GAME 5
With the series tied at two apiece, the Bruins had some hope to cause the upset. But the Pens came out hungry on home ice and scored an early goal at 03:09 to get the crowd going. Martin Erat, who had an impressive 42 goals for the Pens during the regular season, was the one putting them 1-0 up. But before the game was over, he had recorded a hat-trick in the 5-2 win. The game was closer than that thought as the Bruins had an impressive second period in which they outshot the Pens 11-4 while scoring two goals by Rick Nash and Dominic Moore. But at the end of the day penalties killed the Bruins who gave up nine power play opportunities on which the Pens went 3-for-9. With the score close, the Bruins pulled Mathieu Garon with just over a minute to play. But with Mike Commodore in the penalty box, the Bruins weren't able to put much pressure on the Pens who could add not one, but two empty netters for the final score of 5-2. The Pens outshot the Bruins 28-24.
GAME 6
In this must-win situtation, the Bruins put their top line of Patrice Bergeron-Zach Parise-Rick Nash back together and also doubleshifted them on the third line to try and put pressure on the Pens D. But after the game 5 win, the Pens had their defensive game all set after only dressing 5 d'men to give their top defensive guys more ice-time. The Bruins were able to outshot the Pens on this day by 31-24, but Jonas Hiller was able to get the shutout after playing his best game of the series. Antti Miettinen grabbed the first two goals of the game while Simon Gagne finished the Bruins off late in the third to make it 3-0, which also was the final score.
SERIES OVER
All in all, the Bruins exceeded expectations just making it to the playoffs when considering the team was around the bottom 5 in the league before pulling off the Zach Parise blockbuster deal. We're a proud organization and making the playoffs is great for our fans. The Pens were too strong though and we never had any illusions, we knew we didn't have a team to compete for a long Cup run, but it was fun while it lasted.
Here's a look at some playoff numbers for the Bruins:
Most Points: Patrice Bergeron and Rick Nash (6)
Most Goals: Patrice Bergeron and Logan Couture (3)
Most Assists: Rick Nash (4)
Playoff Team MVP: Patrice Bergeron (3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points, 17.6 Sh% and 68.6 FO%)
And here's a look at some regular season numbers:
Most Points: Rick Nash (107)
Most Goals: Zach Parise (53)
Most Assists: Patrice Bergeron (70)
Top Goaltender: Andrew Raycroft (32 GP, 15-12-5, 2.67 GAA, .921 Sv%, 2 SO)
Regular Season MVP: Rick Nash (43 goals, 64 assists, 107 points, +34, 9PP, 2SH, 7GW)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Bruins Won't Go Away Just Yet
GAME 3
After splitting the first two road games at Pittsburgh, the Bruins had some momentum going into their own building. But the Penguins brought their A game in their defensive zone and only allowed the Bruins 20 shots at Jonas Hiller while putting 29 on Mathieu Garon. The Bruins kept it close though as the score was tied 1-1 after two periods. Simon Gagne, netting his second goal of the series, made it 1-0 for the Pens before Andrej Meszaros tied it up with just 17 seconds to go in the second. But on this day the Pens wore down the Bruins and eventually got the game winner a little over three minutes into the third period after Garon gave the puck away behind the net to Brad Richards who made no mistake with the empty net. Final score 2-1 Pens.
CHANGING THINGS UP... AGAIN
After not getting enough offense in game 3, the Bruins decided to mix things up, splitting the top line to try and get more lines and players involved. Zach Parise was moved to the second line which was centered by Logan Couture and with Justin Williams on the right wing, who was moved up from the third line. Patrice Bergeron and Rick Nash stayed on the top line, but got Shane Doan on the left side to give them a bit more space with Doan going to the net more. The defense was kept intact from the previous game.
GAME 4
The Bruins got the result they were seeking with the line juggling, getting a 5-3 win to pull even at 2-2 in the series with the Pens. The Bruins went up 3-1 early in the second period after goals by the big three - Bergeron, Nash and Parise. But the Pens wouldn't go away that easily after goals by Antti Miettinen (with his second of the game) and Simon Gagne tied it to make it 3-3 midway through the second period.
