Habs Hate Kostitsyn, too

Bob Mackenzie of TSN reports that the Habs don't know what to do with the recalcitrant Sergei Kostitsyn. I dunno, something about a vicious slap-fight that erupted at Habs practice between Carey Price and Kostitsyn, with Price's finely manicured nails scratching up Kostitsyn's face pretty good.

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.

Hide All Sharp Objects

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Joe Haggerty reports, via his fellow Comcast Sportsnet buddy/Flyer beat reporter John Boruk, that Krejci has a broken wrist.

Satan de Mayo

B's slap the Flyers away tonight, 4-1. It wasn't that much of a blowout, though. 3 goals were scored right away, as Asham got the game started for the Flyers. But the B's responded quickly with 2 goals from Wheels (tip-in) & Satan (breakaway after Krejci got smoked at the blue line by Richards). And then the B's just clung for dear life for most of the 2nd period. Recchin Ball put in a rebound (off Pronger's glove) on the power play to make it 3-1 with about 17 minutes left in the game, and the B's just held on until Bergeron iced it with an empty-netter.
random crap

• Unruly savages, those Flyers fans - they bolted for the exits with about 4 minutes left. Orange Crush, my ass.
  
• Still not much jam from Carcillo and company. No fights, no line brawls, not much nastiness tonight. KPD figured that tonight would be the nastiest of games. It's weird - by not playing Philly's game and instead just sticking to playing defense and such, sticking with the game plan and not letting the antics of Philly get too far under their skin, they're able to stay focused and just win the games. I dunno. Asham is still a complete dirtbag and I'd like for someone to douse him with gas and light him on fire.
  
• That's, what, 4 game-winning goals for Satan now?
• B's owned the Flyers on the faceoffs again (31 vs. 22), with Bergeron leading the way (12 for 18)
• A pretty much clean hit on Krejci by Mike Richards - Krejci probably has a separated shoulder or something. McQuaid is also hurt, though we seemed to play better rolling 5 defensemen instead of 6. It's rumored that Stuart might be available for Game 4.
  
• Flyers defensman Lukas Krajicek, every time they said his name ("KRY-check"), I was reminded of X-Files.
• The Bruins' PK continues to be pretty good tonight - I think they're 13 for 15 on the kill for the series?
• Seriously, 10 years ago, didja ever think you'd be rooting for Mark Recchi?
• Let's close it out, boys. Don't let these guys think they have a chance - just put them down and move onto the next round.
  

Jesus Saves, Satan Scores

Just can't get enough of the Satan puns, huh? Last night, the B's kept moving forward and beat the Flyers, 3-2. First goal was scored by Boychuk (slowly turning into Manchuk) immediately after a faceoff win by Bergeron (who owned Mike Richards at the faceoff dot, going 16 for 22 (72.7% - gaudy)). It wasn't his trademark slapshot BOMB, but rather a quick wrist shot with about 100 people in front of the net. Boucher saw it late, if he saw it at all, and 1-0 B's. Then Sobotka messed up big time on a crummy back-pass to Wideman, and the Flyers stayed in the zone, Briere throws a pick on Hunwick, and Mike Richards scores to tie it at 1. 2nd period, Satan scored (again) to put the B's up, 2-1. To finish the period, Briere raced down the wing with Satan providing minimal resistance and he picked a corner to tie the game at 2. 3rd period Lootch scored on a turnaround slapper to put the B's ahead with just a little over 2 minutes left.
random crap

• Darren Dreger reports the NHL is cracking down on diving during the playoffs. Maxim Lapierre of Montreal has already been caught twice.
• Since these games were on Vs., I can't watch the replays in the morning like they are on NESN, so I tend to forget things.
  
• Aaron Ward talked to Toucher & Rich this morning. The self-admitted media whore is doing work for Vs. and will be on during Friday/Saturday games.
• Oh man, doesn't Carcillo make you want to kick the TV? After Savvy took a swipe at Boucher's glove, Carcillo went bonkers and went after Savvy. Later reports indicated that Savvy bit Carcillo, etc. Also, allegedly Mike Richards promised to Savvy that they'd take him out for another 6 months. Yet still, we have no line brawl.
  
• Crowd was back to normal volume last night after Saturday's less-crazy game.
• I figure that Philly will feel emboldened by being in their own house with their own batshit fans, and they will take more shots at the B's in Games 3 & 4.
• Mike Richards vs. Patrice Bergeron, who do you put on your team?
• Sections 313-314 keeps doing, ah, "Here we go Bruins, here we go [clap clap]". Lame. Too many syllables in your chant is anti-climactic. Stick to "Let's go Broo-inz [clap clap clapclapclap]".
• You could totally suck at your sport in this town, but if you have a long vowel in your name, you're golden. Yoook. Looootch. Toook.

B's Win in OT, 5-4

Okay, so the Flyers showed up today with quite a bit of rust caked onto them. The first period was all Boston. Goals by Begin and Bergeron. I asked Minnesota, "Hey, are we doing that good, or are they doing that bad?". We both agreed that Laviolette would have them coming out like crazy in the 2nd period, which is pretty much what happened. Philly goals by Bernie, er, Ryan Parent and Chris Pronger. Boston kept pace somewhat with a Satan goal. This Satan pickup is looking more genius with each passing playoff game. Anyhow, onto the 3rd period and Krejci scores one of his bullet-time goals, reminding us that the Matrix is alive and well. He slowed time down for himself while faking Boucher out about 9 times before shooting into an empty net. 4-2, Bruins and we all thought it was a wrap. Nope, Philly came back like a case of herpes with 2 goals from Mike Richards and Daniel Briere. Onto OT. Philly really had the momentum going into OT. BUT, the OT session started with the B's in pure assault mode, but Boucher held strong...until a loose, bouncing puck came onto Savvy's stick after Wideman pinched in, and he wound up (backscratcha!) and unloaded a BOMB over Boucher's shoulder. We saw the net move, the puck bounce out, and Savvy skate towards the glass. In one of the more amusing goal celebrations, he tossed his stick into the stands, jumped up on the glass, Ovie-style, and was mobbed by his teammates. Pretty freakin' sweet.
random crap

• Seriously, the dirtbaggage on the Flyers is plentiful. Asham, Betts, Hartnell, Pronger, Richards, Carcillo - they are all hated by their own mothers, even.
• Daniel Briere. I gotta say, he displayed a stick-to-it-iveness with his goal, splitting Wides & Hunwick. "Not Hunwick's best moment", noted Minnesota. Briere's what you get if you chop Bergeron's nuts off.
• Recchi vs. Pronger. Here's a great sub-plot to the whole series that I can't wait to develop. About 300 playoff games combined between the two veterans. The wee Recchi tried to cross-check the towering Pronger. Pronger was all, "what was that?" and Recchi got the extra 2. RECCHIN BALL. They are going to battling in front of the Flyer crease this whole series, this is going to be fun to watch.
• Crowd taunted Boucher with chants of "BOOO-SHAAAAY". I'd rather we chant "PROOONG-ERRRR", but I'll take it.
• Lots of whining by the callers on the post-game show about the fandom in the Loge texting during the game. Seriously, don't worry about the Loge/Club Seats and what they're doing/not doing. Just watch the game.
• Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.
• Gotta find one of them "Hail Satan" t-shirts worn by a guy in the Loge, featured a yellow pentagram instead of a spoked-B.
• Wideman had 3 assists.
  

Savvy!!!!!!