BOSTON, Mass – In the wake of a a four game stretch in six days, the Boston Bruins are on a full day off to rest and recoup their achy bones.
 
Coming off an exhausting road trip out west, the B’s managed to pull out a 1-1-1 record while muscling through three games in four nights in California — against the Ducks [L 3-4], Sharks [shootout victory, 2-1], and the Kings [SO 3-4]. However, returning to Boston for a matinée on Monday, the Bruins showed their fatigue in defeat—losing 5-1 to Daniel Alfredsson and the Ottawa Senators.
 
“When you’re tired, you’re not just tired physically, you’re tired mentally” said coach Claude Julien of his team during Monday’s post game press conference. “There’s no doubt we need to get some rest right now. And trying to regroup on a Wednesday with practice and face these next two teams here with at least more energy than we did tonight, that’s the right thing to do. It’s as simple as that.”
 
Or is it that simple? Marco Sturm, Steve Begin, and Byron Bitz are all day-to-day with their respective injuries . Marc Savard and Andrew Ference are still a few weeks away from their stint on the injured reserve list. Even with a depleted lineup, Julien is still dishing out ice time to his top players, regardless of their fatigue and/or competitive level.
 
“We came off a three-game road trip where we were battling injuries big time. Every game was a different lineup.” Julien added on Monday.   “We had to tax I guess some of our top players a lot— killing penalties, power plays, 5-on-5, playing top lines—we did a lot of that stuff and those guys tonight are the guys that really struggled through the game.”
 
Dennis Wideman, who missed Saturday’s game against the Kings with a virus, still managed to log the second-highest minutes of ice time on Monday. The struggling blue-liner finished with a minus-3 rating—which was indicative of his overall play—and was no way near 100 percent. In fact, he played over three more minutes than the next defenseman, Derek Morris.
 
“I didn’t play the last game, but I didn’t feel great.” Wideman said in the locker room after Monday’s 5-1 defeat. “But, you’re not going to feel great every game but you have to hope that you’re mentally there.”
 
David Krejci was a late scratch last Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks with an ‘undisclosed injury”. But the center returned to the lineup late Saturday afternoon to log a season-high 22:27 of ice time against the Kings. Albeit an overtime game—and filling in extra time for the game-injured Begin—Krejci blew away Trent Whitfield’s [14:00] and Vladimir Sobotka’s [9:50] playing time.
 
Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup on Monday after missing the previous two weeks [six games] with a broken thumb. With the cautious return, Bergy was limited to just two faceoffs, but logged the second-most ice time of any Bruin forward.
 
“With the team energy level, you look at our third, fourth line, can’t say anything about those guys. They battled hard, they made things happen. They didn’t have 18, 20 plus minutes per game, so they were probably in a better situation to handle this game tonight than our top guys were. I just felt our top guys really looked tired tonight.”
 
Sobotka has been one of those players who deserves more time, because of his “leave it all out on the ice” mentality and play. Although it doesn’t show on the scoreboard every night, Sobotka’s hustle and grit has been unmatched by any current roster player. And as a third- or fourth-liner, he has done a superb job of filling that role. He wins a lot of one-on-one battles, and his relentlessness on the forecheck results in some occasional scoring   opportunities.
 
Through 39 games played this season, No. 60 ranks second of the Bruins with 97 hits [Begin 120 in 47 GP] and has won a respectable 91-of-191 faceoffs [51.9%].
 
This is not to say the third- and fourth-liners need to log 15 minutes a piece. But in order to weather the storm of injuries, especially Marc Savard, playing time needs to be distributed throughout. And if Julien is sincere in his rewarding players with extra time for extra effort, then he needs to follow through on that motto. Top-line players are logging top-line minutes, but their tank is running on fumes.
 
Contact Mark.Marino@prohockeynews.com

BOSTON, Mass – Fresh off a 2-1 overtime Winter Classic victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday, the Boston Bruins hit the road to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers at 7pm EST.
 
Despite going 4-1-0 in his last five, with a 1.60 goals-against average, and a .946 save-percentage, Tuukka Rask will start between the pipes for the B’s in tonight’s contest. And as for the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist will appear in his 38^th game of the season as New York’s netminder.
 
