"Initial word on Milan Lucic's knee injury is not too serious and may not even miss a game."
Not sure if Bob was at the game tonight, but he is one of the most connected people in the world of hockey media. I texted two sources at the Excel Center but got only one reply that said: "Not sure yet."
If McKenzie's report is correct, that is very good news for the Bruins, who just got Lucic back into the lineup. Lucic has two goals in four games since returning last Thursday in the Bruins' 4-3 shootout win over Atlanta. His physical presence and the space he creates for lineups was immediately evident in his return.
Now on to the game. The Bruins basically stole away two points in St. Paul on Wednesday, winning in a shootout despite being outshot 29-16 and giving the Wild five power plays. But Tuukka Rask answered the bell once again in Tim Thomas' absence. He is now 4-1-0 over the last five games while Tim Thomas has been nursing what I reported to be a possible broken hand earlier today.
This was obviously the worst game of this road trip, as the Bruins appeared a bit tired and ready to go home for some turkey. But they did what good teams and contenders do, and that's find ways to win. Byron Bitz was huge, obviously, providing an element of toughness to the top line and, of course, some offense with his goal.
The Bruins now have 28 points and lead the Senators by one point for the top spot in the Northeast Division. The Senators will be in town Saturday night, but before that, the Bruins play the Devils in a noon matinee on Black Friday at TD Garden.
Goodnight and Happy Thanksgiving!
End of shootout, Bruins win 2-1: David Krejci scored in the fourth round and Tuukka Rask made a huge save on former Bruin Chuck Kobasew to give the Bruins a improbable 2-1 shootout win over the Wild.
Patrice Bergeron scored in the first round but Mikko Koivu answered with a goal for Minnesota. Blake Wheeler, Marek Zidlicky, Marc Savard, and Eric Belanger all failed to light the lamp after that before Krejci sealed the win in the fourth round.
Rask was amazing with 28 saves in regulation and the Bruins somehow pulled out a game they were outshot 29-16 in. Boston is now in sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division for the first time this season as Ottawa and Buffalo both lost. The Bruins finished their road trip 4-0-0.
We'll have more here in a bit and hopefully be able to update you on Milan Lucic who injured his left knee late in the third period.
End of overtime, 1-1: And we're headed to a shootout thanks to Tuukka Rask (28 saves) who was huge on that Minnesota power play at the end of overtime.
The Bruins played better in the third period and overtime but overall they're lucky to get this point and maybe another. But that's what happens when good teams are healthy and find their game.
Overtime, :57.7, 1-1: The Wild have called a timeout here after pressuring the Bruins on this power play. Tuukka Rask was huge with three big saves.
Overtime, 1:48, 1-1: Dennis Wideman just got called for a double-minor and high-sticking and the Bruins are shorthanded for the remainder of overtime.
Overtime 2:41, 1-1: The Bruins have controlled the flow of play in overtime with two solid scoring chances.
Overtime, 3:11, 1-1: Underway in overtime as the Bruins try to steal another point here.
End of regulation, 1-1: Almost called that one eh! Oh well. Mark Recchi missed a clear shot there that would've won it for the Bruins. The Bruins are lucky to be going to overtime and get a point here. They will start overtime with 19 ticks left on the power play.
Third period, 1:41, 1-1: Milan Lucic took an awkward fall and has not come back. Not what the Bruins need at this point. The Bruins though are going on a power play. This scribe smells a Mark Recchi power play goal.
Third period, 5:50, 1-1: Byron Bitz is everywhere tonight! He has one quarter of the Bruins twelve shots with three and one of them is a goal. He is also playing a solid physical game.
Third period, 9:23, 1-1: Players never say it and it must be harder in a fast game like hockey, but some of them must check the scores. If so, the Bruins know that this game just became even more important as they can head home in first place in the Northeast Division.
Third period, 11:19, 1-1: Tuukka Rask just committed highway robbery on Cal Clutterbuck with an amazing glove save!
Rask hadn't seen much action yet this period but he was ready when called upon.
Prior to that Byron Bitz laid a thunderous hit on Greg Zanon.
Third period, 12:40, 1-1: The Bruins seem to be opening the ice up a bit more this period. They need to control the neutral zone more.
Third period, 15:07, 1-1: The Devils (the Bruins' next opponent) have beaten Ottawa and the Capitals beat the Sabres. So if the Bruins win tonight, they can take over sole possession of first place.
Third period, 18:20, 1-1: Underway in the third period as the Bruins try to muster some offense.
End of second period, 1-1: The Bruins are being outshot 18-7 after two periods of play and somehow they're still tied 1-1 after two periods. Hopefully they appreciate this and get it going in the third period.
While Byron Bitz had a nice chance at the end of the period, the Wild had two solid chances as well thanks to two Bruins turnovers. They really need to tighten it up coming out of their zone as they're just handing chances to the Wild and treating the puck like a hot potato out there. The puck is your friend Dennis Wideman!
Another key will be staying out of the penalty box as they have given the Wild five power plays thus far.
Second period, 3:03, 1-1: The Bruins failed to score on that last power play and are now 0-for-3. But more important is that they're aren't creating offense at all and have only six shots on net thus far.
They seem to have lost their jump a bit and need to find a spark soon. They're lucky to be tied at one right now.
Second period, 6:48, 1-1: The Bruins have killed off another Wild power play and are on one of their own now after a Cal Clutterbuck charging call.
Second period, 8:47, 1-1: In his first game with the Wild, Andrew Ebbett has tied the game on a power-play goal. Ebbett was waived twice in a week and recently scooped up by the Wild.
