bruins stand pat with the cast of characters that currently make up their roster. Teamwise, the consistency has been there, however, production from key components has been lacking. The likes of David Krejci, Nathan Horton, along with the third and fourth lines have not been contributing, leaving it up to Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Boston’s leading goal scorer, Brad Marchand.

The trading deadline is four weeks away and with some players in contract years are not playing like they are (Andrew Ference, Horton), it would suprise me to see some of the 17 players that remain on the roster from the Cup winning year to be jettisoned somewhere else as this shortened season nears its halfway mark on the 12th of March.

By the time All Fools’ Day arrives, we should know a lot more about what kind of team the Boston Bruins will be heading into the home stretch and preparing for the playoffs. In the meantime, let the sniping continue between the B’s, Habs, and  the fans, because even though they’ll play 44 other games, it’s the four in which they see each other that matter. March 27 at the TD Garden and April 6 at the Bell Centre April 6 can’t come fast enough and we wouldn’t want it any other way!

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

Claude Julien wanted to voice his frustrations. 

That’s why, when he was asked a question about playing without Zdeno Chara Sunday night, he said this:

read more

The Bruins have officially entered the gauntlet, their most grueling stretch of the season or whatever cliché you want to use to paint the picture of just how hectic the month of March figures to be. 

read more

Here's a scary thought for the NHL: The Bruins don't need to be at their best to win. 

They weren’t satisfied with their performance Thursday night against the Senators. Over the course of a season, whether 82 games or a lockout edition, that’s going to happen.

read more

Remember how it used to work?

The Patriots would go deep into the postseason -- maybe to the Super Bowl, maybe just short, but almost always to late January -- before handing the sports keys to the city over to the Red Sox, who would take command until October and pass it back to the Patriots, who would already be four or five weeks into another 13-, 14-win season. 

read more

The Bruins broke out with a 2-goal lead on a goal by Milan Lucic. David Krejci with a blast from the top of the right circle. Henrik Lundqvist, who always plays well against the Bruins, kicked the rebound out to the slot where Lucic promptly wristed it into the open net. Boston’s second goal game came off a Ranger turnover in front of the Boston net.  Daniel Paille picked up the puck, curled and carried it to center, sending a pass to Gregory Campbell on the right wing. Campbell’s wrist shot was deftly tipped by Paille passed Lunqvist and the 17,565 faithful were a happy bunch again. The Bruins outworked and outshot the Rangers in the first period, peppering the Rangers netminder 15 times, many of them with gusto. They also survived a short five on three Ranger’s power play in which most of it consisted of Brad Richards shooting from the left point. Those shots were either blocked in front or went wide and careened out of the zone.

New York cut the deficit in the second on a Richard’s long shot through a screen that beat Tuukka Rask high stick side top corner. It was in and out of the net so fast, most fans didn’t think it was a goal.

As custom with most Bruins-Rangers games, they are hard fought and, yes, included a couple fights. Two battles back to back as a matter of fact. Shawn Thornton took on Mike Rupp, taking the decision as Rupp was a bit bloodied.  On the ensuing puck drop, Gregory Campbell got more than he bargained for by tangling with Stu Bickel. But the Bruins headed into the third period with a one-goal  lead.

You know, when the leaves start turning color. Summer has left us and we have jackets, hats, gloves, and, perish the thought, snow shovels at the ready. The Patriots have just begun their season and Bruins training camp is in full swing with the season opener just days away.

Huh, what….??? We’ve already had our first snow? Christmas and New Year’s have been celebrated?? That can’t be right. My Boston Bruins schedule says the first game is Saturday night against the New York Rangers! Have I been in some kind of time warp?

What the heck has happened since Joel Ward scored in overtime of Game 7 in the opening round of the playoffs, sending the Bruins home for the summer?

Slap!

Oh yeah, I put myself into a self-imposed blackout of all things hockey when the morons that supposedly run our sport decided that playing hockey was not all that important, but their greed was.

Since more than a week has passed and the NHL has less than a week to try to get into midseason form, it’s time for the media and fans to get into shape, not to mention the NHL PR machine. And it appears that has happened.

The Bruins offered free tickets to a Black & Gold Scrimmage for Tuesday night, and those ducats were gone faster than a Tyler Seguin breakaway. In their quest to say they’re sorry to the fans, the Bruins and the NHL have discounted merchandise and concessions for the month of January. The NHL Center Ice television package and Game Center price has been reduced by 40 percent for the entire “season” to try to appease all for their transgressions of the past three-plus months.