Rask faced the Rangers in his only NHL appearance last season on Jan. 31, 2009, at the TD Garden.“Tuukka Time” stopped all 35 shots he faced en route to his first NHL career shutout, as the Bruins skated past the Rangers, 1-0.
 
The Bruins went 2-1-1 against the Rangers last season. In fact, three of their last four meetings last season ended with a final score of 1-0. The fourth: a 3-2 shootout loss.
 
The Bruins will look to their best player[s] in forward Patrice Bergeron, along with defenseman Zdeno Chara, to shut down the Rangers scoring leader, Marian Gaborik. No. 10 leads all Blueshirts in goals (27), assists (25), points (52), and shots on goal (148).
 
There have been a handful of players that have been exceptional for Boston over the past week.
 
Marco Sturm is riding a four-game goal streak, including the overtime game-winner at the Winter Classic , and has five goals in his last six. Also in their last six games, center Marc Savard has tallied 1-7-8 during that span, and Big Z has pitched-in with 1-5-6. And not to be outdone, Bergeron has 3-4-7 totals in his last eight contests.
 
The B’s are 3-1-1 in their last five games and 5-3-2 in their last 10—sit alone in second-place in the Northeast Division, and fifth overall in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the up-and-down Rangers have compiled a 2-1-2 record in their last five and a 5-2-3 record in their last 10. New York’s 43 points lands them in third-place in the Atlantic Division and eighth overall in the East.
 
The Bruins and Rangers are facing-off for the 617^th time in their lifetime series. Boston holds a winning overall record and scoring edge, but a losing 117-136-55-2 record on N.Y. ice.
 
Rebounds:
 
Defenseman Mark Stuart remains on the IR with a broken sternum, but has begun skating under the watchful eye of Bruins’ strength and condition coach, John Whitesides. Also, power forward Milan Lucic has been removed from the IR list, has been wearing a red “no contact” jersey, and will be making the road-trip to New York and Ottawa. It’s official, the Bruins inked veteran winger Miroslav Satan to a $700,000 contract for the rest of the 2009-10 season. He, like Lucic, had skated with the team, wearing the “non contact” sweater.
 
The Bruins are entering their ninth [of 17] back-to-back night games tonight and tomorrow [against the Senators]. They are 5-1-2 in games ones, and 3-4-1 in game twos.
 
Contact mark.marino@prohockeynews.com

BOSTON, MA – In day two of a four-day game-break, the Boston Bruins laced-up the skates for a 10:30am practice today at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, MA. Defensemen Derek Morris and Dennis Wideman were not in attendance as they were given a “maintenance day”, per head coach Claude Julien.
 
Coming off one of their worst performances of the 2009-10 season, Friday’s 5-1 loss against the Montreal Canadiens, the B’s bounced back and dominated the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night, 7-2.
 
Marc Savard scored his third career hat trick in the 7-2 debacle for his eighth goal of the season. Savard now has 4-2-6 in his last five games, and evens out his point-per-game average with 8-6-14 in 14 games played.
 
Struggling 24-year-old defenseman Matt Hunwick — who had just two assists, six shots, and a minus-2 rating in his last 10 games — was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s contest against the Maple Leafs. Although recording an assist against the Canadiens on Friday night, Hunwick was a minus-2 had played a season-low 12:44 of ice time.
 
Head coach Julien said, ” I think Matt hasn’t played as well as he’d like to and as well as we know he can and I don’t think we’re, it’s more of one of those things that we need to continue to work with him. He’s really trying, he’s just struggling a little bit with his confidence.. .”
 
After being assigned back to AHL Providence, Johnny Boychuk filled-in for the scratched Hunwick, and the 25-year-old delivered. Boychuk, the 2008-09 AHL Eddie Shore winner, blasted a rocket past Leafs net-minder Vesa Toskala for his first career NHL goal. Boychuk was also called upon when Dennis Wideman missed the entire third period of Saturday’s game, by logging nearly 18 minutes of ice time.
 
