End of game, Coyotes win 4-1: There may not be a lot of fans watching there in Glendale, but the Coyotes are for real, folks. That was pure domination, and the Bruins looked a lot like a team that wasn't prepared for what the Coyotes could bring, losing 4-1.
That's not to say that Julien didn't do his best to prepare the team, but for some reason, this current Bruins squad struggles to execute consistently. Just when they appeared to have turned a corner, the Bruins are right where they were when they left Boston for this quick two-game roadie: searching for their identity. They may want to walk down the hall and look at the Coyotes players because that is what the Bruins look like when they play to their potential. It will be a long flight home with lots of soul-searching. Things need to change.
Thanks for joining us tonight here on our live blog and be sure to come back Wednesday, when the Bruins host the Predators.
Third period, 1:14, Coyotes 4-1: While Lefebvre did OK tonight, the Bruins definitely missed what Lucic can bring — the physical element and the scoring threat, plus simply creating space for others to score.
Third period, 3:49, Coyotes 4-1: The Bruins failed to score on the power play and are now 0-for-2. Once again, special teams has not been a strength for the Bruins. They need to find some consistency there or it could be a long season.
Third period, 7:29, Coyotes 4-1: Jovanovski just hooked Wheeler and it's 4-on-4 hockey. Lucky for the Bruins, as the Coyotes power play had been clicking.
The Bruins will have a 1:15 of power-play time.
Third period, 8:40, Coyotes 4-1: The Bruins are shorthanded again here with Recchi in the sin-bin for hooking. Not a disciplined game by the veteran.
Third period, 10:53, Coyotes 4-1: Thomas is keeping the game respectable right now. This looks like it could get ugly but Thomas won't let that happen.
There could easily be some fights soon, though. Frustration is building for the Bruins.
Third period, 13:20, Coyotes 4-1: The Bruins need some kind of break or spark to get back in the game. They proved last week they have it in them with a three-goal comeback against the Islanders, but this is a better team in Phoenix.
Third period, 17:00, Coyotes 4-1: We are underway in the third period, and you can expect the Coyotes to put the trap on the Bruins now.
While I agree with that aforementioned scout, I agree with Brick when he says that the Phoenix D jumps into the play a lot. That's not your usual trap.
Second intermission, Coyotes 4-1: Almost set for the third period. Some quick stats:
The Bruins are being outshot 25-17 and the special teams unit is struggling again as Phoenix has scored two power-play goals and the Bruins are 0-1 on the power play.
There is some good news tonight, though, as the Leafs are still winless after a 4-1 loss to the Rangers. It's early, but that Phil Kessel trade may just work out to a lottery pick for the Bruins at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
End of second period, Coyotes 4-1: The Bruins are probably wishing they were in the same predicament they were in the last intermission. But despite having spurts of life in that period, they still can't seem to string together 60 minutes and thus face a huge uphill climb in this one, as they trail by three.
Second period, 1:06, Coyotes 4-1: Johnny Boychuk and Paul Bissonnette just went toe-to-toe and had a nice bout that hopefully can wake the Bruins up.
Second period, 4:06, Coyotes 4-1: Yikes! This fell a part in a hurry. Coyotes grab a three-goal lead on a snipe by Scottie Upshall. Winnik and Michalek had the helpers.
Just when we thought the Bruins had picked up their game, they suffered some mental lapses that have been way too common this season.
Second period, 4:50, Coyotes 3-1: Boston native Keith Yandle just took a kick-pass from Doan and got the power-play goal. The Coyotes are now 2-for-3 on the man-advantage. Robert Lang had the secondary assist.
Second period, 6:44, Coyotes 2-1: Huge penalty kill here for the Bruins with Mark Recchi in the box for hooking. If ever there was a time for a short-handed goal, it's now.
Second period, 7:31, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins are playing much better now. They're attacking, cycling the puck and fore-checking. All adds up to them being back in the game.
Second period, 10:05, Coyotes 2-1: Mark Stuart just cut the Phoenix lead in half, and the Bruins have life here.
Blake Wheeler and David Krejci got the assists.
Second period, 11:02, Coyotes 2-0: The Bruins had just gone on their first power play but it was nullified by a questionable tripping call on Chara. 4-on-4.
The Bruins just had some good chances. First, they had a 3-on-2 and then a shot from the point by Boychuk. Nice blast by Johnny and great job by Kobasew.
Sturm was also robbed on a breakaway.
Second period, 13:27, Coyotes 2-0: Adrian Aucoin just ripped one past Thomas for a 2-0 Bruins lead. Once again, the Phoenix defensemen are allowed to pinch and come into the play. Bruins forwards need to get back and help more.
Shane Doan and Vernon Fiddler had the assists.
Second period, 17:32, Coyotes 1-0: We are underway here in the second period. Must point out that once again, Julien didn't break-up the Kobasew-Bergeron-Sturm line. He must be impressed with their two-way play.
First intermission, Coyotes 1-0: This low score can't be surprising, as we've told you how stingy the Coyotes are under Dave Tippett and assistant Dave King. I was talking to a scout today and he said the Bruins "were going to get a taste of their own medicine tonight" because he likened Julien's system to Tippett's, but as he pointed out, "the Bruins attack more." Hopefully they start attacking soon because they may not be able to recover if this stranglehold the Coyotes have on them gets tighter.