But now it’s time to drop the puck, and sprint to the finish line in 48 games. And you know what? We puckheads really don’t care. We care about the fact that owners and players used us as pawns, while knowing all along that they would resolve this when the league wouldn’t lose money. We care about the fact that on Saturday nights when all was quiet with the family, whether it be the Bruins or Hockey Night in Canada on the NHL Network, we had no hockey to watch.

So, Saturday night, 7 p.m. at the TD Garden, our long international nightmare is over. We forgive and forget that punch in the gut that Gary Bettman et al gave us the last quarter of 2012. We grab our foam bear claws, our ’72 Esposito Jersey, last year’s Black Friday T-shirts and go back to cheering on the Boston Bruins.

Why? Because NHL Hockey is simply the greatest sport on the planet and really, I can’t wait!

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

A long while.

And now that it seems this ridiculous standoff is about to be ended, the only thing I feel is contempt. Contempt for the owners, contempt for the players and in some ways, contempt the fans who lay down their good money and simply forgive the heathens that kept us in the dark, all for the right to watch our beloved hockey.

I almost wish the season had been canceled because for me, no matter what excitement comes from dropping the puck, good goal tending, great shots, the fact that the National Hockey League and the Players Association have brought this kind of pain to its fans, makes me think that THEY need to suffer like we have. I don’t know how that gets done since we hockey fans are like no other sport fans.

Hockey fans are smaller in numbers that any other sport but as has been said many times, we are the most loyal. And that’s where the League and Association have us by the short ones. They’ve known all along that we’d be back. Just like the Pied Piper had the mice follow him out of Hamlin, we, of course will follow the league back into the rinks. And as the playoffs approach, the fact that no hockey was played since the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup June 11, of last year, will not be in the minds of the fans whatsoever.

So, can we expect the obligatory “Thank you Fans” on the ice again when it should really be Expletive Deleted You Fans because that’s exactly what we got for the past five months! A good kick in the gut!

But it’s the game that draws us back. We’ve missed it so much despite the powers that be not caring what we think. Those are the two things that make me wanna scream. I love the game so much yet I hate what this Commissioner and his Owners have done to us thrice in the last 20 years.

Bitter, yeah I guess I am a bit but I’ll get over it and will be there when “Training Camp” begins and whenever the puck drops to open the “year.” After all, It is NHL Hockey and nothing is quite like it!

Game On!

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

Tom Cuddy acquired it for me as I had just began to work for him, and told me when I get into the Garden to go upstairs and ask for the Bruins PR man, the Great Nate Greenberg. As a rookie, he would tell me what I needed to know and what to do.

But he also told me to ask for Carl Beane, who also did work for Tom. Carl would help me down in the locker room after the game, because it can be intimidating the first time.

Carl took me up to the ridiculously small press box and we watched the game together. Not only was I happy about being in press row watching the team that I had worshiped since 1970, but I got to laugh. If you knew anything about “Beanie”, which is what I called him, he could make anyone laugh. He loved to make me laugh because I was an easy target for him. Whenever I saw Carl, he would always greet me with that loud booming voice with “REE-CARDO” (my name is Ricardo) and I would light up.

Read: Fenway Park PA Announcer Carl Beane Killed In Car Crash

Back in the late 80′s, when the Red Sox were sorta good and the Toronto Blue Jays were also pretty good, I had the pleasure/chore of covering those games for CBC Radio. But sitting next to me up in the third row of the press box would be Beanie, and of course he would do things to make me laugh (and if you know me, I laughed out loud… long  before the acronym LOL was even thought of). The “unmade beds”  – as he called the knights of the keyboards down front — would turn around and look at us as if we were crazy. We were, but we didn’t care. It was a baseball game not a church service. “Have a little fun,” Beanie would always say.

When Carl won the job as the “Voice of Fenway Park,” he and everyone that knew him knew he would be perfect. He was at the ballpark every day covering the team, now he would be a part of the Red Sox.

And he loved it. It would never pay the bills but he loved it. After the World Series victory in 2004, it not only paid off for the team, but it paid off for Carl. He got to do all the speaking engagements with the World Series Trophy where he shared stories of the team and, of course, from the booth. He was more than happy to talk about the team — and job — he was proud to represent.