” What a great way to come back into the line up and get some confidence from things like that. I thought he played well tonight.” Julien on Johnny Boychuk’s performance.
 
Bruins back-up net-minder Tuukka Rask continues to make his case for that No. 1 position over Tim Thomas with his stellar play between the pipes. Thomas, who got the 4-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night, was pulled after the second period against the Habs on Friday night after allowing all five goals on 18 shots. Rask was sent in and stopped all six shots he faced in the third and final period.
 
Rask got the victory on Saturday night by making 31 of 33 saves on the evening en route to a perfect 3-0-0 record against Northeast Division opponents. The 22-year-old is now 8-2-2 on the season, and ranks second overall in the NHL with his .932 goals-against average and 1.97 save-percentage.
 
  ” If you want to do that you have to be ready for anything when you are called upon. He came in late in the third period last night and the reason for that was because I planned on using him tonight. We didn’t have a morning skate so it was a good opportunity to put him in and let him get some playing action. He did a good job tonight, he played well, it is unfortunate that he lost his shutout late in the third.”
 
The Finland native’s last start was on Nov. 27 against the New Jersey Devils — one-week of off-time in between game play — but looked as sharp as ever.
 
” Mentally it’s tough because you just try to remember the good things you’ve done and try to keep it up and make those first saves and then kind of get the groove back and that’s all you can do. Because I think week, I think I had a week break now, week and a day now, so that’s okay..” Rask said after Saturday’s contest.
 
Boston squares-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs again this Thursday night at the TD Garden for the second time in five days; followed by a trip to New York on Saturday to face John Tavares and the Islanders. Last year, the Bruins went 5-1-0 against the Leafs, and 4-0-0 versus the Isles (1-1-0 this season).
 
The Bruins went 2-1-0 last week, capturing four out of six possible points, to remain atop the Northeast Division with 35 points. Now 15-9-5 on the season, the Bruins have a comfortable third-place in the Eastern Conference standings.
 
Nearing their end of just four games in a 14-day stretch, the Bruins may want to continue playing their hot-handed Rask and Boychuk to help remain one of the East’s best this week.
 
Contact mark.marino@prohockeynews.com

BOSTON, MA – Throughout this 2009-10 season, the Boston Bruins have had their fair share of the ups-and-downs, especially during the month of November. With big-time injury hurdles and inconsistent 60-minute efforts, the Black and Gold seems as though they have found their groove as of late.
 
After a rough start of November, (2-2-3 in their first seven games) Boston has been scorching hot in the latter parts, going 5-1-1 in their last seven games. The Bruins defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at the Scottrade Center to start the week on Monday, in what would be their only regulation-time deciding game. The next three games were all decided by the shootout: 2-1 over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday; a 2-1 Friday matinee defeat from the New Jersey Devils; and a 4-3 triumph over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
 
Entering the rollercoaster month of November, the Bruins played without their heavy-hitter Milan Lucic and top-line center Marc Savard for more than half of its games. Savard, who missed the first 10 games of November (15 in all) with a broken left foot, returned to the lineup for Boston’s four concluding games of the month, and registered three assists and a plus-2 rating.  
 
And as for Lucic, well, the injury-bug struck the 21-year-old once again.
 
After returning from a 14-game stint on the long-term injured-reserve list on Nov. 19 against the Atlanta Thrashers, Lucic didn’t have much to be thankful for on the eve of Thanksgiving Day. Just four games back from a broken finger, the Vancouver, BC, native left Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild towards the end of the third period with a high-ankle sprain. Lucic is back on the IR and could miss up to four weeks with the injury.
 
In lieu of Lucic’s second stint to the IR, the Bruins have recalled Vladimir Sobotka once again to fill-in that vacant forward position. Despite his 5’11” stature, Sobotka’s physical play has him second on the team in hits (51) while playing in just 17 of the Bruins’ 26 games this season. Last week, the 22-year-old laid seven hits — in two games — against the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators.
 
There have been plenty of curve-balls thrown in Boston’s direction this year, yet the boys in black and gold have dug deep as of late to persevere.
 
