Live Blog: Bruins vs. Canadiens

by

Nov 5, 2009

Live Blog: Bruins vs. Canadiens

Postgame analysis, Canadiens win 2-1 in shootout: It's the same
old story from the Bruins.

They were asked why they can't
seem to score with more frequency despite doing the things that
normally lead to goals and wins. Patrice Bergeron broke the team's scoreless streak of 192:06 but the Bruins still could only get one of 43 shots past Canadiens goalie Carey Price in regulation and overtime and got none in the shootout. 

"Yeah, we found a way to get a point, but we need to find a way
to get two points," Bergeron said after the game. "But it is a start.
It took us pretty much the whole game to get one. The chances were
there but it still [was] not good enough. It's one step forward to get that
point. But we need to get two points. We need to win games and take it
upon ourselves to do it."

During
their current three-game losing streak of 0-2-1, the Bruins have
outshot their opponents 101-75 but have only scored one goal. Forward Michael Ryder agreed with Bergeron, but does think there can be more positives taken from the fact they finally lit the red light.

"I
think we did a lot of good things tonight," he said. "We threw a lot of
pucks on net, and we at least got one, so it's a step forward. It's a little
upsetting it's a loss in a shootout, but I think we got to look at it
and take the positives out of tonight."

One thing is for sure: There has been no lack of heart and effort. Head coach Claude Julien is still behind his team and is willing to face the music for their lack of goals and wins.

"Bottom line is we're trying and I'll take whatever heat comes our way," Julien said.

Hopefully,
the Bruins can parlay that goal into more and subsequently start
winning again or there will be plenty of heat coming.

They play Buffalo
on Saturday (7 p.m. on NESN) and then welcome in the defending Stanley Cup
champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Tuesday night (7 p.m. Versus). It
doesn't get any easier for the 6-7-2 Bruins, but at least they didn't
tie the 1928-29 Bruins team that went three games without scoring. In hindsight, though, maybe they should have tied their mark — that team won the
organization's first Stanley Cup.

Thanks for joining us here at
NESN.com for our Live Bruins Blog and don't forget to check back
Saturday for coverage of the Bruins and Sabres. Good night!

End of game, Canadiens win 2-1 in shootout: Another tough loss for the Bruins tonight, but at least they were able to finally score a goal. Hopefully that can open the flood gates and propel them to a win in their next game Saturday night against Buffalo.

They ran into a goalie in Carey Price who finally found his game, making 42 saves, but the bottom line is that they need to finish more.

Patrice Bergeron had a great game and scored the lone goal for the Bruins. He was constantly around the net, and the rest of the team needs to follow suit. We're headed down for postgame reaction and should have some more analysis up soon.

End of shootout, Canadiens win game 2-1: Mark Recchi failed to score and the Bruins fall 2-1 after a spirited late effort. The Bruins' losing streak is now at three as they are 0-2-1 in their last three games, but at least they were able to break their scoreless streak.

Shootout, Habs 1-0: Patrice Bergeron can't score and Scott Gomez misses as well for Montreal.

Shootout, Habs 1-0: Blake Wheeler shoots first and is denied on a glove save by Carey Price. Mike Cammalleri scores for the Habs.

End of overtime, 1-1: We're headed to a shootout. The Bruins are 2-1 in shootouts this season. They fought hard to get here: They outshot the Habs 43-26 and controlled most of the game, but Montreal goalie Carey Price has been the story.

Overtime, 3:12, 1-1: Overtime is underway here and the Bruins are flying. What a relief that goal must have been. And is there any question that Patrice Bergeron is the Bruins' MVP of the season thus far?

End of regulation, 1-1: We're headed to overtime here at the TD Garden with "Shipping Up To Boston" blaring and the building rocking. The Bruins' scoreless drought has finally ended after 192:06 and they have life again!

Third period, 0:51, 1-1: Patrice Bergeron saves the Bruins from joining the 1928-29 Bruins! Boston has tied the game on a Bergeron goal with 51 seconds left!

Zdeno Chara and Derek Morris had the helpers.

