This Blows

The loss of David Krejci is very discouraging.  This is the first huge negative in a playoff run that has been full of positives.  Arguably, the only components more valuable than Krejci to this team would be Rask, Chara, and Bergeron.  Vladdy played brilliantly in Round 1 in an increased role with Savard still out and he will have to be brilliant again.  But, even if he is, Vladdy is just not going to fill Krejci's skates offensively.  The Bruins best offensive line (Krejci/Lootch/Satan) has lost its catalyst.  Also, McQuaid is "very doubtful" for Game 4 as well.  This is obviously not a huge loss, but the injury bug needs to go away.  The Ference/McQuaid D pair was of course on the ice for Philly's only goal last night.  Conversely, the Bruins have been feasting on Philly's third pair of Parent/Krajicek.  This has been the primary difference in the series aside from goaltending - the Bruins offensive depth has been able to take advantage of the third pair while the Flyers have not been able to do the same.  Unfortunately, losing Sturm and now Krejci does significant harm to that depth on offense.

Let's hope they can step it up and continue this though.  They still have a guy by the name of Rask that basically won that game for them last night.  Listening to the radio this morning, there are apparently people out there who think Tim Thomas should see some action in this series.  These people should be deported from New England - please stop calling the radio and go see a NASCAR race or something.

If the B's can finish this off by Game 5 at the latest, they will have some time to rest and hopefully get Mark Stuart back on the blueline which will be a nice boost for the top four D who have been logging a lot of minutes.  It will also give Tuukka a rest and keep him fresh which is what these Thomas idiots think he needs anyways.

Go Habs Go - Make it a long series and go right ahead and win it if you'd like.

Kessel, Phil Kessel Who?

Friday night's game vs. MTL never happened. I don't know what you're talking about.

The Bruins put forth an excellent effort to slap the Maple Laffs down Saturday night, 7-2. Savvy got a hat trick (the crowd seemed confused, and weren't sure if he got the trick or not), Bitz himself got 2 assists, so hopefully the world is back to normal. The B's are 7-1-1 in their last 9, and the league whipping boys come back Thursday for a re-match ("Kessel-mania II").
Oh yeah, some punkass named Kessel returned. Got 2 SOG, was -3 and got an assist on Chara's goal. The chants & boos were fun. I rather enjoyed the return of Phil'n the Villain, to hear the crowd attack him with boos.
I personally think the team took great umbrage at Kessel being a weenie over the summer and into training camp. In the Ottawa-based blog "Down Goes Brown", author Sean McIndoe wondered at the beginning of the season, "Will chemistry suffer now that entire team is no longer united by their desire to punch Phil Kessel in the face?" I'd have to say "no" - they're still using the punkassness of Kessel as a unifying force - I think experiencing playing against him made them step up their game.
The icing on the cake was, of course, former Maple Laff prospect Tuukka Rask being a total slut in net, stopping over 30 shots. Everyone kinda got lazy towards the end of the game, waiting for it to finish, and that's when Toronto got their garbage-time goals.
random crap

• Heard in the stands, "wow, we just make this organization [Toronto] our bitch."
• Former Toronto property Brad Boyes with 7-9-16 totals with the St. Louis Blues. I think I'll have to form a list of players who don't suck who used to play in the Toronto system, and aren't there anymore, just as a demonstration of JFJ's asshattery.
• Jay Leach has been picked up now by the San Jose Sharks. Good for K-Tap, as Jay is now chasing the dream in Worcester with the Sharks as opposed to the Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL's AHL affiliate).
• Kid who sat next to me fell down twice trying to leave his seat. He tried the old, "I-don't-want-to-bother-the-row-I'm-in-so-I'll-step-on-the-chair-in-the-row-in-front-of-me-and-go-thru-that-row" spiel. No dice. He fell. We laughed.
  

2 OT Wins in a Row

So maybe, just maybe, we've turned the corner?

Friday night, the B's hung with Buffalo and earned a 2-1 OT win. This one did not get to a shootout, as Patrice Bergeron tipped a Chara wrist shot from the blue line after a Bergeron face-off win.
Bitz/Looch had monster games, and are gelling quite nicely with Begin. Bitzus Christ showed off the rarely-used 6th gear in his Tremec T56 and threaded a nice, Savard-like pass to Looch on a 2-on-1 rush to beat Ryan Miller. Assist on that goal also went to Rask, who was a monster in net (.962 SvPct), beaten only by a tipped shot on a power play.
random crap:

• Bruins are 3rd in the league in face-off wins, behind San Jose & Chicago. Patrice Bergeron is 9th in the league, winning 57% of his face-offs. League leader is Paul Gaustad (BUF) with a winning pct of 63.3%.
  
• Our power play is still ranked 29th (only the Blues are worse), and our PK has fallen to 5th, behind Chicago, San Jose, St. Louis, and the Rangers.
• Rod Brind'Amour is last in the league in plus/minus - he is -18. HORRIBLE. A colleague of mine from Quebec translates his name to "loves a little beef".
• Maple Leaf Suck Watch: They are still sucking and still in last place.
• If the B's beat St. Looey on Monday, they move into a tie with Buffalo for first place in the Northeast Division.
• The Marchand Experiment comes to a merciful end, as he, along with Trent Whitfield, was sent back down to Providence.
• I can only watch either Eli or Peyton right now. Thanks, NFL.