Tim Thomas, who returned to action on Saturday against the Senators, was yet another victim of the injury-plague, missing the previous six starts. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner was out with a “minor, undisclosed injury”, but most reports had it pinned to a “right-hand injury”.
 
Nonetheless, “Tuukka Time” started here in Boston, and the 22-year-old netminder lived up to the hype. Rask started all six contests and finished with a 4-1-1 record in Thomas’ absence, and helped backstop the B’s to their recent hot-streak. Last week, Rask stopped 93-of-97 shots, notched a 2-0-1 record, a 1.33 goals-against average, and an astounding .959 save-percentage.  
 
Rask was originally drafted in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 21st overall. On June 24, 2006, the Bruins swapped goaltenders when they shipped 2004 Calder Memorial Trophy winner Andrew Raycroft to the Leafs in exchange for Rask. The payoff has not only paid dividends on the Bruins’ back-up department, but for their future between the pipes as well.
 
Patrice Bergeron also gave the Bruins’ fans one heck of a scare this past weekend when he took a shot to the ankle in Saturday’s game against the Senators. Bergeron hobbled off the ice after Ottawa took advantage by lighting the lamp on the power play — essentially a 5-on-3 with Bergeron lying on the ice — but only missed about two full shifts before returning. Bergy, along with defenseman Matt Hunwick, missed practice today at Ristuccia Arena, but coach Julien stressed that they were mere “maintenance days”.
 
It took the Bruins three shootouts in their four games last week, but prevailed to a 3-0-1 record to close out the month.   After dipping as low as 12th place in the Eastern Conference earlier this month, Boston is now top-dogs in the Northeast Division with 31 points, and third overall in the East.
 
Contact mark.marino@prohockeynews.com

BOSTON, MA – The Boston Bruins look to make it four-in-a-row on the road as they face some familiar faces in the Minnesota Wild tonight at the Xcel Energy Center. Former Bruins’ defenseman “Sherriff” Shane Hnidy faces the Bruins for the first time in an opposing jersey since being claimed by the Wild this off-season. And forward Chuck Kobasew will be dressed for the Wild tonight after missing the previous four games with a lower-body, as he squares-off against his former teammates. The Wild are just 1-2-2 in their last five games, stand alone in last place in the Northwest Division, and 14th in the Western Conference. If history is to repeat itself for Boston, then the advantage would go to Minnesota in this one, despite the Wild’s woes this season. The Bruins are 1-8-0 lifetime against the Wild, including a 0-2-0 record in their two contests last season. Manny Fernandez took both losses last season against his former club, while Niklas Backstrom backstopped the Wild to both victories — including a 28 save blanking of the B’s, 1-0, on Jan. 6, 2009 at the TD Garden. Last year, the B’s lost to the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on the eve of Turkey day, then went on to win 15 of their next 16 games. Tuukka Rask should get his fifth consecutive start tonight in St. Paul, MN. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas has been on the bench as back-up to Rask, with a minor hand injury, and could return to action on Friday against the New Jersey Devils. Rask has gone 3-1-1 in lieu of Thomas’ injury with a .912 save-percentage and 2.50 goals-against average. Bruins M.V.P.-to-date Patrice Bergeron has been red-hot during Boston’s recent road trip. In the past three games away from home, No. 37 has five points, a plus-2 rating, 10 shots on net, and has won nearly 60-percent of the face-off draws. The Bruins will have another healthy lineup tonight, aside from Thomas, as Milan Lucic enters his fourth game back from a broken index finger (2-0-2, plus-1, five shots on goal) and all star center Marc Savard will play in his second since recovering from a broken left foot. Johnny Boychuk and Vladimir Sobotka are likely the healthy scratches, again. As for the Wild, Martin Havlat is close to returning from a hamstring injury, but most likely not tonight. Brent Burns, Pert Sykora, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are all out with concussions. Bruins’ line combinations: Sturm-Savard-Bitz Lucic-Bergeron-Recchi Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder Thornton-Begin-Paille Chara-Morris Ference-Wideman Hunwick-Stuart Rask Thomas Action begins at 8pm EST.
Contact mark.marino@prohockeynews.com