Bruins Beat Columbus in Overtime 3-2

The Bruins came into Thursday night looking to finish their home stand strong as they eyed their fourth consecutive victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Black and Gold has put together a string of impressive hockey games lately as they’ve been victorious against the Panthers, the Maple Leafs, and the Lightning.

It took a while for the TD Garden to fill up, but when it finally did, it marked the 177^th consecutive sellout for a Bruins game.

Backup goalie, Chad Johnson got the start in net.  Johnson’s last start came on November 2^nd when the Bruins lost to the Islanders.  Matt Bartkowski slid into place in the lineup for the injured Adam McQuaid who suffered a lower body injury.

It wasn’t long into the game, before the first penalty was called.  Brandon Dubinsky headed towards the box 2:59 into the first period handing the Bruins an early power play.  The Jackets killed off the penalty, but the Bruins spent 1:28 in the attacking zone and managed to get 2 shots off on goal during their power player.

A few minutes later, Matt Bartkowski was sent to the sin bin for interference at 5:15.  The Big Bad Bruins had no problem whatsoever on their penalty kill as they made it 23 penalties in a row that they had killed off.  Columbus spent less than half of their power play time in the attacking zone as they only managed to get 2 shots off.

The game continued on scoreless, then David Krejci was sent crumpling into the boards.  His helmet toppled from his head as he was crunched.  Dubinsky hit Krejci who lost his edge as he collided awkwardly into the boards and went down.  The boards came in contact with his head as he lost his balance.  The forward was clearly shaken up despite the hit being clean.  It took him several seconds before he was able to get up onto one knee. He skated off the ice on his own and headed down the tunnel to get checked out.  Kelly slid into Krejci’s spot on the first line and played with Iginla and Lucic.

Milan Lucic sought for some revenge upon seeing his line mate injured and found Dubinsky.  He was assigned a roughing penalty and the Bruins were short handed again.  That’s all right.  The Bruins once again killed another penalty.  They continued to make it look easy through out the entire night.

A few seconds after the Bruins successfully made it 24 penalties in a row that they had killed off, the Blue Jackets struck first.  It was the first time that the Bruins had found themselves down in a game since they played the Dallas Stars, in which they eventually lost to them in a shootout.

Blake Comeau got past Johnson.  The score was 1-0 in favor of Columbus.  The B’s looked as if they were sleeping on the play that allowed for Comeau to score.

Boston has never been known to be a quitter.  It meant nothing for them to be down early in the first period of a game.  There was plenty of hockey left on the clock.

Loui Eriksson netted his third goal of the season and his first in 8 games to tie it.  The Boston forward deflected a Chara shot off of his skate and into the goal.  It was reviewed but the call on the ice stood.  The goal was good.  The score was knotted at one at 18:13 in the first.

In the last few minutes of the first period, the Bruins had upped their level of intensity.  When the horn sounded signaling the end of the period, the B’s had 7 scoring chances compared to only 3 chances by Columbus.  They outshot the Jackets 11-8.

David Krejci was back on the ice for the start of the second period proving just how tough hockey players can be.  He had only played 5 shifts in the first and tallied 4:17 of ice time before he was injured.  He was ready to play again and looked no worse for wear.

Soderberg had a nice chance on a breakaway, as Kelly connected with a perfect pass to his stick.  The big Swede was out on the ice on his own, but his shot was turned away and blocked.  The score remained tied.

The Merlot line stepped up to put the Bruins ahead at 9:51 in the second period.  Shawn Thornton rocketed a shot and sent it past Bobrovsky on the glove side.  It was Thorty’s second goal of the year.  The forward had scored 3 goals in all of last season.  Campbell and Torey Krug picked up the assists on the go-ahead goal.  Krug now has notched points in his past five games.

Columbus refused to quit as they didn’t back down.  The game was far from over.  Johnson kicked away a rebound that found Foligno.  Nick Foligno scored easily to tie it up at 16:25 in the second on the backhand.

The Bruins skated into the second intermission tied at 2 goals a piece with the Blue Jackets.  They knew that they had to turn their game up a notch if they wanted to win.  The B’s led shots 23-20 heading into the final frame.

As the game wore on, it seemed as if the Bruins improved.  After playing a not so sharp second period in which Boston allowed for Columbus to tie the score, they were better.  Chad Johnson stood on his head a few times making huge saves.  His saves became fluid as he steadily improved quieting the doubters.  His confidence flourished as he turned away shot after shot.

Chris Kelly was sent to the box for tripping with 13:20 remaining in the game.  The Bruins didn’t allow for the Blue Jackets to score once again as their streak became 25 penalties killed.  A bit later, they killed off a Marchand penalty for interference and the stretch of penalties killed by the Bruins was now set at 26 in a row.

Momentum seemed to shift in favor of Boston as time wore on.  They got a few good chances off but didn’t make anything out of them.  The game was to be decided in over time as 60 minutes of hockey wasn’t enough.

Johnson remained calm, as he hushed his doubters all throughout overtime.  He made huge saves, turning away the Columbus attempts easily.

When there were 48.6 seconds left in overtime, it was all Milan Lucic.   The big forward found himself with a breakaway as he stepped up.  Lucic tore down the ice beating all of the defenders and flipped the puck through the five-hole to win it for Boston.  It was Lucic’s 8^th goal of the season, tying the number of goals he had during the 2013 regular season.

The Bruins topped Columbus 3-2 in overtime.  It was their fourth straight win.  Rookie, Chad Johnson stopped 32 of the 34 shots that he faced.  The B’s managed to continue their impressive penalty kill streak which now stands at 26.  The Black and Gold finished off their home stand securing 9 out of 10 possible points as they head to play the Senators in Ottawa on Friday night.

Rachel Murphy – NHL Contributor – TitleTown Sports Network

Follow along with Rachel on Twitter: @rembostonsports

Boston Bruins 2013-2014 Season Preview

Three months removed from a disheartening Stanley Cup defeat, Boston is raring to kick off the 2013-2014 regular season. We will soon find out how the Bruins reinvigorated roster will fair, as they will be competing in the new look Atlantic Division. The core of the team is now locked up long term. Their perfect mix of veteran experience and youthful energy could seamlessly mesh and result in a return to glory.

Boston saw little roster turnover this past offseason, but the players who did leave captured the headlines. The Bruins swapped out the right side of their top two lines, replacing Tyler Seguin with Loui Eriksson and Nathan Horton with Jarome Iginla.

Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask, arguably Boston’s most important pieces, cashed in with multi-year contract extensions. Each guy inked 8-year deals and project to be the franchise players well into the future.

The Bruins may not be the flashiest of teams, but great coaching, organizational depth, unwavering determination, standup leadership and a relentless will to win make them a favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference this year.

Key Additions:

Loui Eriksson, Jarome Iginla, Reilly Smith, Chad Johnson

Key Losses:

Andrew Ference, Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, Nathan Horton, Anton Khudobin

Iginla, a longtime captain of the Calgary Flames, will most certainly fill the leadership void Ference had filled since joining the Bruins in 2007. Eriksson will quickly prove to be an upgrade over the inconsistencies of Seguin. Smith adds a great deal of bottom six upside and Chad Johnson may not be as experienced as Khudobin, but still should provide serviceable work behind Rask.

Key Bruins:

Rask in my mind is the most important Bruin. He will be called upon to start at least 60-65 games. It’s his first full year as a starting net minder and is embarking on year one of and 8-year/$56 million contract. Rask showed nothing but greatness this past postseason and rekindling that success over an 82-game schedule is a must because his backups all tote question marks.

Zdeno Chara is another Bruin that makes this team tick. He has looked superhuman at times during his tenure with Boston, although he did show signs of breaking down this past postseason. A healthy Big Z is imperative if the Black and Gold have hopes of making a Stanley Cup appearance. Possibly monitoring his minutes could prove beneficial.

It would be insane not mention Patrice Bergeron as a key Bruin. We saw the Bruins struggle mightily after Bergy sustained injury. He will be relied upon in all key situations and should find immediate chemistry with Eriksson flanking him.

X-Factor:

Dougie Hamilton is poised for a strong season. The youngster is coming off a respectable rookie campaign and his first NHL training camp. He should continue to progress defensively. The offensive numbers will definitely come, as Hamilton figures to be a key component to the Boston power play attack.

Projected Starting Lineup:

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jarome Iginla

Carl Soderberg-Chris Kelly-Reilly Smith

Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk

Dennis Seidenberg-Torey Krug

Adam McQuaid-Dougie Hamilton

Tuukka Rask/Chad Johnson

Healthy Scratches:

Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski, Kevan Miller

Atlantic Division Teams:

Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers

My Outlook:

The motivating factor behind this year’s team will be the hunger to avenge their Stanley Cup loss to Chicago back in June. Though by no means will it be a cakewalk. Division foes such as Ottawa, Detroit and Toronto have all gotten better and will certainly challenge Boston for the Atlantic Division crown.

Look for Boston’s young defensemen to have breakout showings. Hamilton, Krug and Bartkowski will all get their fair share of ice-time. Coach Julien will expect big things from the promising trio. Their youthful style of play should instill an added spark into an already ramped up approach. But most importantly improve what has been a historic underahcieving power play unit.

Claude Julien may have to manage the minutes for some of his veteran stars from time to time and maybe even throttling it back every once in awhile could do them a lot of good. They head into the season with an improved roster over the 2012-2013 team and are still the class of the Eastern Conference in my eyes.

Frank O’Laughlin-Senior Contributor-Title Town Sports Network

Bruins trim roster to 24, Caron and Johnson still remain

Nick Johnson battles for position against Detroit

The Boston Bruins wrapped up their preseason Friday in Saskatoon against the Winnipeg Jets. The Black and Gold blew them out 5-0, finishing with a 6-1 exhibition record.

Following their preseason finale, GM Peter Chiarelli made it clear that the B’s intend to begin the regular season with a 23-man roster that will include 13 forwards, 8 defensemen and 2 goaltenders.

The much talked about third line competition has finally been laid to rest. Reilly Smith and Carl Soderberg will flank Chris Kelly at the onset.

Chiarelli spoke about the trio saying, “the third line looks how I envisioned it, and it’s nice to see the chemistry they were able to develop.”

Many speculated Ryan Spooner had a legitimate shot of making the parent club as a third-liner or spare forward at the very least. That will not be happening. Boston announced Saturday morning that Spooner will begin the year in Providence.

Sending Spooner down had nothing to do with his performance because he had himself an impressive camp. But the fact that Jordan Caron and Nick Johnson would have had to clear waivers if sent down influenced the move.

Spooner will only continue to blossom playing in the AHL, setting him up for a bright future with the B’s. In this case Spooner is a victim of great organizational depth.

In regards to the defense, Kevan Miller and Matt Bartkowski will comprise the extra blue-liners. The offensive abilities of Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug earned them top six jobs. Boston has aspirations of improving their power play and they will certainly do that.

Now Matt Bartkowski had himself a breakout camp. He is more than ready to start and proved it in the playoffs this past season. Though like Spooner, he falls victim to incredible defensive depth.

Chad Johnson will be backing up Tuukka Rask in net. Him and Niklas Svedberg were equally impressive in training camp. Though another season in Providence will only help Svedberg further develop.

Depending on Johnson’s performance moving forward, a future call up is not out of the realm of possibility. Svedberg would benefit in no way from sitting on the bench behind Rask. Starting in Providence on a nightly basis is beneficial to the organization. The young net minder will only get better.

“Generally speaking at Svedberg’s age he could use more playing time,” said Chiarelli.

Johnson steadily improved as camp progressed and should do just fine in his newly acquired role. His $200,000 cap hit opposed to the $1 million hit Svedberg toted also likely factored into the decision.

The thirteenth forward spot has yet to be determined. It came down to a competition between Jordan Caron, Nick Johnson and Matt Fraser. Chiarelli said he looks for “versatility, first and foremost,” from a thirteenth forward.

Fraser was sent down to Providence. Johnson and Caron still remain on the roster and the Bruins still have a total of 24 players. Both forwards would have to clear waivers if demoted.

Boston management finds itself in a tough spot because each player brings a dynamic element to the team. Johnson is experienced and plays with grit. Caron is young and skates with power.

It’s almost a guarantee both guys would be claimed before getting through waivers. So obviously this is a decision the Bruins are not about to rush nor take lightly.

Matt Lindblad was the fourth player cut on Saturday, as he will be joining Svedberg, Spooner and Fraser in Providence.

Almost all final cuts have been made. Once the Bruins hit the 23 mark it will be time to shift attention to this coming Thursday, as the Bruins will open up the 2013-2014 campaign against Tampa Bay at the Garden.

Expect a decision on Caron and Johnson by the end of the weekend because they need to get the roster trimmed by the end of the month.

Frank O’Laughlin – Senior Contributor – TitleTown Sports Network

Bruins cut three from camp, six more to come

The Bruins made three NHL training camp roster cuts, as they released forward Craig Cunningham and defenseman Dan Warsovsky to Providence. They also placed veteran blue liner Mike Moore on waivers with the hopes of him further developing in Providence.

Boston’s NHL roster currently sits at 28. Six more cuts are expected in the coming days. Claude Julien and upper-management would like to reduce their roster to the NHL’S mandatory 22-man roster limit sometime prior to their two-game trip to Winnipeg and Saskatoon on Thursday.

We know which regulars will make up the roster. But Ryan Spooner, Nick Johnson, Matt Fraser, Carl Soderberg and Jordan Caron are all battling it out for a third line position. Niklas Svedberg and Chad Johnson are dueling for the second string goaltending role.

Then there is Kevan Millar. Millar has had a strong preseason and is making a case to earn himself a seventh defensemen job with the Bruins. A job occupied by Aaron Johnson last season.

What does Dougie Hamilton’s future hold? Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski have looked fantastic and have made it nearly impossible to ignore that. Hamilton has a lot to prove over the remaining preseason contests if has hopes of swaying any last minute decision making when it comes to selecting the final two starting defensemen.

Boston has a dilemma on its hands, a unique predicament at that. Their organizational depth runs deep and selecting a final roster will be quite the challenge. The final preseason games will be crucial in determining who stays and goes. This Bruins team will only be that much better when it’s all said and done due to the healthy competition many of their players have been caught up in this training camp.

“There are quite a few guys in the mix. That’s some of the stuff I alluded to this morning and the other day by saying we’re going to have some tough decisions to make at the end,” Claude Julien told CSNNE.com.

Frank O’Laughlin – Senior Contributor – TitleTown Sports Network

Bruins on ‘verge’ of signing Theodore

Boston Bruins news has been scarce up until now. The latest rumors swirling around the league have veteran goaltender Jose Theodore linked to the Black and Gold, as they are reportedly interested in bolstering their goaltending depth at the NHL level.

French Canadian sports journalist Yvon Pedneault broke the news on Sunday. According to Pedneault, Boston is on the “verge” of inking Theodore to a one-year deal.

A signing of such sorts makes sense considering Chad Johnson is the lone goaltender on the Bruins NHL roster besides Tuukka Rask. Rask will carry the bulk of the load but Johnson is not established and could prove to be a liability.

Theodore would give the Bruins an experienced veteran presence on and off the ice, as he has been competing in the NHL since 1995. Theodore would more importantly provide the Bruins and Claude Julien with some added confidence on the nights Rask must rest, given his proven track record.

The former Panther net minder lead Florida to the playoffs the season prior to last, though the 2013 season was one to forget for Theodore. He spent the majority of the season hurt, missing all but 15 games.

Whatever contract Theodore is offered, it is likely to be miniscule, given the Bruins cap constraints. Luckily for Boston, Theodore is not one to command a whole lot of money at this point in his career.

Frank O’Laughlin – Senior Contributor – TitleTown Sports Network

Follow along with Frank on Twitter: @BruinsHub

 

Five Reasons Patriots Will Turn Disbelievers To Believers

The New England Patriots organization,players and fans are facing an off-season that hasn’t been this off is a very long time and maybe the worst off-season in the Patriots history. The off-season headlines with the Aaron Hernandez Murder investigation as well as Alfonso Dennards 30 day jail sentence that he followed up  with a recent DUI arrest to loosing Tom Brady’s favorite target in Wes Welker who is playing in Denver.

Despite the obvious losses and negative things surrounding their organization there is still plenty of positive things that we can look forward to this current off-season programs as well as the season.

1.) The Emergence of a mature defense.

There is no doubt the Patriots defense has made some drastic changes this off-season. They have acquired key guys in the off season free agency and the draft with players such as Adrian Wilson and selecting Jamie Collins in the draft as well.

While there is a lot of youth there are also a number of players whom have matured in the system the last few seasons. The Patriots are hoping their youth can compliment the veterans on the field with players such as Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo leading the team. Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia have done a great job of blending the new guys into the system and if guys like Chandler Jones and Ras i Dowling can come up big this season things will look up Defensively for this Patriots defensive unit.

2.) Running with a purpose.

It’s a new day here in New England with the departure of a lot of quality offensive weapons ranging from the arrest of Aaron Hernandez and the lack departure of Wes Welker and Danny Woodhead in free agency just to name a few. The Patriots passing attack looks like its developing at best.

Stevan Ridley leads the Patriots back field and he’s followed by Shane Vereen,Lagarette Blount,Brandon Boldin and Leon Washington. The great thing about these backs is they all have a different skill set and bring different personalities to the offense.  While Ridley brings a ground and pound personality to the offense leading the team in rushing last season fellow running back Shane Vereen excels in the passing game, Brandon Bolding and Lagarette Blount both pound the rock and Leon Washington will serve as a special teams ace.

3.) The Injection of youth into the offense.

The Patriots did a decent job acquiring WR’s in the off-season and the draft in light of the recent events surround the offensive attack there is a chance the younger guys can make an impact and bring an element that hasn’t been in New England since Randy Moss and Tom Brady were linking up. We are not saying that Aaron Dobson and Josh Broyce are going to fill a need in that sort of fashion but Aaron Dobson and Randy Moss do have similar careers both being apart of the thundering herd.

The young wide receivers are the key to the Patriots offensive success this season. The early or immediate emergence can really help this team suffering from the loss of a few key offensive weapons that turned the team into an offensive juggernaut. The young wide receiver all hold different skill sets much like the running backs Aaron Dobson has great speed and size. He is tall, fast, and great outside the numbers as well as great instincts. Josh Broyce brings great speed and versatility to the offense being able to play both slot and outside he can also run great routes. Kenbrell Thompkins is the guy that seems to be making a name for himself with the absence of WR at mini camp’s. He has great size and speed he can also be versatile with playing the slot and outside the numbers. He went undrafted but is surely being noticed.

If 1 of the 3 wide receivers can catch on it will be a great sign for the New England Patriots.

4.) Depth before dishonor.

The Patriots have done a great job drafting and signing guys just to fill roles and sub in and out of packages on the fly in all there off seasons. Cashing in on a good amount of picks for solid players the last 3 or so years the Patriots have depth at almost every position bringing guys like Adrian Wilson and Armond Armstead are just 2 examples of how last years starters are now potentially just rotational guys even if they played well like Stephan Gregory and the departure of Pat Chung,Brandon Deaderick, and Kyle Love.

