The Bruins are home after coming off a five game road trip, finishing with a 4-0-1 record. Some fans might say, “Don’t come home. Stay on the road. And keep winning!”
After the 5-3 win in Tampa last night, Rob Simpson asked forward P.J. Axelsson, “How do you apply this to home games?” Axelsson replied, “Good question,” then added, “Maybe we can take the bus to games.”
Glad to see I’m not the only one concerned about the upcoming three-game home stand. The last game the Bruins won at home was January 29th against Nashville, which is the last game I went to. Since then, they’ve lost four home games. Coincidence? We’ll see if I make it to any games during this home stand and the game result.
The Bruins allowed the first goal of the game last night, but it didn’t matter much. Milan Lucic (and his freshly broken nose) scored on the power play to tie the game. Defenseman Mark Stuart got on the score sheet in the second period, netting his 3rd goal of the season. The Lightning tied the game six minutes later, and it looked like the Bruins would be going into the 2nd intermission tied. That was until Glen Murray scored his 13th goal of the season on the power play at 18:25. Going into the 3rd period, the Bruins are 25-0-3 (which I had no idea about). The Lightning, on the other hand, are a dreadful 0-19-2, which may have given fans watching a sense of the security of two points.
The Bruins added to their 3-2 lead just 17 seconds into the 3rd period, when a fluky goal deflected off a couple of skates and behind Johan Holmqvist. Murray was credited with the goal. Valcav Prospal scored his 29th goal of the season on the power play to put the Lightning back within a goal with three minutes remaining. Visions of flurries around Alex Auld and the Bruins’ net started going through my head, and with Murray sitting in the penalty box serving a penalty for holding, it seemed it would be that way. But 23 seconds into the penalty kill, Glen Metropolit was carrying the puck into the Lightning zone while being hooked the entire way from the blue line. While there was a penalty being called, Metropolit maintained possession of the puck, and instead of shooting it forward, drawing the whistle and perhaps a penalty shot, Metropolit passed it back to P.J. Axelsson who shot the puck past Holmqvist. It was an awesome play by Metropolit and the Bruins skated off with the 5-3 win.
The Bruins remain in 6th place, with 70 points. Their next game is Tuesday against the division rival Ottawa Senators. The trade deadline is also Tuesday, which is always an exciting day around the NHL. Check back tomorrow for a feature about the trade deadline.