End of first period, Coyotes 1-0: Well, not the best of periods for the Bruins as they trail the Coyotes by one after one period of play. Not sure if they had a fun plane ride or what, but the Bruins looked sluggish. They started to get their legs going towards the end of the period, but this is not a team you want to be trailing against, and you need more than seven shots a period to beat them.
First period, 3:49, Coyotes 1-0: Lots of talk of Derek Morris returning to Phoenix, but what about Blake Wheeler playing against the team that drafted him and that he spurned? Wonder if Phoenix management asked the Coyotes players to give him a few extra hits?
First period, 6:21, Coyotes 1-0: Now the Bruins seem to have awoken from a mini-slumber. They're starting to cycle the puck more, closing the gaps, and what do you know, Boychuk gets a great chance.
Starting to like the way this kid is fitting in. Keeps it simple, but at the same time, he can create offense, too.
First period, 11:56, Coyotes 1-0: Have to say right now, the Bruins don't seem to have that same jump in them. Hopefully they didn't think this would be an easy game.
First period, 15:20, Coyotes 1-0: With Marc Savard in the box for slashing, the Coyotes connect on the power play. Defenseman Ed Jovanovski pinched in from the blue line and beat Thomas. Shane Doan and Matthew Lombardi had the helpers.
First Period, 17:30: Underway in Phoenix. Bruins will need to pepper the Coyotes with shots and hope that works against Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who has allowed only three goals on his last 93 shots faced. Like I said last night, Savard needs to opt for the shot more.
8:50 p.m.: Naoko Funayama just told Bruins Faceoff that Guillaume Lefebvre will play his first NHL game with the Bruins on the fourth line with Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton.
Here's what the lines will look like tonight with Lefebvre in the lineup:
Sturm-Savard-Ryder
Kobasew-Bergeron-Recchi
Wheeler-Krejci-Bitz
Lefebvre-Begin-Thornton
Lefebvre will surely bring some added muscle to the lineup and take some of the pressure off Thornton. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound winger last appeared in the NHL during the 2005-06
season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last season, he racked up 206
penalty minutes and 13 points (four goals) for the Springfield Falcons
of the AHL.
The Defense remains the same and Tim Thomas is in net tonight.
Chara-Morris
Ference-Stuart
Hunwick-Boychuk
Thomas
Almost ready for faceoff in Phoenix. Stay here for our live blog and of course watch NESN for live Bruins coverage.
7:15 p.m.: The latest update from Phoenix is that Milan Lucic has a broken finger and is now day-to-day according to NESN Bruins Rink Side Reporter Naoko Funayama. Lucic apparently suffered the injury while administering a hit to Stephane Robidas.
2:49 p.m.: The Globe is reporting that Milan Lucic will not be playing tonight. Guillaume Lefebvre has been recalled from the P-Bruins and is expected to make his Bruins debut.
Should be interesting to see how Julien reshuffles his lines now. Tough break for the Bruins as they all seemed to find some chemistry last night.
As we mentioned before, the Kobasew-Bergeron-Recchi line has yet to be broken up, but tonight, Julien may have no choice. Also, remember Matt Hunwick could play forward but the Bruins chose to come with only six defensemen, so that eliminates that possibility.
We will keep you posted on what we hear as far as lines and D-pairings.
2:43 p.m.: The Bruins (3-3-0) and Coyotes (4-2-0) are set to face off Saturday night, and we'll be live blogging throughout the game, so be sure to check back as the game approaches.
But before we leave you now, I just heard from NESN Bruins reporter Naoko Funayama that the Bruins obviously didn’t skate after getting in late from Dallas following their 3-0 win over the Stars. Spirits are obviously high — but also contained — as the Bruins look to build off one of their most complete efforts of the season thus far.
Bruins fans had to be happy to see Tim Thomas back in Vezina Trophy-style with a 27-save shutout and some crucial saves to keep the Stars from staving a comeback. Also nice to see was Patrice Bergeron look like the Bergeron of pre-concussion days.
As many have pointed out, Bergeron looked to be moving on from his devastating head injury in 2007. Last season in the playoffs, and in the preseason last month, he looked a lot like the player many consider to have the potential to win the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward and also be an offensive threat. He looked like both last night, creating plays with his fore-checking, getting two points and coming back to help the defense. He was also huge at the faceoff dots.
Bergeron seems to really gel with Mark Recchi and Chuck Kobasew as well, and that’s probably the reason that line survived the re-shuffling by Claude Julien this past week. If that is the Bergeron we can plan on seeing this season, the team’s slow start may gone from our memories pretty soon.
The Bruins will need all the depth on offense they can get because tonight they play the new version of the mid-to-late-nineties Devils, using a suffocating system much like the old neutral zone trap. They then have their speedy, opportunistic forwards waiting to pounce on a loose puck the other way and get the odd-man rush. The Bruins will need to focus on positioning, and if they fall behind, they must maintain their game plan because desperate play will lead to mistakes. You can’t make mistakes against this Coyotes defense.
As far as we’ve been told, the lines we had in Facing Off are the same for the Bruins. The Coyotes did recall forward Kevin Porter, so we will see if he gets inserted into the lineup. Matthew Lombardi played Thursday but has been hampered by a lower body injury.
Check back here later as the game approaches for updates and of course during our live game blog. Until then, enjoy your Saturday!