Post-Game Breakdown: Bruins at Philadelphia
Final: Boston 5, Philadelphia 1
The Bruins finally put together a solid effort, with a rare offensive outburst fueling an impressive road win over a Philadelphia team that was 7-1-1 in its previous nine games. It was just the second time in 2010 that the Bruins scored five goals in a game, and they did it against a team that had held 11 of its previous 13 opponents to two goals or less. With the win, the Bruins remain in eighth place, but now have a little firmer hold on that final playoff spot with a five-point lead and a game in hand over the Rangers. They still trail Montreal, which beat Edmonton in a shootout tonight, by two points, but have three games in hand on the Habs, and are also now within two points of sixth-place Philadelphia. The Bruins will be hard-pressed to do much damage in the playoffs without Marc Savard, but they’re in good position to at least get into the postseason.
Records: Boston 30-24-12, 72 points; Philadelphia 35-27-4, 74 points
Revisiting the Three Keys for the B’s:
1. Spread the scoring – The Bruins had just one line show up in their first game without Savard Tuesday in Toronto. Tonight, they had two lines going, with the David Krejci-Blake Wheeler-Michael Ryder line scoring twice, while the Patrice Bergeron-Marco Sturm-Mark Recchi struck for three goals for the second straight game. That’s a step in the right direction, thought the third line of Vladimir Sobotka, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, who replaced the injured Miroslav Satan, still was a non-factor offensively, though Sobotka and Marchand did supply plenty of energy and some physical play.
2. Power outage – The Bruins did a good job of avoiding penalties in this one. That was a good thing, as the Flyers needed just four seconds to score on their only power play, with Jeff Carter scoring his 10th goal in the last 10 games after (shocker) Dennis Wideman turned over the puck. The Bruins failed to convert their two chances with the man-advantage.
3. Stick together – The Bruins did a better job of standing up for themselves in this one, especially Mark Stuart, who dropped the gloves twice. Shawn Thornton also stepped in when Daniel Carcillo tried to get Stuart to go a third time and even Matt Hunwick was ready to go with Carcillo late in the third, but the linesmen stepped in.
Key Play of the Game:
The Bruins had blown three one-goal leads against Toronto and another 1-0 lead in this one, so after they again went up 2-1, the breakthrough came when they finally extended the lead to two goals when Bergeron banged in a rebound at the right post at 10:30 of the second. Michael Leighton had made the initial save on Sturm’s tip of a Hunwick point shot, but couldn’t get over to stop Bergeron’s bid. Krejci followed with another goal off a sharp passing play by Wheeler and Ryder to make it 4-1 just 46 seconds later, ending the night for Leighton.
Fight Card:
Maybe he was upset with the league’s decision not to suspend Matt Cooke or maybe he was embarrassed by his own team’s lack of response to Cooke’s cheap shot. Maybe it was a personal beef from the last time he played against the Flyers and ended up with a broken sternum on Dec. 14. Whatever the reason, Stuart certainly wasn’t in a good mood in this one, playing with the nasty edge that makes him the most effective. He dropped the gloves with Carcillo in the first after they jostled behind the Bruins net. Both traded big rights but neither landed anything flush. Stuart followed through with one big right as they went down, and they got back up ready for more, but the linesmen stepped in. Stuart then went with Ian Laperriere in the second after a conversation near the blue line. This one was mostly in-tight grappling, with Stuart getting Laperriere’s jersey up over his head. Thornton dropped the gloves with Carcillo in the third after Carcillo went after Stuart again, but Carcillo wouldn’t drop his gloves. The Flyers agitator was more willing with non-fighter Hunwick after a goal-mouth scramble. They both dropped the gloves but the linemen stepped in quickly. Carcillo then got a misconduct for shoving one of the linesmen.
Flynn’s Finest:
The Bergeron line was outstanding again. Bergeron had a goal and two assists, finishing a plus-3 and winning 12 of 18 draws (67 percent). His last assist came after undressing Chris Pronger with a move down the right wing before dishing it off to Sturm. Sturm scored off that feed and also added an assist and was a plus-3 with five shots, while Recchi had a goal and was a plus-2 with four hits. … The Krejci line was nearly as good with Krejci and Wheeler each contributing a goal and an assist and Ryder chipping in an assist. All three each finished a plus-2. … Stuart set the tone with his two scraps, while Dennis Seidenberg had another strong game, picking up an assist and finishing a plus-3 with five shots and four blocked shots in a game-high 22:15. … Zdeno Chara was solid in his return after missing his first game of the year, finishing a plus-2 in 21:56. … Tuukka Rask played his first game after Tim Thomas started the past four, and Rask showed no signs of rust as he stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced, including highlight reel saves to rob Arron Asham early and Simon Gagne late.
Flynn’s Sin Bin:
Dennis Wideman finished a plus-1 and wasn’t officially charged with any giveaways, but it was his failed clear that led to Philadelphia’s lone goal and he also coughed up the puck down low to give Carcillo a chance in front that led to the scrum with Hunwick. … Lucic managed just one hit and one shot in 13:07 as he was largely invisible once again. Sobotka threw his weight around and had three shots, but won just 1 of 6 face-offs (17 percent). … On the opposing side, Carcillo deserves his own special spot in the sin bin for his antics. He leaped into the glass when hit by Seidenberg to draw a boarding call, refused to back up his antics in the third when Thornton came calling and then decided to play tough guy against Hunwick. He then added to his rap sheet by shoving the linesman, which could get him a call from NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell. Bad news for Carcillo, he didn’t actually injure a Bruin on the play, so that means he still is actually eligible to be suspended in the warped world of NHL discipline.
Next: The Bruins continue their seven-game road trip at Montreal on Saturday.
Tags: Flyers