Read: More From Bruins DieHard

One thing that Carl and I always had a rift about was he was a tried and true Montreal Canadiens fan. He knew how much I hated them and we always had fun with each other when the two teams played.

I last saw Beanie on March 10, up on the ninth floor of the Garden. He was the same jovial, dirty old man he always was, and I loved it.

Beanie was an unforgettable character who I will miss.

Goodbye my friend. Sleep well!

~REE-CARDO

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and on Twitter @bruins_diehard.

Los Angeles struggled just to make the playoff because just about no one could put the puck in the net during the last month of the season. But Quick literally put them on his back, and since the playoffs began, the Kings have scored with proficiency while still getting the goaltending that most Conn Smythe Trophy winners provide. (See: Tim Thomas, 2012.)

In the meantime, what happened to the Blues? They’ve had major defensive lapses, they are now the ones that can’t ruffle the twine and with Jaroslav Halak hurt and out for the series, Brian Elliott has not provided the quality goaltending that both gave the Blues during the regular season.

There’s no surprise that the Kings finished off the Blues on Sunday afternoon. For L.A., the key is to change nothing,  and with the leaders being leaders, i.e. Mike Richards and Dustin Penner, Darryl Sutter’s group should have some time off after earning a bid in the Western Conference finals.

There is a somewhat stunning development in the other series out West. After winning the first two games in Phoenix, the Coyotes went to Nashville and snagged one from the Predators, sending them reeling back to the desert in what could be their swan song. Timing and goaltending have been the keys to this series. Mike Smith has been sensational when he stays in his net and doesn’t go for afternoon stroll. Pekka Rinne also has been good, but not good enough. A little shaky in the first two games, Rinne has been outstanding but still suffered a 1-0 loss in Game 4on a goal deflected in by his own player.

After dismissing Detroit in pretty convincing fashion, this is not what the Predators or their fans expected. Look for Barry Trotz to re-insert his malcontents, Alex Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn, for Game 5 and hope for the best, which may not be enough as Phoenix looks to advance to the third round for the first time in franchise history.

In New Jersey, happy birthday, Martin Brodeur. Forty trips around the sun and you still know how stop the puck in the biggest games of the year on the biggest stage. You just may take your team past that space-shot who plays the same position 200 feet away. The Devils took a stranglehold on the series with the Philadelphia Flyers with a win Sunday night in New Jersey. The enigma/space-shot Ilya Bryzgalov has been inconsistent  in the Flyers’ net, making a great save, then giving up an easy goal. That won’t win you a playoff series, let alone a championship. That’s especially true when Brodeur turns back the clock and thinks he is playing in 1995, 2000 or 2003. Philly needs the good Bryzgalov and not the bad Bryz-GOAL-ov to get back into this series as it heads back to the City of Brotherly Love. They may not be so loving with the Flyers down 3-1.

Wrapping this up and continuing on with the netminding theme, we come to the New York Ranger and the Washington Capitals. We know about the King, Vezina nominee Henrik Lundqvist, and how solid he has been throughout the season and now in the playoffs, but who knew 22-year-old Braden Holtby would continue the sensational play in the second round that he exhibited in dispatching the Boston Bruins in a tightly fought seven-game series in the first round?

Holtby has matched Lundqvist in goal in what has become a fascinating series with each team blocking shots and both teams’ top players coming up with big goals when needed. When the Bruins were eliminated, I wanted to root for the Rangers. I like their work ethic. Being a goalie, I love Lundqvist, and what could be better than Boston College alumni Brian Boyle and recent BC national champion Chris Kreider winning the Stanley Cup after witnessing what we all witnessed June 15, 2011?.

What I really don’t like about the Rangers is the pompous ass of a coach, also from Boston, John Tortorella. Confrontation is his No. 1 agenda. I’m not sure the National Hockey League always wants to see one of their coaches of a high profile team constantly acting like a detestable child at virtually every press conference after each game. Tortorella needs to grow up and suck it up and quit acting like he is hiding state secrets if the media asks something he doesn’t like.

I believe this Rangers-Capitals series will go the distance, and right now I have no clue which team will blink. But because there is nothing like playoff hockey, it’ll be so much fun to watch!

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

Another nail-biter. Another horrible ending to a game that would end the season too soon because no one wants hockey to end after one round. Not after what we experienced last season!

