Julien

One loss by the Boston Bruins after a 10-game winning streak isn’t going to derail the club’s season. And the defeat to Buffalo Saturday also didn’t cost head coach Claude Julien a personal accolade, as after a brief crunch of the numbers thebruinsblog.net can confirm that the Bruins’ bench boss will be behind the Eastern Conference All-Star Team bench in Montreal Jan. 25.

The coach of the team in each conference with the best points percentage after games of Jan. 10 will earn the nod. The Bruins currently sit with 62 points through 39 games, and they have three games in the week ahead. Even if they lose all three, they’d have accumulated 62 of a possible 84 points for a percentage of .7381.

The closest competitor, Washington, has 55 points in its 40 games. The Caps also have just three games on this week’s docket — and wins in those games would give them 61 of a possible 86 for a percentage of just .7093.

The NHL will make an official announcement after those Jan. 10 games. (more…)

Kobasew

The Boston Bruins produced a respectable one goal in five power-play opportunities during their 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres today at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, but that didn’t stop head coach Claude Julien from switching guys around in an effort to get things going in Boston’s favor.

By the time the Bruins were  on their last man-advantage of the afternoon, the first power-play unit featured Chuck Kobasew up front with regular first-unit forward Marc Savard and P.J.  Axelsson.

Julien was asked if he made the move because of something Kobasew had done to earn it or something someone else did to deserve a demotion. (more…)

Thornton

BOSTON — This is what it’s come to with the Boston Bruins.

Even when their 10-game overall winning streak and 14-game run of home dominance ends in a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, they don’t go down in flames — they go down fighting

It’s a tribute to the current band of Black and Gold-wearing skaters that their ‘B’ or even ‘C’ game can keep them within striking distance and a bounce here or there of grabbing a point in the standings (if not two).

Even after losing today at TD Banknorth Garden, the Bruins are 11-3-2 when they allow the first goal (.688 winning percentage). Without an even-strength point from their second or third line, the Bruins still mustered enough offense (including a goal by tough guy Shawn Thornton) to climb back from two goals to one goal down twice. And it took a career offensive night from Buffalo fourth-line center Matt Ellis (two goals, one assist) and a couple fortunate bounces in front of Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas to lift the Sabres over the Eastern  Conference leaders. (more…)

Ward

BOSTON — Boston Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward left today’s 4-2 loss to Buffalo at TD Banknorth Garden after skating just one shift in the second period due to a “slight Charley horse,” according to head coach Claude Julien.

Julien added that Ward was being examined and the team will know more in the days ahead. The club is off for its Wives Carnival Sunday.

Ward seemingly was injured when he checked Buffalo forward Matt Ellis in the corner on a shift that ended with Ellis scoring his second goal of the game. Previously this season, the 35-year-old Ward missed 10 games with a leg injury.

MK: Well, Ward is a big part of this Bruins team, but with Andrew Ference coming back this week the Bruins could afford to give Ward some time off to recuperate.

The Boston Bruins’ 10-game winning streak overall  and home 14-game winning streak both ended today against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Banknorth Garden.

You can read the game story on Yahoo!

In addition, center David Krejci (10 games) and defenseman Dennis Wideman (4 games) had their personal points streaks end.

BOSTON — Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien confirmed this morning that defenseman Andrew Ference and forward Petteri Nokelainen, in their continued attempt to return from injury, skated this morning and will not play this afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Banknorth Garden.

Defenseman Matt Lashoff joined the rehabbing duo, so the blueliner will  be a healthy scratch as well. Expect the Bruins to have the same line-up they twice beat Pittsburgh with this week when they skate against the Sabres.

UPDATE (12:35 p.m.): Tim Thomas will be the Bruins’ starting goaltender, opposed by Ryan Miller for Buffalo. The Bruins are in their alternate black sweaters. And the forward lines and D pairs, as of warm-ups, are the same as Thursday night.

Krejci

The Boston Bruins’ penalty kill has been on a roll — having blanked the oppositions’ power plays over each of the last five games heading into today’s showdown with Buffalo at the TD Banknorth Garden.

The kill is a perfect 20-for-20 over that stretch. But the killers aren’t just getting the job done in their own zone, they’re also putting the heat on with offensive pressure. In the last two weeks Blake Wheeler and Martin St. Pierre have netted shorthanded goals for the Bruins. And Wheeler and David Krejci have formed a dangerous duo that clears the zone with ease and then can make things happen at the other end.

“It’s trying to find ice time sometimes for players, and putting them in positions again that they can help your hockey club,” head coach Claude Julien recently said about Krejci and Wheeler getting time on the PK. “And they’ve just seemed to build pretty good chemistry where they do a pretty good job of killing penalties. But they’re also, every game so far lately, they’ve been a threat 4-on-5. They get the puck out and they get some scoring chances as well.”

Although it ranks just 11th overall in the NHL on the season, the Buffalo power play comes into today’s game at TD Banknorth Garden on a bit of a roll and will provide a stiff test for Boston’s red-hot penalty kill.