The Bruins have also been called for Too Many Men On The Ice and will be shorthanded again. Longtime Bruins fans of course cringe when they watch their team get whistled for that call! The Wild are 1-for-4.
Second period, 11:33, Bruins 1-0: Blake Wheeler is in the box for interference and the Wild is on its fourth power play.
Second period, 13:20, Bruins 1-0: Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler, both Minnesota natives, are having solid games in front of family and friends thus far but no scoring yet from either.
Both Stuart and Wheeler attended high school in Minnesota but while Wheeler stayed and attended the University of Minnesota, Stuart headed west to WCHA rival Colorado College. Both of their high school team jerseys hang in the corridors of the Excel Center as do every Minnesota state high school hockey jerseys.
Second period, 16:02, Bruins 1-0: Lots of pressure by the Bruins on that power play but no luck lighting the lamp and they're 0-for-2 thus far.
Second period, 17:45, Bruins 1-0: Underway in the second period and the Bruins are on their second power play thanks to a Cal Clutterbuck interference penalty.
End of first period, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins were outshot 11-2 in that period but have the 1-0 lead after one period of play. They will start the second period shorthanded, with 1:39 left on a Derek Morris holding penalty.
While not many of the Wild's 11 shots were solid scoring chances, the Bruins have done their part to give them some chances with careless penalties and some risky plays by Tuukka Rask. Rask has been great as of late, but he can't afford to take chances.
First period, 1:11, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins have now killed off two Minnesota power plays. The Wild power play reminds me of the Bruins' power play of a couple weeks ago. Just can't cycle and create.
First period, 4:07, Bruins 1-0: Tuukka Rask just got called for hooking and Shawn Thornton will serve the penalty. Again, Rask needs to watch the stick-handling.
First period, 4:46, Bruins 1-0: Tuukka Rask is once again having some trouble handling the puck and needs to work on that.
First period, 6:29, Bruins 1-0: Tuukka Rask just made a nice save on Derek "The Boogie Man" Boogaard to preserve the Bruins' 1-0 lead.
Boogard is not known for scoring but rather his devastating power in fights, hence the name "Boogie Man". He has gone 179 games without a goal.
The Bruins, by the way, failed to score on their first power play and are 0-for-1 now.
First period, 10:23, Bruins 1-0: Wild defenseman John Scott is in the box for interference and the Bruins are on their first power play.
First period, 13:10, Bruins 1-0: Byron Bitz has given the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a perfect tip-in of a Derek Morris shot from the point. Marc Savard won a faceoff to get the puck back to Morris.
That was the Bruins' first shot on net and it was a perfect redirection tip by Bitz reminiscent of the master of that play, teammate Mark Recchi.
First period, 14:00: The Bruins killed off the Lucic penalty and the penalty kill unit has now allowed only three power-play goals in its last 16 games.
First period, 19:02: Underway in St. Paul between the Bruins and the Wild, and the B's are going to be shorthanded as Milan Lucic is headed to the sin-bin for two.
There's a late scratch for the Wild, as Antti Miettenen is out with flu-like symptoms.
8:00 p.m.: Almost ready for faceoff at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn. This could be a really huge win or a really huge loss.
The Bruins are just starting to show the ability to play 60 minutes of their game consistently and a win here would further cement that.
Here's tonight's lineups:
Bruins
Forwards
Marco Sturm–Marc Savard–Byron Bitz
Milan Lucic–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton–Steve Begin–Daniel Paille
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Derek Morris
Andrew Ference–Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart–Matt Hunwick
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Wild
Forwards
Andrew Brunette–Mikko Koivu–Antti Miettinen
Owen Nolan–Eric Belanger–James Sheppard
Chuck Kobasew–Kyle Brodziak–Cal Clutterbuck
Derek Boogaard–Nathan Smith/Andrew Ebbett–Danny Irmen
Defensemen
Greg Zanon–Nick Schultz
Marek Zidlicky–Kim Johnsson
Shane Hnidy- John Scott
Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
4:00 p.m.: Welcome to our live blog of the Bruins-Wild game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The Bruins enter Wednesday's game with a chance to extend their longest winning streak of the season, which currently stands at three games. With a win, they would also sweep their current four-game road trip. If Ottawa loses tonight, the Bruins will take over first place in the Northeast Division. Should the Sabres lose as well, a Bruins win would give them sole possession of the division lead.
According to Fluto Shinzawa at Boston.com, Tuukka Rask will get his fifth straight start. He is 3-1-1 over his last four games and 6-2-1 with a 2.28 GAA and .919 save percentage. As we reported earlier today on NESN.com, sources are telling us that Tim Thomas may have suffered a broken hand in his last start on Nov. 14, a 6-5 overtime loss to the Penguins. Rask has started every game since.
The Wild should be countering with Niklas Backstrom, who is 8-9-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Patrice Bergeron continued his brilliant season with four assists in the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Blues on Monday night. Bergeron has five points in his last two games and leads the team in goals with seven and points with 18. There's a good story on "Russo's Rants" about Bergeron giving advice on concussions to fellow province of Quebec native and Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who is out indefinitely with a concussion.
Also, on that blog is the news that new Wild forward and former Montreal Canadien Guillaume Latendresse will not be in the lineup because of visa problems.
Old friend and former Bruin Chuck Kobasew (one goal, three assists) and Shane Hnidy (five assists) will be in the lineup for the Wild.
Check out our Facing Off preview at NESN.com for more info on tonight's game and check back here as we get closer to the 8 p.m. faceoff for updated news on the game. Until then, travel safe if you are traveling for Thanksgiving and we'll see you for the game.