But here we are, left to wonder why the Bruins could only score 15 goals in this seven-game season, why none of the big boys stepped up to the table, got their noses dirty enough to put rebounds past the young but solid goaltender for the Washington Capitals.  There were a lot of bystanders in this series, and that’s so unlike what this Bruins team has been all about. Where was that snarl?  Where was that nastiness that they needed in order to break down the defensive wall that the Capitals had put up and relentlessly did not give in?

It wasn’t about Washington’s offensive prowess because the Bruins’ defense pretty effectively shut down the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich and Nicklas Backstrom. It came to the likes of Milan Lucic, and Patrice Bergeron, although limited, not scoring a goal in the series. Third line center Rich Peverley had the most goals on the team with three. David Krejci was virtually missing in action, and as cliche as it may be, the Bruins’ best players were not their best players by a long shot.

The big thing for Boston was the fact that in consecutive playoff years, the power play was non-existent. They scored just two goals with the man advantage in 23 opportunities, none larger that with just over two minutes left in the third period of Game 7 on what was really a questionable holding call. This power play was abysmal for two seasons now and obviously has not been addressed. The coach spoke about the fact that they had no one like Marc Savard on it. Well, it’s been a known fact that Savard ain’t walking through that locker room door for the past two seasons, yet what we’ve seen is what we have gotten and it did not change from playoff year to playoff year.

Shot selection, too, was weak for the most part. Most of the time the Bruins settled for the point shot and more often failed to get it through to the net. Often, shots were into the netminder’s pads or glove. Note to Bruins shooters: Get good, hard, low shots above the 11 inches of padding goalies wear!

The Bruins were tired, weary, passive and injured, lacking the will and want of last year.

Whatever the reason, this was a different Boston Bruins team than its winning predecessor. Maybe we were looking through Black and Gold colored glasses thinking that everything would be all right and come together last night. Tim Thomas would again be the brick wall he was last year, Brad Marchand would be the “Little Ball of Hate”, Bergy would be Bergy, and we would all get no sleep again until mid-June.

That was not to be. Now, the speculation on changes and trades and free agents begin. Somehow, I’m just not quite ready for that. First-round eliminations are just too hard to take. It ended quick and painful and way too soon.

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

What we do know from past experiences is that the Bruins had three seven-games series last year on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. In each of those series, Game 5 seemed pivotal. They won two of the three, only losing Game 5 in the Finals.

Read: More From Bruins DieHard

Winners of the fifth game of a series after being tied at two a piece have gone on to win the series 80 percent of the time, which means it really doesn’t look good for the Boston Bruins after dropping Game 5 at home Saturday afternoon.

What this game came down to was Washington taking advantage of the breaks Boston gave them (while the Bruins couldn’t do the same). Zdeno Chara rang a shot off the goalpost in the first period with Boston on the power play and Daniel Paille on a shorthanded breakaway clanged one off the post. If those shots go in, it’s an entirely different hockey game.

The Capitals, meanwhile, made the most of what Boston gave them with a scramble in front and Jay Beagle putting a puck under Tim Thomas and a weak goal that went in off Thomas’s glove and Washington led 2-0 in the second period.

The Bruins finally got to young Braden Holtby as desperation was setting in. Dennis Seidenberg & Brad Marchand scored 27 seconds apart late in the second and the building had come alive and new hope that things in the Bruins world of hockey would be alright.

Ah, but old friend Mike Knuble would pick up a dandy rebound in the slot low left circle for a wide open shot and a 3-2 lead. Give Boston credit as the finally scored on the power play as Marchand backhanded a pass to Seidenberg who quickly laid it over to the left point for a Johnny Boychuk one-timer and the game was tied.

With just over two minutes left in the third, Benoit Pouliot was called for slashing and the Capitals converted on a wrister from Troy Brouwer from the top of the right circle that Thomas certainly should’ve had and with that, Washington can eliminate the defending Stanley Cup Champions from playoff contention at the Verizon Center Sunday Afternoon.

So, can the Bruins break that 80-percent fact and send this series to a Game 7 back in Boston, or will they have a “melting the ice” party at the TD Garden?

They’ve been down this road before. Last year, the Champs were 4-0 in elimination games. They need the kind of effort they had last year in those games to keep their season alive.