The Sabres have scored a power-play goal in seven straight games and are 9-for-30 over that stretch. Of course, Buffalo hasn’t always turned a hot power play into W’s, as the Sabres are also just 3-2-2 over that time. (more…)

Julien

The Buffalo Sabres, the Boston Bruins’ opponent for a Garden matinee Saturday, have been flip flopping with Carolina in the eighth and ninth spots in the Eastern Conference for the better part of the last two weeks.

But that doesn’t mean that they’re any less dangerous than they were earlier in the season when many had them pegged as Northeast Division title contenders and even handed the Bruins a shootout loss in October.

“Obviously, they’re fighting for a playoff spot,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said after practice at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington today. “They’re right in there in the mix. They’ve played us pretty well this year so far. And they’re a team that makes it hard for you to break out of your own end; they’re very aggressive. They’ll pinch the walls. So anything you want to do along the walls, you’re going to be in a battle. … I think they’re probably a team right now that feels – and rightfully so – that they should in a higher mix than the bottom spots. But as some point they’re going to find their groove and you just hope it’s not against your team.”

Fernandez

Serving as one half of an NHL-dominating goaltending duo is nothing new to Boston Bruins netminder Manny Fernandez.

Back in the 2002-03 season, Fernandez combined with Dwayne Roloson to carry the Minnesota Wild all the way to the Western Conference finals. Fernandez appeared in 35 regular-season games to Roloson’s 50 and Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire nearly split the postseason games evenly — with Fernandez getting nine and Roloson 11.

Now Fernandez and Tim Thomas are the best goaltending tandem in the league –with Fernandez just ahead of Thomas for second place in the goals-against average rankings (2.02 to 2.04) and Thomas slightly ahead of Fernandez for third in save percentage (.935 to .930).  With just an occassional alteration to his pattern, Bruins head coach Claude Julien, whose team rides a 10-game winning streak into Saturday’s tilt with Buffalo, has stuck to a straight rotation. And that’s made it easier for Fernandez to find his groove. (more…)

Wheeler

Boston Bruins winger Blake Wheeler was among the contenders for the NHL Rookie of the Month award for December, but Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason ran away with it, it was announced by the league today.

Mason in December was just 7-5-0, but he posted a .950 save percentage and miniscule 1.41 goals-against average. He also recorded three shutouts.

Last month Wheeler tallied five goals and six assists for 11 points in 13 games. Other players who were in the running were St. Louis’ Patrik Berglund, Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan, Florida’s Michael Frolik and Chicago’s Kris Versteeg.

Ference

WILMINGTON — For the first time since he departed the line-up with a broke foot suffered Nov. 13 against Montreal, Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference went through a full practice with the club today at Ristuccia Arena.

“I did stuff in the zone and defensive stuff,” Ference said, “now it’s just getting my timing and speed up and getting my hands to respond quicker.”

Ference said he’ll continue to practice hard through the weekend, go through a “tough day” at the Wives Carnival Sunday (obviously tongue in cheek) and then see where he stands. While there’s no specific date set for his return,  he said it’s just a matter of finding the game that’s right for him and the team, which is playing so well and winner of 10 straight.

•Out of the line-up for the last nine games with an upper-body injury but not forgotten is forward Petteri Nokelainen, who also went through the full practice and took some contact during the 1-on-1 and 3-on-3 drills.

“A couple times,” Nokelainen said about the hits. “And it feels good. No setbacks.”

Head coach Claude Julien called both Ference and Nokelainen “doubtful” for tomorrow’s match-up with Buffalo but he wouldn’t rule out either one.

Fernandez

BOSTON — The final stats sheet showed Boston Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez with 30 saves on 32 shots and a win — his fifth straight victory and 13th in his last 15 outings — in the Bruins’ 4-2 triumph over Pittsburgh tonight.

Fernandez is now also 9-0-0 at TD Banknorth Garden.

But despite the solid numbers and some of the game-saving saves he produced (including a big stop of a ferocious one-timer by sniper Evgeni Malkin), Fernandez was quick to deflect any praise for helping the Bruins pull of their 10th straight win.

“Tonight might’ve been my worst game,” he admitted. “I was just battling from the start. And that’s just to let you know how well we play defensively against what I think is one of the best teams in the NHL.”

Lucic

BOSTON — Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien has stressed time and again that the line switches he made prior to Tuesday night’s game were not to single any one player out but to shake up all six skaters.

But a glance at the stats sheet easily revealed that the one third of the Bruins top line that wasn’t producing was left winger Milan Lucic. Lucic failed to fire a shot on net in Carolina and Atlanta, and including his switch to the line centered by Stephane Yelle and completed by Chuck Kobasew Tuesday, he entered tonight’s game with just one goal  in his last eight.

In a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh at TD Banknorth Garden tonight — the Bruins’ 10th straight win — Lucic potted the game-winner by burying a  loose puck that bounced off Yelle a little past the midway point of the second period. The goal was a result of that trio doing  what it does best, and that’s using its strength and grit. (more…)

The Boston Bruins extended their winning streak to 10 games — the longest in the NHL this year — with a triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins in front of fourth straight sellout crowd at TD Banknorth Garden.

You can read the game story at Yahoo.

The streak is the fourth-longest in Bruins history and the longest streak since a 13-game winning spurt from Feb. 23-March 20, 1971.