Third period, 0:56, Canadiens 1-0: The Bruins have pulled Tim Thomas and called a timeout. There's one last shot here for this team to avoid going down in Bruins history.

Third period, 2:00, Canadiens 1-0: The Habs killed off that last Bruins power play and Boston is now 0-for-3. They can't get anything going here. It's very frustrating to watch.

Third period, 7:17, Canadiens 1-0: The Bruins are on their third power play as Guillaume Latendresse is in the box for high-sticking. The Bruins are 0-for-2 so far.

Third period, 10:39, Canadiens 1-0: The Bruins are getting chances again, but they just can't convert. It's a fast-moving period, too, so they'd better find a way soon.

Third period, 13:19, Canadiens 1-0: In talking to scouts and one agent here tonight, the general consensus is that Peter Chiarelli and the Bruins aren't in panic mode yet, but if they're shut out again tonight, that could change quickly. The Bruins would like to wait until Marc Savard and Milan Lucic are back and they're also up against the cap, but something may have to be done soon!

Third period, 15:44, Canadiens 1-0: We are underway here in the third as the Bruins try to avoid getting shut out in three straight games for the first time since Feb. 2, 5 and 9, 1929!

End of second period, Canadiens 1-0: The Bruins cannot get a break, it seems, as they appeared to have tied the game but apparently Marco Sturm dislodged the net just before Patrice Bergeron's rebound poke shot went in. I don't know about that one, but the bottom line is that the Bruins trail the Canadiens 1-0 after two periods of play and have not scored in 172 minutes and 38 seconds of play.

Boston really controlled the tempo after killing off a 5-on-3 situation midway through the period but Carey Price has been the difference with 26 saves.

Second period, 2:25, Canadiens 1-0: And the scoring drought goes on — no goal! It's a tough break for the Bruins, but by now they're used to it, one would think.

Second period, 2:25, Canadiens 1-0: Patrice Bergeron just put the puck past Price, following up a Marco Sturm poke shot. But the play is under review. It will be 1-1 if this counts.

Andrew Ference and Maxim Lapierre just got into it a bit before that but no fight ensued.

Second period, 4:32, Canadiens 1-0: As we pointed out, Carey Price has been struggling this season and really trying to gain some kind of confidence back into his game. In the intermission, NESN's Jack Edwards compared him to Tuukka Rask.

Edwards pointed out how the Canadiens threw Price right into the fire that is Montreal and anointed him the savior right away. Rask, on the other hand, paid his dues in Providence and now has a new two-year deal in the NHL and appears to be just as good, if not better than Price at this point.

Second period, 7:03, Canadiens 1-0: After killing off that 5-on-3, the Bruins look revitalized and are generating chances, but the problem is, Carey Price looks revitalized too.

The struggling goaltender seems to be finding his confidence tonight and has been the difference. Just what the Bruins need, a goalie to find his game against them.

Second period, 10:15, Canadiens 1-0: The Canadiens had a possible goal, but the replay judge ruled that Tim Thomas' stick got over in time to stop a Brian Gionta bid. The Bruins also killed off both penalties and Montreal is 0-for-2 on the power play.

Second period, 12:36, Canadiens 1-0: The Bruins are now on the business end of a 5-on-3 situation as Zdeno Chara just took a cross-checking penalty.

Second period, 13:47, Canadiens 1-0: Marco Sturm just took an offensive-zone penalty for holding the stick. The Bruins are now 0-for-2 on the power play and this will be the Habs' first power play of the game.

Second period, 15:44, Canadiens 1-0: Habs defenseman Mathieu Carle is in the box for hooking and the Bruins are on their second power play. They failed to score on the previous one that just ended and are 0-for-1.

Carey Price made a big stop on Steve Begin as Carle was hooking him, leading to the penalty.

Second period, 17:58, Canadiens 1-0: We're underway here in the second period and the Bruins are going on their first power play of the evening.

End of first period, Canadiens 1-0: The Bruins are once again outshooting their opponents but are once again trailing 1-0 here after one period of play.

