The Bruins are in Buffalo tonight and the way the game started was a little strange. The Bruins were in their defensive zone for considerable time. Defenseman Aaron Ward broke his stick and was without a stick until his shift just about ended. Forward Chuck Kobasew gave up his stick for him. Why another forward didn’t give up their stick for Ward, I’ll never know. Milan Lucic blocked the first shot of the game. Alex Auld is in net for the Bruins. Game play went the other way with Glen Murray (returning to the line-up tonight) getting the first Bruins shot on Ryan Miller. The Bruins kept the pressure on, peppering Miller with shots.
Less than four minutes into the game, it looks like it will be an entertaining and intense match-up between these division rivals who are only two points apart. Mark Stuart drew the first penalty of the game at 5:36 for tripping Adam Mair. P.J. Axelsson made a great play to poke check a pass outside the zone during the penalty that the Bruins killed off. Have I been away so long that Jack Edwards actually made me laugh with his “spicy comment” about Buffalo wings?
The Bruins will have their first crack at the man-advantage 8:02 into the game. They didn’t score on that one. But Marc Savard was spun around at 13:35 by Toni Lydman, so the Bruins will get their second chance on the power play. I wonder why Buffalo fans are booing Zdeno Chara. And that power play came and went. Chara wasn’t happy about his penalty for holding at 18:33, but you know what? When you take your hand off your stick and it’s impeding the other player that could be considered holding. The Sabres are on their second power play of the game. And the Sabres score late in the period with a little over a minute left on the power play. Jaroslav Spacek scored with 3.4 seconds left. The late goal is a bummer, but I rather the Sabres not come out for the second period on a power play. It’s a fresh start in the second period.
The first period hardly had any whistles. The second period is off to a slow start so far with pucks being deflected into the netting, and icing calls. Glen Metropolit had a great scoring chance on a turnover near the Sabres blue line. The Bruins had another scoring chance after that where Axelsson should have shot the puck instead of passing back to Murray. But the Bruins get a power play out of it. The Bruins seemed to put more pressure and get more chances after the power play. (I’m watching some of this period on mute so I don’t have extra voices in my head of what to type and I can form my own thoughts about the game. Ever notice sometimes your thoughts on a game get swayed because of what you hear or what others say?)
Since I’m only watching and not listening at the same time, I’ve been impressed by some Bruins players, yet others seem lacking. I won’t name them though since I have no foundation to call them out and they might be playing really well and just having an off night. Auld is a bit under fire. I don’t think he’s a bad goalie as some make him seem to be. He is what he is. Miller took a nice little shot at Savard. Where’s the roughing penalty on the Sabres player who attacked Savard? Well, the Sabres player is in the penalty box as is Murray, serving matching minors for roughing. Crappy call there, followed by a crappy breakout by the Bruins. First Axelsson and now it’s Ward. What is with the between-the-legs back passing? It appears the Bruins won’t be scoring this period, so I’m going to give my hand and wrist a rest. Oh, but Buffalo might be scoring since Chara picked up his second penalty of the game. Unfortunately, I missed it as I was popping a Triscuit cracker into my mouth. After seeing the replay, that was a marginal call of interference against Chara. Bruins killed off the penalty, and Axelsson had a fantastic scoring chance. (On a side note, I really need to put these Triscuits away.) Shane Hnidy with a huge shot block with a little over two minutes left in the period. Holy crap! The Sabres score another goal with less than a minute remaining in the period. Are you kidding me? Thomas Vanek scored at 19:22. Hmm, the goal was under review. The Bruins would catch a huge break if it was kicked, but it wasn’t, and play resumes. The period ends with the Sabres holding a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins might not play in the last minute of periods, but they sure can play in the first minute of the period. Chara scored to cut the lead in half at 57 seconds. And here I was thinking the Bruins wouldn’t do anything this period and I could sit back and not type. Kobasew had a nice set-up for somebody (Phil Kessel maybe?) in front of Miller. And um, Buffalo players really don’t like Chara either. Referees make up on a penalty and call the Sabres for a questionable hooking penalty. Now hopefully the Bruins can do something, like score and tie it. I’ve never seen a team miss more open nets, or have the goalie down, and stall to shoot the puck. That’s very frustrating. Kessel has been impressive tonight. And Kobasew misses a chance on the side of Miller. ARGH!
Seven minutes are remaining in the game now. Axelsson is practically blindsided at the blue line, and the Bruins end up having to kill a penalty. Murray is going to the penalty box for slashing at 13:26. Savard shows what a smart player he is, going against another Sabre behind Miller’s net on the penalty kill, and passing the puck off of the net to himself. Coach Claude Julien whispers something into Kobasew’s ear. Kobasew has been less than impressive tonight, to me at least. MARCO STURM SCORES TO TIE IT! And his reaction was priceless! Sturm made the wise decision to shoot at 16:10. Auld gets a cheer after the 17 minute mark for the pathetic fact that the Sabres hadn’t gotten a shot on Auld this period. The Bruins are definitely controlling the play. With one minute to go in the period, the Bruins really need to make sure they have some kind of puck possession. And with a late flurry of chances by the Bruins, this game is going to overtime. Whew.
The Sabres record in the shootout is 2-6, but first is five minutes of overtime. The Sabres record in overtime is 3-1. Dennis Wideman shot the puck wide of the net that was a great opportunity. Sabres had a shot on Auld. I can sense a shootout coming. Auld makes another save with 1:04 left. Kobasew had a sweet wrap-around chance on Miller. Dang. Buffalo takes their timeout. There is 30.4 seconds left. Bruins go offside with 26.4 seconds left. Savard misses the net on the Bruins last chance to win it in overtime.
Here comes the shootout. The three things I want to see in the shootout (or at least one of them): A good shootout order from Julien, Kobasew scoring in the shootout, and the Bruins winning the game. The last one is the most important, while the others are just icing on the cake. Kotalik is the first shooter for Buffalo. Buffalo opts to shoot first. Save by Auld. Sturm is the Bruins first shooter. Sturm hit the side of the net after Miller tracked him. Tallinder is up next. Auld makes the pad save on Tallinder. Go AA! Kessel is next. And Kessel scores without shooting! The puck slid under Miller’s leg and pad. And Auld makes the last save of the shootout to win the shootout 1-0 and the game 3-2!
I bet Kessel’s goal will be on SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 List coming from Miller’s side of course.
I’m so glad I was around to watch this game.
