Bruins v. Panthers

Who: Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

Where: BankAtlantic Center; Sunrise, Florida

When: 7:30

Channel: NESN/ FOX FLORIDA

Series: BOS 2-1-0 (0-2, 8-0, 3-2)

The Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers enter tonight with the same exact situation; they're in 1st place in their respected divisions and lead by only 1 point. The Bruins enter tonight on a 3-game skid, where they've been outscored 15-6. The Panthers on the other hand come in to tonight as winners of 2 straight games, beating the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs. The matchup of the night will be the two productive first lines going against each other. The Bruins first line (Seguin, Krejci, and Lucic) have amounted to 27 points in the last 8 games (12 goals, 15 assists) and the Panthers first line (Fleischmann, Weiss, and Versteeg) have been the productive players all year for Florida, and they all come into tonight's game hovering around 50 points each. Tim Thomas will be getting the start tonight, it will be his 11th straight game he's played in, and on the other end of the ice Jose Theodore will be protecting Florida's net and it will be his 6th straight game.

Tracking Ottawa

Here's how the Northeast Division looks right this second:

NORTHEAST	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10	STRK
Boston	69	40	26	3	83	33	7	2	20-13-2	20-13-1	223	170	+53	4-6-0	Lost 3
Ottawa	70	36	25	9	81	31	5	3	18-13-4	18-12-5	216	206	+10	6-3-1	Lost 1
Buffalo	70	33	29	8	74	26	7	4	18-11-7	15-18-1	174	196	-22	7-2-1	Won 2

Ottawa's trying to close the gap on first place and they're beginning to heat up. In their last three games they have five points (2-0-1) and have outscored their opponents 14-8, which includes a 7-3 throttling of Tampa and a 4-1 victory over the first place New York Rangers. They only trail the Bruins by 2 points but have one less game remaining. The last few weeks I didn't recognize Ottawa as a real threat to steal the division, seeing as they had like 5 more games than us and still had less points, but now their quiet comeback has them breathing right on Claude Julien's neck. With only 12 games left, the Sens have a fairly easy schedule:

3/14- @Montreal

3/16- v. Montreal

3/17- v. Toronto

3/20- v. New Jersey

3/23- @Montreal

3/24- v. Pittsburgh

3/26- @Winnipeg

3/31- @Philly 

4/1- @NY Islanders

4/3- v. Carolina

4/5- v. Boston

4/7- @New Jersey

Three games against last place Montreal Canadiens, a home game against the diminishing Toronto Maple Leafs, and back to back games against the Isles and Hurricanes are all games Ottawa will need to take advantage of and come away with two points. The game staring me in the face is April 5th against our Boston Bruins. This one could have huge playoff implications and could serve as a preview to the first round playoff series between the two teams. If worse comes to worse and the Bruins fall out of first place theres a good possibility they'll fall down behind the Atlantic Division and into 7th place. But for now, lets take it one game at a time. Tonight Ottawa plays Montreal, and yes, we actually have to cheer for Montreal for the next 3 days (that was so painful to type). The game won't be on either NHL Network or NBC Sports Network, but if you really want to watch it there's this great site, atdhenet.tv where you can watch basically any sports game going on. Is it legal? I don't know. Is it awesome? Yes.

Should We Be Worrying?

        The Bruins haven’t lost 3 straight since late October, when they experienced the horrifying effects of a Stanley Cup hangover. But, do you remember how they responded to that 3-game skid? They won their next ten games and continued on to go a historic 21-2-1 run. Can they respond like that again? I doubt it, but with 13 games left in the season I think they can win at least 8 of them. The Bruins have been playing like crap, some might blame injuries and fatigue as the cause, but I think they can bounce right back. With the first line producing as well as any other line in the NHL, the sudden emergence of Jordan Caron, locker room leadership, and a rested Tim Thomas I don’t see any reason they can’t turn around this slump. Not only are they in a grudge match with Ottawa for the Northeast, but more importantly they need momentum headed into the playoffs if they want a legitimate shot at defending their title. If this team can get on a run to end this season, with their physicality and hopefully the return of injured players like Rich Peverley, I don’t see how they can’t make a deep run in the playoffs. I’m really looking forward to see how this team responds Thursday night in Sunrise, and hopefully that painful massacre by the Tampa Bay Lightning serves as a wake up call for this team.

19 Notes from Yesterday's Game

In case any of you missed last night's games, couldn't watch it because your clicker "slipped" out of your hands and broke the television after the third Lightning goal, or are just bored, here are my notes from the game:

First Period
*Wow, after my blood pressure skyrocketed from what I thought was a very quick Lightning goal, Turco and the refs immediatley wave off the goal due to the fact that Pyatt thinks he's playing for Real Madrid, but they'll review it anyways

*My blood pressure really can't take this roller coaster ride. The refs call Pyatt's kick a goal, which in my opinion is an awful call, and Tampa has an early 1-0 lead

*Oh my god, 3 minutes into it an Tampa up 2-0 already. I'm gonna do what Jack Edwards suggested and move all sharp objects away...

*3 straight game the Bruins have found themselves in a 2-0 hole in the first period

*Turco gets pulled after the Lightning powerplay sets up a breakaway opportunity to make this one embarrassing (10th straight game for Timmy T); 3-0 TB, do we even have a shot yet?

*Right now the Western Kentucky/ Mississippi Valley State play-in game sounds more attractive than this (yes, that bad)

*12 minutes into the game and Trent Whitfield gets the Bruins their first shot...

*Tampa makes it 4-0 after Victor Hedman slams a slapper by Tim Thomas

*Thorton takes out his anger by smashing Commodore in the face several times; I think he speaks for the whole Bruins team during that fight

*At the end of the first its 2 shots for the B's against 4 goals for the Lightning, wait what?

2nd Period
* 5-0 now after Stamkos strikes for the 49th times this year, and now Turco is back in the net after Thomas conceded two goals

*The Merlot line gets a chance but Thornton misses the net wide right

*Loving the sarcastic cheers from the still-breathing Bruins fans after Rolston gets a shot off, only thing to make me smile all game

*Turco stops Stamkos' attempt for the half-century mark; great chance, great save

*Zanon almost knocks someone into the bench which turns into a Seguin breakaway that can't get through Tokarski; it looks like the Bruins might be waking up after the sound of 5 goal horns.

3rd Period
*Caron gets the tip off Boychuks slap shot for a goal! 8 points in 6 games this kids blooming at just the right time

*Two power plays for the Bruins following the goal but they're both killed off with minimal chances

*Marchand rings the post after a nice set up by Seguin

*Stamkos beats Turco glove side for his leage-leading 50th goal of the year. This kid is unbelievable (Where are the MVP chants? c'mon Lightning fans)

*The lightning go to the locker room to a standing ovation, as the Bruins lose 3 straight games for the first time since October, this one ends 6-1.

Injury Update

Before tonight’s game I just want to give a quick update on the injured Bruins players from the other night:

Patrice Bergeron: X-rays on Bergeron’s left leg came back negative, and will be a game time decision

Adam McQuaid: After sustaining an upper-body injury, he is also day-to-day and will be a game time decision

Max Suave: Suave, who was brought up for his first NHL game Sunday, has been suffering from concussions all his career, and the injury he suffered Sunday has sent him back to Boston and he will be unavailable for the game tonight.

Daniel Paille: After suffering an upper-body injry against the Islanders 10 days ago, he might be making his way back to the Merlot line tonight, as he is listed day-to-day

Benoit Poliot: After missing Sunday’s game with an lower-body injury, he is also listed as day-to-day

**The Bruins also called up forward Trent Whitfield from Providence who is expected to be available for tonight’s game against the Lightning