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

When Lemieux was a player, despite his offensive talents, he constantly complained about the clutching and grabbing that went on in his era. He threatened to quit playing because of it. Since he has been in charge of the Pittsburgh franchise, he has hinted about not being an owner in the National Hockey League more than once.

Well Mario, you are a fraud. You are a hypocrite and from where I sit, you have been your entire professional career. Yes, the league appreciates all you have done to promote hockey. Yes, the league appreciates the fact that when no one else would, you stepped in and saved that Penguins franchise and kept professional hockey in Pittsburgh. But it’s your two-face that grinds my gears now and has for a while.

For many years you played alongside one of the National Hockey League’s blatant cheapshot artists and gutless players in Ulf Samuelsson. For three seasons you played with another gutless cheapshot artist in Darius Kasparaitis. And if my memory serves me, you never had one complaint about the fact they were injuring opponents many times.

After you purchased the team, you then and still have in your employ a new century thug in Matt Cooke, who has a few suspensions and fines for his gutless and cheap acts on his hockey brethren, including one of the worst head shots ever seen in the NHL to the Boston Bruins’ Marc Savard in 2010. That hit has effectively ended Savard’s career.

You then have the audacity to send a letter to the National Hockey League after another donnybrook with the New York Islanders late in the 2010-11 season in which 65 penalties were assessed, including 15 fighting majors and 21 game misconducts, resulting in a total of 346 penalty minutes. Oh by the way — New York won the game 9-3, which seems to be some sort of pattern with the Penguins.  When they are out of the game, it tends to deteriorates into a brawl.

Your statement to the NHL after that game: “Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

“The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

“We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.  We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action.

“If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it.”

Well just tell me what is your statement about what happened at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon. Most of it initiated by the thugs in white with the skating Penguin crest.

Are you going to condemn your team because it was all on them? I’m no Philadelphia fan. I’m a hockey fan. I enjoy a good hockey fight, and I grew up in the bench clearing brawl era, so I’m not immune to any of this.  I actually was laughing at the first period. But as the game (and fights0 progressed, as your team could not keep the Flyers off the scoreboard, as your team continued to get frustrated and take cheap shots, it really brought it all back to you!

Until you clean up your own house in Pittsburgh, you should not think that others should clean it up for you. Or maybe you should not be in a league that allows the people you employ to act like fools!

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

But, all is not right with the Boston Bruins as they head into Washington for Game 3 of this series with the Capitals.

Both teams have scored but two goals, and if you are looking for a bright spot, it has been the stellar play of Tim Thomas, whose Stanley Cup Playoff shutout streak ended at 161 minutes, 41 seconds.

However, the Capitals first goal is one I’m sure he’d like to have back.

Read: More From Bruins DieHard

But what of the Bruins offense? Where is the traffic in front of the net? Where are the second and third chances on the young inexperienced goaltender? Right now, they are nowhere to be found.

It seems that one (shot) and done is the nature of this series for the B’s. The one second chance they had was a loose puck squirting out in the slot with Benoit Pouliot beating Braden Holtby to the puck to tie Saturday’s Game 2.

The Capitals have played the way they wanted perfectly. They’re blocking tons of shots and when Bruins shots made their way to the net, they were an easy save for young Mr. Holtby because he had clear sight of the puck. Capital defensemen are making sure of that.

I have not questioned Claude Julien’s in-game decisions and said I would not since June 15, 2011, but being what happens over time, you knew that would change.

Julien has put together a couple of curious line combinations for the Bruins. At one point, he double-shifted Tyler Seguin, putting him on the David Krejci line with Rich Peverly and again on his usual line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. OK, he’s young and can take the cardio and who knows, you might just strike goal.

Bruins DieHard: A Look Around The NHL Playoffs

But, the more curious decision is the defensive combo of Greg Zanon and Joe Corvo. That duo had many issues in the first overtime and when they were out there with the fourth line of Greg Campbell, Shawn Thornton & Daniel Paille, well let’s just say things were very scary.

I know the coach and he is not gong to change his formula for success, we know that. But he should not have those five on the ice at the same time.

Also, revisiting one key element in last year’s playoffs is Johnny Boychuk being on the ice at the wrong time. He was the only player on the ice for both Washington goals and had a bad hand in them, especially the whiff on the clearing attempt that led to the Johansson pass to Niklas Backstrom, whose snap-wrister ended the suspense and sent this series to Washington tied one game apiece.