Despite peppering Carey Price (who has been solid) with nine shots and the Habs only mustering six on Tim Thomas, the Bruins still can't find the twine and the scoring drought continues. They have now gone 152:38 without lighting the lamp. Thankfully they had no power plays that period!

First period, 2:28, Canadiens 1-0: Are they reading this on the Habs bench? Glen Metropolit just got his third goal of the season to give Montreal a 1-0 lead.

Andrei Kostitsyn and Ryan White had the helpers. That is White's first NHL point in this, his first NHL game.

First period, 5:34: Nice to see former Bruin Glen Metropolit getting lots of playing time. "Metro" is on a line with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. Pretty good for a player many previously labeled a "fourth liner."

First period, 9:36: Neither team has performed well on the power play coming into the game. The Bruins ranked dead last at 11.5 percent and the Habs were 24th at 14.3 percent.

First period, 11:52: Some early chances by both squads here, but both Tim Thomas and Carey Price are up the the task thus far.

First period, 13:47: With a break in the action here, we have to point out that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli appeared worn and frustrated talking to the media tonight before the game.

It's understandable with all the off-ice issues and his team mired in a scoring slump.

Also, Happy Birthday to my Dad! Have a good one, Dad!

First period, 15:55: Just wanted to note a change in the lines. The third and fourth lines look like this now:

Paille-Begin-Marchand

Thornton-Whitfield-Lehtonen

First period, 18:19: The Canadiens just had a goal by former Bruin Glen Metropolit disallowed.

First period, 18:50: Underway here at the TD Garden and the crowd is already on Habs goalie Carey Price, chanting C-A-R-E-Y C-A-R-E-Y.

7:00 p.m.: We're ready to go here at TD Garden for the first installment of Habs-Bruins 2009-10. Plenty of Bleu, Blanc and Rouge in the stands so it should be a festive crowd with Bruins fans and Habs fans going back and forth.

In addition to NESN, TSN has this game as well and friend and colleague Pierre McGuire will be between the benches for TSN. Pierre termed this one of the "bigger" games of the season to me earlier, due to the injuries and early season struggles of both teams. I'd have to agree. 

The Bruins forward lines are kind of an enigma, but here's this scribe's guess with opening line in bold.

Forwards
Marco Sturm–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–Vladimir Sobotka–Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille—Steve Begin–Shawn Thornton
Mikko Lehtonen–Trent Whitfield–Brad Marchand

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Derek Morris
Matt Hunwick–Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart–Andrew Ference

Goaltenders
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask

5:15 p.m.: Getting ready for the Habs-Bruins here at the TD Garden and, wow, what a busy day it has been!

First this morning, the Bruins announced that center David Krejci had been diagnosed with the H1N1 flu and is day-to-day as he recovers. Then, later this afternoon, the team confirmed that it had signed goalie Tuukka Rask to a two-year extension. GM Peter Chiarelli is due to speak to the media here at 6 p.m. so we'll have more on that later and I'll post a quick feature at some point tonight here on NESN.com.

OK, down to feed the meters, grab some great Will McDonough Press Room grub, cover the Chiarelli presser and head back up for the pregame warmups.

3:27 p.m.: Greetings from the TD Garden where the Bruins (6-7-1) and Canadiens (7-8-0) are preparing for the first installment of the 2009-10 edition of this storied rivalry.

The last time these two teams met, the Bruins swept the Canadiens from the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in the Stanley Cup playoffs last April. The win culminated a season of domination of their hated rivals for the Bruins, who went 5-0-1 against Montreal in 2008-09. The B's haven't lost in regulation to the Habs since April 21, 2008 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in the 2008 playoffs. They are 9-0-1 against the Habs since then, preseason excluded.

Both teams are struggling to score right now and the Habs are having trouble keeping the puck out of their own net. Special teams, specifically the power play, has also been an issue for both teams. The Bruins are dead last in the NHL on the man advantage and haven't scored a power-play goal in five games. Meanwhile, Montreal is ranked 24th and is also struggling on the penalty kill, ranked in the same spot.

The emotion and passion that can develop when these two teams meet may be just what each team needs to get them out of the early-season doldrums. We shall see which team utilizes the rivalry and comes out victorious.

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