While the media and fans may focus on the departure or negative things in the course of the off-season. The depth the Patriots have this year may be the best it has been in many recent years.The Patriots may lack some top end familiar names but we think there are guys primed to break out once training camps, pre season, and regular season come about. Guys like Julien Edelman who have a few years in the system and is the only receiver left that has caught passes from Tom Brady. Ras i Dowling who has been battling injuries since highschool finally looks right he also sticks to his assignments like glue and can challenge the Patriots 2 and 3 corners for playing time although Alfonso Dennard and Kyle Arrington are great at their respectful positions and them too may be primed to break out having a year or more in the system.

5.) The dynamic duo Batman and Robin.

Who did you expect to be here other than the combination of head coach Bill Belichick and the future sure-fire HOF quarterback Tom Brady. The 2 have been to 5 super bowl appearances and taken 3 back to Foxboro and its great fan base. They have successfully rebuilt the franchise in which started with a trade to get the head coach and an injury that sidelined Drew Bledsoe which allowed Tom Brady to come in and start his developement and as a bonus ultimately lead to a Superbowl win.

Tom Brady has won big games with less of an offensive case then he has this year with players such as David Pattern, David Givens, Bethal Johnson, Deion Branch, Rasheed Caldwell, and Jabar Gaffney just to name a few while outside of Corey Dillion and Antwain Smith the Patriots havent had a running game to compliment their passing attack which makes the emergence of guys like Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen welcomed editions to help ease the pressure off of Tom Brady as he walks through the back side of his career.

Bill Belichick has done such a great job with the cast he has had over the years. While there may not be many stats for a head coach outside of wins and losses BB ability to squeeze every drop of talent out of someone and his nose for success can not be denied. in recent years he has taken hits on guys such as Chad Johnson Formally OchoCinco, Albert Haynesworth, and Aaron Hernandez as well as draft picks that did not really pan out Lawrence Maroney, Darius Butler, and Chad Jackson. However these mistakes or bad decisions dont over shadow the facts that he was the only coach to call Michigan to inquire about Tom Brady who they eventually selected in the later rounds of the draft, the 5 superbowls he has coached in the 18-1 season although a SB loss winning 18 games in a row is a great success he has also selected guys such as Rob Gronkowski, Jerod Mayo, Logan Mankins, Vince Wilfork, and making trades for guys like Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and the signing of player’s that they have taken a chance on such as Rodney Harrison, Adrian Wilson, and Aqib Talib.

It’s just starting to heat up. The mandatory mini camps, training camps, pre-season, and the regular season seem so close can you tell we can’t wait?

Patrick Jordan– NFL Contributor – TitleTown Sports

Patriots offered no compensatory picks.

Compensatory picks were issued Monday to teams. Patriots received zero picks.

Current draft picks

2013 Draft Picks.
1st round-own, 29th in round
2nd round-own, 29th in round
3rd round-own, 29th in round
7th round-from Tampa, 20th in round
7th round-own, 29th in round

Patriots recently decided to cash in on a pair of players last year. Trading up to get Chandler Jones and Dante Hightower.

4th round pick to Tampa Bay in Aqib Talib trade

This trade has worked out rather nicely. Since Talib’s arrival the Patriots have improved drastically and when he wasn’t in the whole defense looked some-what lost.

5th round pick to Washington in  AlbertHaynesworth trade

Good ole Albert. Was even surprised that Bill was up for the challenge. I myself thought it was a great move to help Vince Wilfork anchor the DL. Boy were we wrong this experiment ended with Albert’s dismissal.

6th round pick to Cincinnati in Chad Ochocinco trade

Formerly Johnson but ocho-cinco has finally reformed back to Mr. Johnson. This pick had high hopes as Chad is a fan favorite. He had little success with the playbook nevermind the offense. He was a disappoint to say the least. Chad Johnson feels he can still play and hopes to land with a team.

Look for the Patriots to make some moves and grab some extra picks.

Patrick Jordan– NFL Contributor – TitleTown Sports

Bruins Shut Out The Lightning 3-0

November 11, 2013 By Rachel Murphy Leave a Comment