With the Pens on the power play with Justin Williams in the penalty box, the Pens looked for the go ahead goal for the first time in the game. Instead Nash and Bergeron came 2-on-1 and after some nice passing, that saw Chris Pronger loose his footing, Bergeron slammed the puck into the net for the shorthanded goal and eventual game winner. With just over five-and-a-half minutes to go in the third, Logan Couture put the game away with his third of the series on the power play. With two power play goals and one shorthanded, the Bruins had elevated their special teams at the right time. Outshooting the Pens 30-22 was evidence enough that the Bruins were on top of their game. Bergeron, Parise and Nash all had three points each to lead the way.
After splitting the first two road games at Pittsburgh, the Bruins had some momentum going into their own building. But the Penguins brought their A game in their defensive zone and only allowed the Bruins 20 shots at Jonas Hiller while putting 29 on Mathieu Garon. The Bruins kept it close though as the score was tied 1-1 after two periods. Simon Gagne, netting his second goal of the series, made it 1-0 for the Pens before Andrej Meszaros tied it up with just 17 seconds to go in the second. But on this day the Pens wore down the Bruins and eventually got the game winner a little over three minutes into the third period after Garon gave the puck away behind the net to Brad Richards who made no mistake with the empty net. Final score 2-1 Pens.
CHANGING THINGS UP... AGAIN
After not getting enough offense in game 3, the Bruins decided to mix things up, splitting the top line to try and get more lines and players involved. Zach Parise was moved to the second line which was centered by Logan Couture and with Justin Williams on the right wing, who was moved up from the third line. Patrice Bergeron and Rick Nash stayed on the top line, but got Shane Doan on the left side to give them a bit more space with Doan going to the net more. The defense was kept intact from the previous game.
GAME 4
The Bruins got the result they were seeking with the line juggling, getting a 5-3 win to pull even at 2-2 in the series with the Pens. The Bruins went up 3-1 early in the second period after goals by the big three - Bergeron, Nash and Parise. But the Pens wouldn't go away that easily after goals by Antti Miettinen (with his second of the game) and Simon Gagne tied it to make it 3-3 midway through the second period.
With the Pens on the power play with Justin Williams in the penalty box, the Pens looked for the go ahead goal for the first time in the game. Instead Nash and Bergeron came 2-on-1 and after some nice passing, that saw Chris Pronger loose his footing, Bergeron slammed the puck into the net for the shorthanded goal and eventual game winner. With just over five-and-a-half minutes to go in the third, Logan Couture put the game away with his third of the series on the power play. With two power play goals and one shorthanded, the Bruins had elevated their special teams at the right time. Outshooting the Pens 30-22 was evidence enough that the Bruins were on top of their game. Bergeron, Parise and Nash all had three points each to lead the way.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Bruins Split First Two Away Games
GAME 1
The Bruins entered the first round of the AHL playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins with hopes to give the Penguins a hard fought series. But in game 1 the Penguins showed why they were the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference by quickly making it 1-0 on a Marc Methot wrister from the point that hit Bruin d'man Rostislav Klesla before finding the back of the net 03:11 into the first period. The Penguins outshot the Bruins 14-8 in the first period and added two late goals from Antti Miettinen and Martin Erat to make it 3-0.
The Bruins got a tough break even before the 2nd period began as Eric Nystrom was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 00:00. Exactly what happened wasn't caught by cameras, but it's believed that Nystrom "accidentally" took one of the refs whistles. Troy Brouwer and Antti Miettinen, with his second goal of the game, made it 5-0 even before the half way mark of the second period. The Bruins were a beaten team, but did outshoot the Penguins in the last two periods by 23-15 and won the 3rd period with the lone goal scored by Logan Couture who was skating on the 4th line in this game.
CHANGES AHEAD
With Andrej Meszaros and Rostislav Klesla posting a -4 for the Bruins while Chris Pronger and Brad Stuart had +4 for the Penguins in game 1, the Bruins made a couple of changes for the second game of the series. First of all Meszaros was paired with Mike Commodore, while Klesla was paired with Matt Carle. An extra player was dressed for game 2 as John Carlson was brought in to give the Bruins a bit more speed and puck movement at the back end for the Power Play. And finally Logan Couture, who was one of the best Bruins in game 1, was moved up to the 2nd line while Justin Williams moved down to the 3rd line.
