Boyes
BOSTON — Two-goal leads are usually more secure in the Bruins’ possession.
But Boston fell to 31-0-3 in games it has held a two-goal lead by dropping one in overtime tonight.
Former Bruins forward Brad Boyes scored the game-winner on a tap-in after an end-to-end rush by Nathan Gerbe to clinch a 4-3 Buffalo win at TD Garden.
Boyes, Thomas Vanek and Tyler Ennis all had two-point nights for the Sabres.
Here’s a look at the rest of the box score:
•It was a tough night for Tim Thomas, who finished with 41 saves. He gave up a terrible rebound on Gerbe’s shot on the rush and then was out of the net when Gerbe slid the puck over to Boyes.
•Nathan Horton, Mark Recchi and Gregory Campbell scored the Bruins’ goals. Horton now has at least a point in six of his last seven games. Recchi and Campbell both broke eight-game goal droughts.
•Zdeno Chara’s first game since his game misconduct in Montreal went swell with two assists and a plus-2 rating in 25:54 of ice time.
Also, why the hell was Seguin sitting again? Is it possible he has an injury they are trying to keep hush hush?
Nice post Joe. I agree with you, Boychuk looked pretty good last night.
Who else enjoyed Darth Quaider’s fight as much as I did? Kid can throw.
All told, last night’s outcome wasn’t really indicative of the way the Bruins played for most of the game. Itnaddition to playing down a man (and many times, two) that wears the guys down who are on the ice and shortens the bench for significant chunks of time. Blowing leads is obviously not commendable, but a few items I thought the Bruins did very well last night:
-First and foremost, Johnny Boychuk’s play all night, especially on the PK, was outstanding. Best Bruin on the ice last night. That will probably go overlooked by most viewers.
-In the longest of the 5-on-3s, with 3 Bruins defenders in the box, it was interesting to see a 2-forward, 1 D-man formation. Even better to see that unit kill the PP (Bergy, Soup, Boychuk). Jack Edwards notwithstanding, fans don’t seem to have enough appreciation for what Campbell brings to this team.
-Michael Ryder could definitely do with some better vision/playmaking but his play last night was engaged. Feet moving forward, battling for pucks and transitioning well into the attacking zone, even through and around defenders. Good sign for Ryder.
-Got a slight glimpse of what Peverly can do in the scoring areas. Hopefully playing on the line with Bergy and Marchand will help him get more pucks with space to shoot/dangle.
-The whole team, Chara being no exception, played their physical style last night. No reason to believe the calls will comtinue to go so decidely against them down the stretch, but good to see the Montreal incident didn’t get them off their game.
Take the point, and get ready for the Isles on LI. Every indication is this game ought to result in some high PIM totals. Will be a good test for the B’s to maintain composure and use this very winnable game to get back on track before the 3 day respite.
I know it’s not a big deal anymore I don’t see the benefit of sitting Seguin .This kid is gonna struggle but lets face it how about kelly and peverly? They won’t move kelly down to fourth line because that would mean they made a bad trade.How about ryders inability to pass a puck.Recchi is at an age that a night off here and ther would probaly recharge his batteries.Seguin has kept his mouth shut and i applaude him for that but this type of hockey is not for his skill set.Maybe campbell should alternate with pallie on healthy scratches.Hate to see Seguin with a penguin uniform scoring 50 a year.
Even though the result is frustrating I was actually pretty happy with how the Bruins played last night. And while it looks like another crappy powere play night going 0 for 3, one of those was about 6 seconds long, and 2 of the Bruins goals came within 30 seconds of the other two power plays ending.
Were the refs bad or what? I have seen games reffed very poorly, but this was a whole new level of poor officiating. The “boarding” on Chara; the “hooking” on Boychuk, and the “tripping” on both Marchand & Kaberle.