It’s time for the upperclassmen of the Bruins to get going. Patrice Bergeron and Krejci were not good in face-offs and Washington out-hit the Bruins and were patient enough to get goals on plays that Boston could have prevented, instead of boo-boos that have cost them a series lead.

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

But really, if you are a sports fan, there really is nothing better than watching playoff hockey and seeing the upsets and the upsets in the making.

And now with social media, you can witness all kinds of entertainment from fans of the cities involved with Facebook and Twitter.

CANUCKS-KINGS

First, we take a look at the Presidents Trophy winners, the Vancouver Canucks, who now find themselves down two games to none to the eighth seeded Los Angeles Kings and heading south for the next two. Last year’s runner-ups are in dire straits and as usual, there is talk of possibly a goalie change for Game 3. That would give Corey Schneider his first ever playoff start.

But of course, coach Alain Vigneault has refused to name his starter for Game 3. As a result, the Vancouver natives are very restless and should they get down three games, oh what fun it will be in British Columbia.

Read: More From Bruins DieHard

FLYERS-PENGUINS

The Philadelphia Flyers have a habit of getting behind by two or three goals lately, but that has not prevented them from coming back and winning the first two games of their series against the favored Pittsburgh Penguins in dramatic fashion.

In Game 1, the Penguins shot out to a 3-0 lead only to have the Flyers, led by Claude Giroux, come back to tie and then win the game in overtime.

In Game 2, the same thing happened. Sidney Crosby scored 15 seconds into the game. They then forged into a 3-1 lead only to have the Flyers tie it, go ahead, go behind and finally blow away the Pens by an 8-5 score.

This one is far from over, but Pittsburgh MUST win Game 3.

RANGERS-SENATORS

Who knew that the New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators would show so much hatred for one another?

The Rangers blew out the Sens in the first game 4-1 and it wasn’t really that close.

Game 2 began with game misconducts to New York’s Brandon Dubinsky and Ottawa’s Terry Carkner, as he checked Brian Boyle and then began to pummel Boyle into the ground. Dubinsky came to Boyle’s rescue and got the game for third man in.

New York took liberties with Ottawa in Game 1 and Sens coach Paul MacLean decided to put in a little grit to stem the tide. Hockey nastiness ensued but in overtime, another tough guy scored the winner and now that series is tied heading up to Canada’s Capital!

RED WINGS-PREDATORS

Detroit & Nashville head to the Joe Louis Arena for Game 3 tied at one game a piece, and although the Red Wings came back to tie that series at one, make no mistake about it, the Predators will give them a fight in the theatre where the Winged Wheel won an NHL Record 23 straight during the year.

Todd Bertuzzi, probably the pugilistic guy on the Wings, sent a message to Shea Weber and the rest of the Predators that bashing his teammates heads into the glass or any other shenanigans will not be tolerated.

PANTHERS-DEVILS

What should we make of the Florida Panthers? I’m not sure, as they played their first playoff game in a dozen years and yet there wasn’t anyone there to see it. There were lots of people disguised as empty seats in Game 1.

The team didn’t show up in the first period either, as the New Jersey Devils quickly stormed to a 3-0 lead and relied on their future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur to hold onto a 3-2 win and Brodeur’s 100th NHL Playoff victory.

BLUES-SHARKS

The St. Louis Blues and the San Jose Sharks is another series knotted up at one game a piece and heading to the Northern California. These are two pretty evenly matched teams who have played two pretty spirited games.

Goaltending, though, is still the key in this series. Jaroslav Halak was knocked out of Game 2 by his own man. Of course, it’s the dreaded upper body injury and from the way it looked, Halak probably got concussed.

There’s still no nastiness yet, but that should change as it rolls along!

BLACKHAWKS-COYOTES

Here’s yet another series that has been pretty exciting and tied at one. Chicago rallied in the third period of both games to tie the games and send them into overtime. Phoenix won Game 1 & Chicago won Game 2 after sending it to OT with 5 seconds left in the third.

Games Three & Four head to the United Center in Chicago. I still think Mike Smith will out-duel Corey Crawford and take this series. Stay tuned.

Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric at BruinsDieHard.com and at twitter @bruins_diehard.

The WBZ/98.5 The Sports Hub Sports team will be following all the action throughout the playoffs.

Read: Bruins-Capitals Schedule

Here is how the experts see the first round series between the B’s and Caps going down: