Bruins Making a Run to the End

With 18.3 seconds left in overtime, Patrice Bergeron scored a goal to lead the Bruins to a win over the New Jersey Devils, 1-0. In the game, Tuukka Rask had 21 saves, along with his 5th shutout of the season. The B's are now tied with Montreal and Philadelphia in points with 82. But Montreal and Philadelphia have more wins, the one tiebreaker.

The Bruins have two road games left, against the Washington Capital and the Buffalo Sabres. Overall, there are six games left in the regular season. The stars of the game were: Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, and Martin Brodeur.

Devils C Patrik Elias was nominated by the New Jersey chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association for the Masterton Trophy, given to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Elias got a game misconduct from the referees after the game ended. He would not discuss it. Flyers F Dan Carcillo was suspended two games for a hit on Devils F David Clarkson on Sunday. New Jersey won the season series 3-1. Boston is 19-13-6 on the road with a three-game winning streak.

Spring Training not nearly as exciting now as it was in February

I'm starting to feel like all the Spring Training story lines have played themselves out. We've seen enough games to know what to expect from the main players, we know what the pitching rotation is going to look like, we know that Mike Lowell is unlikely to be traded before the season starts, and we know that Dice-K is going to start the season in the minors.

The initial excitement of seeing the Red Sox on the field warming up has dissipated (did I really spend 3 hours watching live coverage of that on NESN?) and hearing the same analysis of how the Red Sox' season is going to go has definitely gotten old. Even the excitement of the games has worn off. I don't care who wins today's game against the Orioles. Because you know what - it doesn't matter.

My mother-in-law once said that it was a good thing that pregnancy is 9 months long because imagine your shock if you woke up one morning nine months pregnant without all the time leading up to it to get used to it. Maybe that's what Spring Training is like for us fans. Time to ease into the new season without the pressure of the games meaning anything. Time for us to say breezily after someone has a bad start "Oh, it's just Spring Training." Time for us to say if someone hasn't been getting any good hits "He's just warming up."

But 4 days from now, that's all going to change. Bring it on Yankees. We're ready.

Sabres Defeat Bruins

At the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins lost to Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres, with a final score of 3-2. This was the Sabres 6th win in 7 games. Miller made 40 saves in the game, including Marco Sturm's penalty shot in the first period.

David Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg were the two goal scorers, in the first and third periods respectivelly. The Bruins remained in 8th place after Carolina defeated Atlanta 4-1. For the goal-starved Bruins, tied for last in the league in scoring, getting behind 3-1 early was just too much to overcome.

Boston goalie Tom Thomas, Miller's backup in Vancouver, was pulled following the Sabres' third goal and left the ice to jeers. He was making his second straight start after shutting out Calgary on Saturday.

When Thomas was lifted in favor of Tukka Rask, he headed down the runway toward the dressing room and missed about six minutes of play.

It was the sixth time this season Thomas has been pulled from a game. Rask has never been removed. Buffalo's Derek Roy was held without a goal after getting a hat trick in a win over Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Bruins dropped to 3-10-3 at home since New Year's Day. Julien said he didn't have an update on injured defenseman Andrew Ference, but also said he would not be with the team in New Jersey on Tuesday.

The Mayor's Cup is Ours!

Blogger is being difficult and not letting me upload the picture of Youk that I wanted to put here so imagine if you will that there is a picture of Youk over to the left hand side.

It was a banner day yesterday for our much maligned offense. Youk, Pedroia, and Martinez together had seven runs and 4 RBIs. Ortiz hit a beautiful homerun and even Tug got in on the homerun action in the 7th, causing the inevitable Tug chants to start up. Youk was on fire yesterday to the point that every time he stepped up to the plate I just knew he was going to do something awesome. It was perfect Sunday afternoon baseball. The Sox won 11-5 in the end.

Big doings tonight with the Red Sox taking on the Tampa Bay Rays who are shaping up to be the team to beat this year. It is NESN's last televised Spring Training game and Josh Beckett is pitching so I expect you all to be watching.

Sabres @ Bruins

Tonight will be the fifth out of six games between the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins this season. The Bruins have taken 3 out of the first 4 games, with Tuukka Rask in net for all four if those games. Tim Thomas was first of the ice this morning, so expect him to get the start tonight.

The B's haven't been playing well at home since the New Year, but the game against Calgary on Saturday was definitely an encouraging one. At the moment, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and the New York Rangers are all vying for the final 3 playoff berths. The Bruins have the most games left to play out of all these teams, and are in complete control of there own destiny as they start Monday in the 8th spot of the Eastern Conference.

David Krejci has two goals and four assists during a three-game points streak for the Bruins. Chara has two goals and two assists during a three-game points streak. Patrice Bergeron has a goal and three assists during a three-game points streak. Mark Recchi has goals in consecutive games.

Andrew Ference is listed as day-to-day with a groin injury. Marc Savard is out indefinitely with post-concussions symptoms, but he was able to stop by Saturday to visit his teammates. All were very excited to see him.