GAME 2
The result was the same as in game 1 though as the Penguins came out flying and went 2-0 up just 02:35 into the game with Simon Gagne and Martin Erat putting the puck past Mathieu Garon. The Bruins called a time-out after this and started to get under the skin of a number of Pens. But it wasn't until 01:58 of the second period when Eric Nystrom crashed the net and deflected a Justin Williams shot-pass past Jonas Hiller in the Pens net that we had a game on our hands. Before the period was over the Bruins had scored a total of four unanswered goals with Patrice Bergeron, Shane Doan and Zach Parise getting the last three.
The Bruins had been outshot 16-9 in the second period, but Garon played his best period so far in the playoff stopping all 16 shots. The Bruins were ahead 4-2 heading into the third period. David Legwand cut the lead to just one when he scored 01:20 into the third. But just over a minute later, Logan Couture once again got the last goal, this time in a winning effort as the Bruins were able to hold on to win 5-3 in a crucial game for the Bruins. The Pens outshot the Bruins by 37-22, in large part due to having four more power plays. Giving up too many power plays won't help the Bruins chances, but the penalty kill has been perfect so far with 10 straight kills.
The Bruins entered the first round of the AHL playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins with hopes to give the Penguins a hard fought series. But in game 1 the Penguins showed why they were the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference by quickly making it 1-0 on a Marc Methot wrister from the point that hit Bruin d'man Rostislav Klesla before finding the back of the net 03:11 into the first period. The Penguins outshot the Bruins 14-8 in the first period and added two late goals from Antti Miettinen and Martin Erat to make it 3-0.
The Bruins got a tough break even before the 2nd period began as Eric Nystrom was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 00:00. Exactly what happened wasn't caught by cameras, but it's believed that Nystrom "accidentally" took one of the refs whistles. Troy Brouwer and Antti Miettinen, with his second goal of the game, made it 5-0 even before the half way mark of the second period. The Bruins were a beaten team, but did outshoot the Penguins in the last two periods by 23-15 and won the 3rd period with the lone goal scored by Logan Couture who was skating on the 4th line in this game.
CHANGES AHEAD
With Andrej Meszaros and Rostislav Klesla posting a -4 for the Bruins while Chris Pronger and Brad Stuart had +4 for the Penguins in game 1, the Bruins made a couple of changes for the second game of the series. First of all Meszaros was paired with Mike Commodore, while Klesla was paired with Matt Carle. An extra player was dressed for game 2 as John Carlson was brought in to give the Bruins a bit more speed and puck movement at the back end for the Power Play. And finally Logan Couture, who was one of the best Bruins in game 1, was moved up to the 2nd line while Justin Williams moved down to the 3rd line.
GAME 2
The result was the same as in game 1 though as the Penguins came out flying and went 2-0 up just 02:35 into the game with Simon Gagne and Martin Erat putting the puck past Mathieu Garon. The Bruins called a time-out after this and started to get under the skin of a number of Pens. But it wasn't until 01:58 of the second period when Eric Nystrom crashed the net and deflected a Justin Williams shot-pass past Jonas Hiller in the Pens net that we had a game on our hands. Before the period was over the Bruins had scored a total of four unanswered goals with Patrice Bergeron, Shane Doan and Zach Parise getting the last three.
The Bruins had been outshot 16-9 in the second period, but Garon played his best period so far in the playoff stopping all 16 shots. The Bruins were ahead 4-2 heading into the third period. David Legwand cut the lead to just one when he scored 01:20 into the third. But just over a minute later, Logan Couture once again got the last goal, this time in a winning effort as the Bruins were able to hold on to win 5-3 in a crucial game for the Bruins. The Pens outshot the Bruins by 37-22, in large part due to having four more power plays. Giving up too many power plays won't help the Bruins chances, but the penalty kill has been perfect so far with 10 straight kills.
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