The puck drops at 7:00 PM at the TD Garden. Now, tell me who do you think is going to come out with the win tonight?

Bruins defeat Flames

With a vist from the injured Marc Savard, the dormant power play of the Bruins came alive during the game against the Calgary Flames. The B's scored on their first 3 power play chances en route to a 5-0 win. Tim Thomas, who made his first start in 6 games, made 31 stops for his first shutout since December 21.

This win, which moved the B's into a tie with Philadelphia for the tie for 7th place in the conference, was just the third in the last 15 home games for Boston. The Flames' loss got the surprising Phoenix Coyotes into the postseason for the first time since 2002.

Thomas, the defending Vezina Trophy winner who has lost his No. 1 job to rookie Tuukka Rask won for the first time in his last four starts. The Flyers, who lost 4-1 at Pittsburgh on Saturday, are ahead of Boston in the win column, but the Bruins, four points ahead of ninth-place Atlanta, have a game in hand. Sixth-place Montreal was two points ahead of both entering Saturday night's game against New Jersey.

Thomas notched his fifth shutout of the season. A potential threat to the shutout came in the third period when Boston's Johnny Boychuck received a five-minute major and game misconduct for elbowing, but the Flames managed just three shots on goal during the long power play.

Overall the Bruins gave a good 60-minute effort. With this win they remain in playoff position.

Calgary @ Boston

Today, the Calgary Flames and the Boston Bruins will be playing each other at the TD Garden, each vying for a playoff spot. This is the only meeting this season between these two teams. Boston is clinging to a two-point lead over Atlanta for eighth in the East while the Flames entered Friday ninth in the West, four points back of the Red Wings, who were in action.

Bruins forward David Krejci has four points over the last two games and 13 since the Olympic break. Nystrom, of Clagary, had a goal and an assist for the Flames in his first-career game at Nassau Coliseum, where his father, Bob, rose to fame. It was Nystrom's first multi-point game since Nov. 14.

Again, the Bruins could again be without Vladimir Sobotka, who suffered a head injury in the game on Tuesday. Both teams are the lowest in the pack in scoring, so this will not be a high-scoring game. Before Thursday night, the last time the Bruins scored at least three goals in regulation at TD Garden was Dec. 30 in a 4-0 win over Atlanta.

The puck drops at 1:00 PM live on NESN. Coverage starts at 12:30.

Josh Beckett is Pitching on Opening Night? I Never Would Have Guessed!

I was hesitant to write a blog post with yet another picture of Josh Beckett gracing it but given the news that Josh is going to be the Red Sox Opening Night pitcher I just had to.

Yes, Tito announced today that Josh would get the nod on Opening Night which was rather anticlimactic after he accidentally spilled the beans at a press conference yesterday. The real news today was the back end of the rotation and what was going to happen there. As expected, Lester will follow Beckett on April 6th and Lackey on April 7th against the Yankees. Then it gets interesting with Wakefield on April 9th against the Royals, back to Beckett again on the 10th, and finally Buchholz gets a turn on the 11th. Tito's reasoning is that Beckett would pitch his second game on 6 days rest instead of 7, which could be detrimental to him. I'm wondering about Buchholz though. He's going to go a long while without pitching in a real game. And of course, who knows what will happen when and if Dice-K finally is ready to enter the rotation.

Wakefield has already proven during Spring Training that he is up to the task despite what many thought over the winter. Buchholz on the other hand has been maddeningly inconsistent, showing shades of what got him sent down to the minors last year. I'm hoping that Clay can get back in a groove and show us that he can be the pitcher we always thought he was capable of.

In other Red Sox news today, Mike Lowell fouled a ball off his knee resulting in a contusion. Just another incident in a string of bad luck that seems to have been following Mikey around since last year.

The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays today 3-2 with Lester going 6 innings with 6 hits and 2 unearned runs. John Lackey pitches tomorrow against the Orioles and old timer Alan Embree is expected to pitch in relief.

And I promise my next post will not include a Beckett picture and perhaps I will even discuss hitting. Or fielding. Or something not to do with pitching.

Lightning Defeat Bruins

In a disappointing game, the Bruins take a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The B's put up 50 shots on goal, while the Lightning only had 18 shots on goal. Steve Stamkos and Paul Szczechura each had a pair of goals for the Lightning. Martin St. Louis was their other goal scorer.

Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuck, and Mark Rechi each scored a goal for the B's. Since the Winter Classic, the Bruins had not scored three regulation goals at home before Thursday. Boston has won only 2 of their last 14 home games.

Shawn Thornton had a questionable hit against Kurtis Foster in the second period. Foster, who went face-first into the glass, was looked at by the trainer, but he skated off on his own. No penalty was called; Foster sat out the third period. Last night was the first day of the NHL's new rule banning blindside hits to the head, so Thornton could be sanctioned by the league.

Boston's Vladimir Sobotka missed the game with a head injury. The Bruins have no power-play goals in their last eight games. David Krejci had a pair of assists for the Bruins, giving him four two-point performances in the last eight games and 101 assists in his career. Chara left 2 minutes into the third period when he was hit by St. Louis' slapshot in the right hand. He left and went to the bench, where he sat with an icepack on his hand before returning with 16:32 left.

Lightning @ Bruins

Tonight the Bruins take on the Tampa Bay Lightning for the fourth and final time, playing at home at the TD Garden. The B's currently lead the series with 2 wins.

Just last week, the B's looked like they were about to be kicked out of the playoff picture. Now rolling on 2 wins in a row, they hope to continue this streak to keep their spot in playoff postion.

For the Bruins, Satan has goals in each of his last two games, Lucic has three points in his last two and Krejci has nine points in his last seven games. Let's hope these 3 keep their hot streaks going and others are able to start their own.

Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund is out with a sprained left ankle, while left wing Ryan Malone (arthroscopic left knee surgery/upper body) is out for at least another week. ... Boston center Vladimir Sobotka is doubtful for Thursday with a head injury and Marc Savard is expected to miss to rest of the season with a concussion.

This game is the first of the last 10 games of the season. Coverage starts at 6:30 and the game starts live at 7:00 PM on NESN.

You Can Always Count on Beckett

Even though it has only been since Saturday that the Red Sox won their last game it seems like it has been much longer. Lots of bad pitching has happened in the meantime. But of course the cure for that is Josh Beckett who did not disappoint today, pitching 5 innings with only 3 hits and 1 run. There were also homeruns by Martinez, Hall, and Cameron. So the Pirates have been vanquished and the seas are safe again.

Bruins Defeat Thrashers

The Bruins went into this game as if it was a playoff game, and came out with the win against the Atlanta Thrashers. Before the game, the Thrashers were 1 point behind the B's. Now the B's are 3 points ahead in the 8th spot and are still looking to move ahead in the standings. They are 1 point behind Philadelphia and Montreal.

The final score of the game was 4-0, with each goal coming from a different player: David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Miroslav Satan, and Steve Begin. Krejci put the Bruins ahead less than 10 minutes into the opening period, then set up Lucic's goal that made it 2-0. Satan scored off a deflection with just 4 seconds left in the second, and Begin finished off the Thrashers with a goal early in the third.Rask got the win as goaltender during the game. He stopped a penalty shot and stopped 27 shots in all during the whole game.

The Thrashers, who have made the playoffs only once since entering the NHL in 1999, seemed overwhelmed by one of the biggest games in franchise history. Fans even began to leave early after the Bruins fourth and final goal.

NOTES: The Thrashers have been shut out four times this season. ... Boston C Vladimir Sobotka went out in the first period with an undisclosed injury and didn't return. ... Atlanta tough man Eric Boulton traded punches with Shawn Thorton and tried to lure Begin into a fight late in the game. The linesmen stepped in, and Boulton alone went to the box for cross-checking.

9 out of 10 Losses for the Sox - Good Thing it's Spring Training

With a little over a week left before Opening Day the Red Sox haven't exactly assuaged our fears about their lack of offensive. They also haven't bolstered our confidence in our strong starting rotation. Yesterday the Sox lost their ninth game out of the last ten and featured a paltry two hits and some horrendous starting pitching from Clay Buchholz.

On Monday, we were treated to Boof Bonser and various others relievers get crushed by the Tampa Bay Rays. At least in that game the Red Sox scored 9 runs but it wasn't enough to beat the 11 runs the Rays had. Mark my words, the Rays are going to be a huge thorn in the Red Sox' side this year.

Today Josh Beckett takes the mound against the Pirates again. (And boy, do I love the headlines when the Sox play the Pirates! "Josh Beckett and the Red Sox Prepare to Battle the Pirates" is a good one. Avast me matey!") When Beckett faced the Pirates last Friday he was still battling the effects of the flu and the result wasn't pretty. Let's cross our fingers that he can turn things around today.

Bruins @ Thrashers Preview

Tonight, the Bruins take on the Atlanta Thrashers in their last meeting of the season, and a fight for the eighth spot in the standings. This game, along with the rest of the season, is a must win for the B's in order to stay in the playoff run.

For all intents and purposes, this is a playoff game. The Bruins occupy the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with 76 points. The Thrashers are in ninth place, one point behind. Atlanta is 18-13-5 at home, while Boston is 17-13-6 on the road.

For the Bruins, David Krejci has 2 goals and 5 assists in six games, Bergeron has 4 goals and 3 assists in seven games, Ryder has a goal and an assist in three games, and Mark Recchi has 3 goals and 3 assists in seven games.

For the injury report, you all know the story of Savard. Or at least you should anyways. For the Thrashers, Evander Kane (broken foot) and Christoph Schubert (hip) are out indefinitely, and Boris Valabik (torn ACL) is on injured reserve.

Really all the B's need to do tonight to win is play like they did on Sunday. Play with emotion, be physical, and most importantly put up a full 60 minute effort. The only thing that should be fixed is to make sure to try to stay off the power kill.

The puck drops at 7:00 PM. Coverage starts live at 6:30. All can be caught on NESN. Now what do you think the outcome of this game is going to be?

Can the Bruins win the playoffs with the worst offense in the NHL?

One of the announcers asked this question during the Bruins game today and it got me thinking: can the bruins really win at all in the playoffs with such a lack of offense? To tell you the truth, probably not. The Bruins have the lowest amount of goals per game in the NHL at 2.35.

At that rate, I'd say to the team "There's always next year." But I can't. You know why? Because technically the season isn't over quite. And to tell you the truth, I really don't want to say that. What I really want to say is: " Get your act together. You still have 11 games left in the season, and if you try hard enough you can do it."

But really that isn't the point of this post. I think that if the team goes into the playoffs playing their absolute best, putting a 60 minute effort into every game they can at least make it past round one. Sadly though, the lack of offense the Bruins have posted this season added with the loads of pressure to play well coming off of last season is most likely going to bring them nowhere after round 1 of the playoffs.

So where do we go from there? I say go in to the offseason and work on the lack of offense the team has. Try building skills going up to the net. Work on being able to score power play goals. And most importantly, think about how this season was played and then learn to play with a lot more emotion and heart. Until then, I'll just have to hope the rest of the season goes well and pray to God I won't be saying "There's always next year" one more time in my life as a Boston sports fan.

Basic Rules of Hygiene: Wash Your Hands Often and Don't Share Water Bottles

Josh Beckett had a rough outing against the Pirates on Friday afternoon. It turns out he's not entirely recovered from the flu that struck him down last weekend. He reportedly spent 3 days in bed battling a fever of 100 degrees and lost 3-4lbs. When he was asked by a reporter what may have caused the illness he said "I'm sure it's just a lot of guys getting illnesses in the clubhouse. We can tough it out for a day, but you go to the weight room, all the bottles of water look the same. You end up drinking someone's bottle of water, next thing you know five, six guys are sick on the team."

In my son's preschool class they write their names on their water bottles. It seems to work well. Time for the Red Sox to break out their magic markers and start paying attention to who's water bottle is who's. Because after watching Papelbon take a beating in today's game, I think the flu has claimed its next victim.

Bruins Defeat Rangers

Wearing their Winter Classic jerseys, the Boston Bruins keep their spot at eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a win over the New York Rangers. Miroslav Satan and Dennis Wideman were to two gaol scorers for the B's. Tuukka Rask kept the Rangers scoreless for most of the game until late in the 3rd period. The team was able to keep the score at 2-1 for the win.

There were 11 penalties called in the game. 3 were called against Zdeno Chara, who racked up 8 penalty minutes all before the end of the second period.

This was an important win for the B's as there 11 games left in the regular season. Hopfully they can keep up more 60 minute efforts for the rest of the season.

Rangers @ Bruins

Tonight the Bruins take on the New York Rangers at the TD Garden. So far, the Rangers have swept the season series, winning all three games so far. Sure, the Rangers' loss to the Blues on Thursday night was a break for the B's, but the fans in TD Garden had other things on their minds that night, booing their team off the ice in the aftermath of what they saw as a lackluster performance in a 3-0 loss to the Penguins, their first shutout in Boston since their inaugural season of 1967-68. Marian Gaborik, of the Rangers, is hot for this game. His three-point performance against the Blues on Thursday was his second in four games and his eighth of the season. Savard we know about, but otherwise neither team has significant injuries to report going into Sunday.

The game starts at 12:30 on CBS, instead of NESN. Let's hope for a full 60 minute effort tonight.

Penguins Defeat Bruins

The Bruins went into this game revenge-minded, but came out with another lose in their column. The final score was 3-0, Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury made 17 saves for the Penguins. Thats right. That means that the B's only made 17 shots on goal during the game.

The one highlight of the game was Shawn Thornton's fight with Matt Cooke, which started 5 seconds after Cooke stepped on the ice. This fight was to be expected though. One fight that wasn't as expected was the one that happened between Zdeno Chara and Michael Rupp. Unfortunately, the fight brought no emotion to the team as the captain had hoped.

The Penguins scored 1 goal in each period. They were scored Tyler Kennedy, Alex Ponikarovsky and Michael Rupp. Overall, the emotion from the Bruins was not there. 4 or 5 players had the flu and were with little energy, but coach Claude Julien said that it was no excuse. Really I think this video of Milan Lucic's post-game interview says it all.

Repeat after me - It's about pitching and defense this year

Watching the Red Sox game on Wednesday my son remarked that there weren't many hits in the game. My immediate response was "No, this year it is all about pitching and defense. Run prevention, that's the mantra this year." The fact that this rolled off my tongue so easily told me three things simultaneously: 1) I spent way too much time reading about the Red Sox off-season moves 2) I have drank deeply from Theo Epstein's Kool Aid and 3) I have no choice but to believe that Theo made the right decisions this off-season.

Spring is all about re-birth, renewal, etc, etc. That goes for baseball too. If there was ever a time to believe that the Red Sox have a chance to win it all this year it's now. We might as well believe that pitching and defense are going to do it because that's what we've got right now.

Penguins @ Bruins

Tonight the Penguins and the Bruins play in their final match of the season at the TD Garden. It will most certainly be an interesting game to watch, as the last game between these two included the injury of Marc Savard. Expect at least a couple of fights and more than a few iffy checks. Matt Cooke will be the one most under fire as he was the one who gave the hit to Savard.

Boston increased its lead in the playoff race to three points on Tuesday night with its 5-2 win at Carolina. The Bruins entered the evening just one point ahead of the New York Rangers for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, but the Blueshirts lost at home to Montreal.

Penguins forward Eric Godard (groin) is out. … Bruins center Marc Savard is likely done for the season due to a concussion suffered on March 7 against Pittsburgh. Andrew Ference (groin) is hoping to be back by Sunday. Patrice Bergeron will be playing despite leaving the game early in the last game. It has came out that he only has a bruised foot.

Bergeron has been playing extremely well in the absence of Marc Savard. He has four goals and four assists in his last seven games. David Krejci has also been playing well, with a four-game points streak (2 goals, 4 assists)

The puck drops at 7:00 on NESN. Coverage starts 6:30. What do you think is going to happen tonight?

Lackey is Starting to Win Me Over

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

I have never been a Lackey fan. I couldn't stand him when he was with the Angels and played against the Red Sox and I railed against him when Theo signed him this winter. But I just may have to admit that he is starting to win me over. His nine scoreless innings are a huge part of it. The fact that he kind of talks like a surfer dude despite being from Texas is part of it (too much time in California perhaps). This quote was another point in his favor "But honestly, I’d probably like to give up a couple runs here. I don’t want to bring them all north with me.”"

But the fact that Josh Beckett likes him is the real reason I am inclined to look upon him more favorably these days.

Bruins Defeat Hurricanes

In a full 60 minute minute effort game, the Bruins pull off a 5-2 win against the the Carolina Huricanes. Each B's goal was scored by a different person: Patrice Bergeron, Johnny Boychuck, Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder, and David Krejci. The Bruins also got 30 saves from Tuukka Rask. Mark Recchi's goal was the 560th of his career and tied him at 22nd on the all time list with Guy Lafleur.

Erik Cole was the only person who scored for Carolina, scoring 2 goals in the game. After the second goal the 'Canes followed with a flurry of shots, Tuukka Rask turning down all of them. "Rask had some pretty good saves on the chances that we did get," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "Just that puck movement from the back end to the forwards is such a critical piece against a hard forechecking team."

Notes: Bergeron left the ice late in the game with an injury after taking a puck off his leg, but Julien said the injury was not deemed serious. "The prognosis is it's a bruise," he said. Marc Savard missed his fifth consecutive game for Boston with a concussion. Paul Maurice coached his 800th game for the Hurricanes' franchise. Carolina D Joni Pitkanen played his 400th NHL game. Carolina's Jamie McBain assisted on Cole's first goal, giving McBain a point in his first NHL game.

Quick Update on the Sox' Health and Games

Ryan Westmoreland's brain surgery was successful although he will have a long recovery period. That is such good news to hear though.

Josh Beckett is feeling better after being scratched from his start on Sunday.

Jed Lowrie is still out of the lineup after undergoing tests.

Dice-K's neck is starting to feel a little better.

The Red Sox lost two games yesterday. 0-7 to Tampa Bay and 0-3 to Houston. The Sox take on the Mets today in their green hats in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Let's hope the luck o' the Irish is with them today.

Devils defeats Bruins

As the New Jersey Devils take a win against the Boston Bruins, the B's take their second loss in as many games. The Devils are now finding their way to the top of the Atlantic Division, while the Bruins are trying to find their way to the playoffs. With a final score of 3-2, Tim Thomas gets the loss, as he was the starting goaltender for the B's, but was taken out after the first period in the place of Tuukka Rask.

Blake Wheeler scored a goal for the third consecutive game in a row. Patrice Bergeron, who has been playing extremely well in the absence of Marc Savard, scored the other goal.

Tim Thomas didn't make it out for the socond period, making it the fifth time he has been pulled this year. Bruins coach Claude Julien said "We didn't help him. We talked it over at the end of the period and decided it was the right thing to do. It changed the momentum, and gave the team a bit of a wake-up call."

Yes I agree, it gave the team a wake up call, but it wasn't enough to pull off a needed win. Every game from now to the end of the regular season is a very important one. If the Boston Bruins plan to be in the playoffs, they need to be able to step up their game, pull some pressure off their goalies, and hope to God that they win the game.

The next game is Tuesay night against the Carolina Hurricanes, the last away game on this road trip. Game time is 7:00 PM on Nesn, with coverage starting at 6:30.

Bruins @ Devils

Tonight the Boston Bruins take on the New Jersey Devils. The Devils lead 2-0 in the season series. Both teams are in the playoff race, and are hoping for a win to get ahead. Tonight is the 6th game in a 7 game road trip for the Bruins. Boston's line of Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi, and Marco Sturm have been hot and have combined for 13 points in the last 3 games.

For Boston, Savard is out, Miroslav Satan (groin) is questionable, and Andrew Fernence (groin) is doubtful. The puck drops at 7:00 pm. Coverage starts on NESN at 6:30.

Catching up on Red Sox News

It was a slow news week in Red Sox Spring Training for the most part and the Bruins appear to have been very busy during that time. Luckily though, after a week there is enough Red Sox news to fill a blog entry.

First up, we had the first televised NESN game this past Saturday (well we had one on Thursday too, but it was the Met's feed). Unfortunately, NESN had "technical difficulties" into the 7th inning leaving us with an bad audio feed and two commentators who are more suited to TV work than radio work. By all accounts, it was a good game though, with Clay pitching well and a spectacular triple play to end the whole thing.

I know I was not the only one who was looking forward to watching Josh Beckett pitch on Sunday against the Twins and hopes were high that NESN would have no technical difficulties for the game. NESN figured out their problems but Josh got the flu that has been going around the clubhouse and was scratched from his start. Gordon Edes says in his blog over at ESPN that Josh had consumed several hard boiled eggs that morning before becoming ill. I would hate to have eaten many hard boiled eggs and then gotten the flu. Nevertheless, the Red Sox won the game putting them one game away from winning the coveted Mayor's Cup.

In other Josh Beckett news this week we have heard more reports that he and the Red Sox are nearing a deal and hope to have it in place by Opening Day. As much as I am hoping for that, I can only think back to how often we heard a deal was almost in place for JayBay last year and we all know how that worked out. So until I see Josh on my TV screen assuring me that he will be playing for the Red Sox beyond this year, I'm remaining skeptical.

This week the Red Sox send a number of players off to the minor leagues, including Casey Kelly, Jose Iglesias, and Lars Anderson. It will be exciting to hear how they all do this year and I look forward to seeing them next year at Spring Training. Pete Abraham has a nice article about it here.

Mike Lowell is anticipated to play 1st base today against Baltimore. The whole Mike Lowell situation is so awkward. I wish it would just resolve itself but there is no logical way that could happen. Frankly, I would rather see Mike go to another team where he can get regular playing time and end his career in dignity rather than go through this farce. However, with Ortiz batting the way he has been in Spring Training maybe the Red Sox should keep Lowell around as DH insurance.

Finally, please keep Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow as he undergoes brain surgery for a “cavernous malformation."

Montreal Defeats Boston

In a game that started off with a ceremony for the Canadian Olympic hockey players, the Bruins lost a game to the Montreal Canadiens that did not include a 60 minute effort. Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler were the only goal scorers for the B's, one of them coming to late. At the point of the second goal (scored by Lucic), Montreal was still leading by a goal and the B's could not catch up in the last 9 minutes of the game.

This loss comes as a disappointment, as the Bruins had an opportunity to move ahead in the standings with the win. Montreal was able to pull off this win with a goal in the first that was misread by Tukka Rask. After this goal, the Bruins were never able to catch back up and therefore ended up with this loss.

The game was heated and there were moments of physicality from both sides, but again there was no 60 minute effort to show for it. The next game for the Bruins is against the Devils on Monday night at 7:00 pm.

Boston Bruins @ Montreal Canadiens

Tonight marks the next chapter for these bitter rivals with the final game of the season between these 2 teams in the regular season. The B's and the Habs have met 5 times so far and Boston has won only 1 of those games. Hoping to move ahead in the standings, expect both teams to play even harder then they normally would. Patrice Beregeron has been hot ever since taking over for Marc Savard in the first line. With Savard, Andrew Ferrence will not being playing tonight. Miroslav Satan did not play on Thursday and will be a game-time decision. Michael Cammalleri (knee) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (knee) remain out for the Habs. Look for Halack to start in goal for the Habs. I say this is a game to watch as these arch-rivals go head-to-head trying to climb in the standings. Both have a winning streak going. Who do you think will pull out this ever so important win?

Gametime: 7:00 P.M. Coverage starts at 6:30 on NESN

Bruins Defeat Flyers

The Bruins defeated the Flyers in what was supposed to be a rematch from the Winter Classic. With the luring news that Marc Savard might be out for the rest of the season, Patrice Bergeron led the way last night with 3 points for the B's. He scored a goal and had 2 assists. Tuukka Rask made 31 saves on the night. Other than Bergeron, other scorers were Recchi, Krejci, and Wheeler. Boston is 7-2-2 in their last 11 games. They have 72 points, within 2 of Philadelphia and Montreal for the 6th seed. The Bruins will be playing Montreal on Saturday night, hoping to get ahead in the standings.

All in all, the guys had a good game and played like they should have all season long. They were physical, made important saves, and more importantly scored goals. This is what we all like to see in our favorite team and hopefully will see the same on Saturday against the Canadiens.

Bruins @ Flyers Preview

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the 2 teams, but the first since the Winter Classic on January 1. That's almost 2 months. 2 months since that magical day at Fenway. 2 months for the Flyers to come up with some sort of plan to beat the Bruins, this time on the Flyers home turf. With Marc Savard out for who knows how long, Patrice Bergeron needs to step up as the #1 center. Jeff Penner has been called up in Chara's absence due to a lower back injury, while Dennis Wideman and Mark Stuart need to step up as top defenseman. Tonight the bruins will also be without Andrew Ferrence. All-in-all the B's will have it tough tonight without their 2 top players. Also add in the fact the the Flyers will be playing for the win. We'll just have to wait and see if the Bruins can break their 2-game losing streak against Phillie. The puck drops at 7:00 PM on NESN.

Toronto defeats Bruins

The Bruins lose their second game in as many games as they lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-4. The score went back and forth during the whole game and the teams went into overtime, with a score of 3-3. It was there that Kulemin scored the winning goal for Toronto with 49 seconds left. Mark Recchi, Marco Sturm, and Patrice Bergeron each scored a goal in the game for the Bruins. Tim Thomas was the losing goaltender, while Jonas Gustavsson gets the win. The next Bruins game is Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

NOTES: Boston D Jeff Penner made his NHL debut. Thomas, last season's Vezina Trophy winner, made his fourth consecutive start for the first time since mid-December.

I Guess I Spoke Too Soon about Papelbon

because he had this nugget to say recently:

"I made my decision solely based on the contentment of my heart and what I want to show up every day and do. Not on everybody else’s experiences from it, based on only my own experiences from it, and that’s how I made my decision, period, end of story. … Right now it looks like I’m making the right decision. Who knows four years ago if I would have been on four All-Star rosters and won a World Series with team in ’07 if I wouldn’t have. So it looks like right now ‘Cinco Ocho’ is right and everybody else is wrong.” — Jonathan Papelbon, on whether — in the face of Joe Nathan’s possible season-ending elbow injury with Minnesota — he regrets choosing closing over starting (from weei.com)

Whenever he refers to himself as Cinco Ocho in the third person all is right.

The Pitcher Catcher Relationship

I read with interest today Pete Abraham's article at boston.com and Rob Bradford's article at weei.com, both of which dealt with the relationship between Josh Beckett and Victor Martinez. Or more specifically, how that relationship is getting better during spring training.

I'm sure you all remember that horrendous outing Josh had last August against The Blue Jays which marked the beginning of a bad streak that went on for a month. Martinez was behind the plate for that game and at the time I blamed it all on him. (Just for the record, I do really like Martinez. I just bought a Martinez shirt and I always have a thing for catchers. Yes, I'm looking at you Matt Weiters, even though you play for the Orioles.) But the next few starts were with Varitek so it was hard to lay blame on Martinez's step.

In reading the two recent articles though, I think my initial reaction was probably right. Beckett gives his comfort level with Martinez a 7 on a scale of 1-10 right now. I think we can speculate that it was probably much lower last season. I for one would love to see Varitek catch for Beckett all the time but that's probably unrealistic. So it is heartening to see Martinez and Beckett working well together.

In 2006 Beckett struggled to get used to pitching to Vartiek and said later that he should have listened to Tek more. Apparently he did in 2007 and had his best season yet. Let's hope he doesn't take nearly so long to get used to Martinez.

Bruins @ Toronto Preview

Tonight the Bruins will be squaring off with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. This game is the 5th out of 6 meeting between the 2 teams, and the 4 previous 4 games were won by the host team. The Bruins have won 6 out of their last 8 games moving them into the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. Who's hot for this game is Toronto's Tomas Kaberle, who is the only defenseman in the NHL to currently lead his team in scoring this season (46 points). No Leaf defender has ever finished the season leading the club in scoring. Marc Savard will be sidelined indefinitely with a concussion. Andrew Ference(groin) is in Boston. The Maple Leafs will be without forward Fredrik Sjostrom (shoulder) while center Mikhail Grabovski (broken wrist) could make his return. Defensemen Mike Van Ryn (knee) and Mike Komisarek (shoulder) are out for the year. Tonight will be an interesting game, to say the least, between these two Northeast Division Rivals. The puck drops at 7:00 PM, with covereage on NESN beginning at 6:30. Which team do you think will be coming out on top?

Penguins Defeat Bruins

The Bruins winning streak came to end today as they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1. The Penguins have remained unbeaten since the Olympic break, while the Bruins have a 2-2 record. The goals of the game were scored by Blake Wheeler for the Bruins, and Pascal Dupuis and Evengi Malkin for the Penguins.

With 5:37 left in the game, Marc Savard took a hit from Matt Cooke, was left unconcious, and had to be taken off the ice on a strecher. There was no penalty on the hit for Cooke.

The season series between the two teams is now at 2-1 Pittsburgh, with one more game to play at the Garden on March 18. The next game for the Bruins will be Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7:00 PM.

Update on Marc Savard: Savard was hit in the head losing conciousness briefly on the ice. He suffered a concussion from the hit. He was not transported to a hospital, but will remain at the team hotel in Pittsburgh with a member of the Bruins' medical staff tonight as a precaution.

Bruins @ Penguins Preview

Today, in their second game of this very long road trip, Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins will be bringing it against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena. The season series between the teams is tied thus far, this being 3 out of 4 between each other. Tim Thomas will be getting the start in goal again for the 3rd straight game. Tuuka Rask (knee) and Andrew Ference (groin) are listed as day-to-day and will miss todays game for the Bruins. Both teams are coming off winning streaks, which will end for one team tonight. Let's hope its not the Bruins streak ending. The puck drops at 3:00. Coverage start a 2:30 on NESN. Who do u think will pull out the win today: the Bruins, who have done well on the road, or the Penguins, who are the defending Stanley Cup Champions?

Where did Cinco Ocho go?

I was catching up on some shows I had DVRed while I was away last weekend and came across NESN's Spring Training Live from last Sunday. I had heard that there was a good Josh Beckett interview in it so I watched it to find that interview. I was pleasantly surprised to find a Jonathan Papelbon interview during that episode as well but upon watching it I was struck by one thing. Who was that guy? That wasn't the Papelbon we all know and love. There was no crazy talk about one of his potential new teammates being like Eric Gagne. There was no Papelbon-isms like naming is soon to be born son Gunner just because it sounds cool. Heck, I'm not sure he even cracked a smile in this interview. I'm not sure if Pap is feeling humbled because of the ending to last season or he was just having an off day but I sure hope we see his alter ego Cinco Ocho soon.

Keep a Child Alive

@pcon and I both talked about it and are now helping to raise money for a charity of our choice. In the left column of the site you will find a widget where you can help the charity Keep a Child Alive. The best part is it is free to you and you will be able to help so many kids stay alive. It would be greatly appreciated if every reader helped out and it won't take that long. Thank you and I hope you have a good night.

So now that we've seen all 3 aces pitch...

With John Lackey taking the mound against the Twins today we finalized seeing our 3 aces in action. Josh Beckett pitched on Thursday going two innings with one run, Jon Lester pitched on Friday with 4 runs in one inning as the result, and John Lackey pitched today with two scoreless innings. And what can we take away from these results? I think absolutely nothing. If we want to be optimistic we can say that Josh and John did well and that bodes well for the season or we could be pessimistic and say that since Jon did poorly that doesn't bode well for the season. I don't think either of those opinions would necessarily be accurate though. Spring Training is a time for the pitchers to loosen up, get a feel for their pitching, try out something new or refine what they already excel at. If Jon Lester gives up 4 runs in one inning on April 6th I'll be worried, but not now.

No, Spring Training is more of a time to just enjoy the fact that baseball has made a reappearance. Time to reacquaint ourselves with the team and get to know the prospects. So I'm just going to sit back and enjoy and save the worrying for April. Or maybe even postpone it until August.

Bruins Defeat Islanders 3/6/10

The Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders in regulation with a score of 3-2. Bruins scorers were Lucic (6), David Krejci (12), and Marc Savard(10). Rangers scorers were Josh Bailey (14) and Matt Moulson (23). Tim Thomas made 37 total saves. With this win, the Bruins move on to 2 wins in a row. They hope to continue this streak with game tomorrow at Mellon Arena against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 3:00 PM. Coverage on NESN starts at 2:30.

Spring Training Hyperbole or Fact? Can the Rays and Orioles compete for real this year?

By all accounts the Tampa Bay Rays are in for a monster year. Well, maybe not a monster year, but certainly one that might give the Red Sox and Yankees a run for their money. And why not? They did it in 2008. Their starting rotation of Garza, Shields, Niemann, and Price are strong and they've got Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, and Even Longoria in their lineup.

The Orioles on the other hand don't look like they are in for a monster year per se. Or maybe we can call it a monster year in Orioles terms. They've got Matt Wieters, their superstar in the making catcher and a couple of good pitching prospects thrown in for good measure. I don't see the Orioles posing a legitimate threat this year but they may not be the easy win Sox fans have become used to.

However, all this could be based on the feel good baseball reporting of Spring Training where everyone looks like they could have a great year and boasts a killer lineup. Everyone that is except for the poor Blue Jays who will be hard pressed to make up for the loss of Roy Halladay. In the end it seems more likely that the AL East will once again come down to the Red Sox and Yankees.

Boston Bruins @ New York Islanders

Today at 2 the Bruins will be playing the New York Islanders in the first game of the longest road trip of the season. The B's will be looking for 2 in a row after their first home win in a while against Toronto. Tim Thomas will get his second consecutive start in goal as Tuukka Rask is listed day-to-day with a knee injury. Be sure to catch all the action on NESN. Coverage starts at 1:30.

- @karabeach