Oh Hey

Welcome to the party Michael Ryder, don't know where you've been for the past month and a half but that doesn't matter, you're here now and that's all that counts.

Ryder scored two goals last night for the Bruins as they coughed up a 2-0 lead and late 3-2 lead but won in the shootout 4-3, a forum where the B's are usually allergic to goals and victories.

Another Boston (9-8-4) player who had been invisible this season was Marco Sturm and he emerged last night with a tip-in goal (his 5th) after a Mark Recchi shot in the first period. Andrew Ference also assisted on the goal.

Ryder also scored on a tip-in with 1:49 left in the first period. It was also his fifth of the season, from Blake Wheeler and Dennis Wideman (remember him), other members of Boston's ghost squad.

Nobody is at the games but the Thrashers (10-6-2) can score some goals and they tied it up quickly with two in the second. Nik Antropov scored his first of the season (to go along with 16 assists) before superstud Ilya Kovalchuk tied it up with a power play goal with 5:37 left in the second.

Ryder put his team back ahead with a power play goal, something nearly unheard of for the Bruins, just a few minutes after Kovalchuk's goal. David Krejci and Wideman assisted on that tally.

Boston looked about to seize the two points in regulation when Maxim Afinogenov sent it to overtime with a strike with 42 seconds remaining.

Tukka Rask (32 saves), a last-minute sub for Tim Thomas, played well the entire game and stoned all three Atlanta shooters in the shootout. Patrice Bergeron was Boston's first shooter and fittingly he had the only goal.

It wasn't pretty but it was two points in a manner that this team hasn't excelled at by any means. Milan Lucic returned to the lineup and Marc Savard is due back most likely next week.

They'll look to keep the momentum going as they travel to Buffalo tonight to face red-hot Ryan Miller and the Sabres.

This probably won't help Don Nelson's liver

After a few days to digest a surprising two-game losing streak, the Boston Celtics came out last night and took care of a far inferior opponent, the Golden State Warriors, 109-95 at the TD Garden.

Whispers about the Celtics (9-3) being old and relying too much on 3-pointers are most likely true but as any NBA fan knows, there are a lot of terrible teams in the league so you can bounce back quickly.

Due to injuries, swine flu and indifference, the Warriors (3-8) dressed just eight healthy players. Haha and Mikki Moore started, I think that's all you have to know about this forgettable matchup.

As per usual, all five Celtics starters scored in double figures along with Eddie House (11 points). Paul Pierce led Boston with 19 points while Rajon Rondo played his unique game with 18 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. Kendrick Perkins and Ray Allen scored 15 points while Kevin Garnett added 12.

Corey Maggette led Golden State with a game-high 23 points while Monta Ellis (who could be traded any day now) scored 18 points. Rookie Stephen Curry looked good with 13 points, seven assists and four steals but sadly his MILF-tastic mom was nowhere to be seen. Recently acquired Raja Bell had 11 points off the bench while rail-thin but talented Anthony Randolph scored 11 points.

Things get much more serious tomorrow night as the Orlando Magic come to the Garden for a rematch of last spring's Eastern Conference second round series. The Magic have improved themselves by picking up Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, etc. We'll see how much of a different KG, Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels make since none of them played in that memorable seven game series.

Who to blame: the refs, Belichick, Laurence Maroney? Answer: all of the above.

What the fuck happened last night in Indy?

The Patriots choked away two 17-point leads and lost 35-34 at Lucas Oil Stadium after two dubious calls went to the Colts (9-0) and oh by the way New England genius head coach Bill Belichick went for it on fourth-and-two from their own 28.

It is a shame that a great performance by the Patriots (6-3) for 58 minutes will mostly be remembered by the slobbering masses for the weak pass interference call on Darius Butler, the terrible spot on Kevin Faulk's fourth down catch and Belichick's ridiculous roll of the dice.

A win would have put the Patriots in the mix for the possible top seed in the AFC but now, they're relegated to fighting for the second or third spot in the AFC. We can all agree that the division is wrapped up now (I'll print the worthless AFC East champions shirts) after the Jets lost yesterday to the Jaguars, Buffalo got blown out by the Titans and the Dolphins squeaked by the Bucs.

The Patriots did whatever they want on offense as Tom Brady (375 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception), Randy Moss (9 catches, 179 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Wes Welker (9 catches, 94 yards) abused Indy's injury-depleted defense.

Joseph Addai gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 15-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass. From there, the Pats rolled off 24 straight points.

Laurence Maroney tied it with a one-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter. A Stephen Gostkowski 31-yard field goal, a 63-yard bomb to Moss and a 9-yard catch by Julian Edelman put New England up 24-7 with 7:19 left in the second quarter.

Predictably, Peyton Manning (327 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions) and Reggie Wayne (10 catches, 126 yards, 2 touchdowns) took just over three minutes to make it 24-14 as Manning found Wayne for a 20-yard touchdown catch.

Neither team scored in the third quarter and Randy Moss extended to lead to 31-14 early in the fourth quarter after a quick 5-yard out.

The Patriots defense which played well in spurts, seemed to struggle most when they had a lead of more than one score.

Playing passively against Manning never works. Pierre Garcon caught a 29-yard pass as the Colts cut it to 31-21.

Maroney did his best to give it away as he fumbled a sure touchdown into the end zone which the Colts recovered.

When Gostkowski hit a 36-yard field goal with 4:12 left, the game looked all but over at 34-21 Patriots.

Once again, the prevent defense collapsed in a heartbeat for the Patriots as Indianapolis marched down the field and got a gift pass interference call. Addai ran it in from 4 yards out with 2:23 left.

Belichick wasted not one but two timeouts on their last real drive which of course came back to haunt them. When their third down play didn't work (an out to Welker, really?), nobody could believe it as the offense stayed on the field and went for it on fourth down.

Faulk (79 yards rushing) caught it at the 30-yard line (which should have been a first down) but two Colts defenders tackled him backwards. Apparently forward progress is a forgotten concept as the closest ref signalled Faulk was juggling (he did at first but then it was secure). They had no challenges left so they couldn't review the play.

One last time, Manning and Indy put the ball in the end zone as he threw a 1-yard touchdown to Wayne.

Yikes. After listening to pregame hype of this game all week, now I have to listen to all the second-guessing of everything in the game this week.

The Jets come to Gillette on Sunday and hopefully the Patriots can put this horrorshow behind them as fast as possible.

Celtics get back to shitting on the rest of the NBA

With three days off between games after a brutal eight games in twelve days stretch to open the season, the Celts predictably threw a beating on the Utah Jazz 105-86 last night at the TD Garden.

Seven Celtics scored in double-figures as Boston (8-1) continued to look like the team to beat in not only the Eastern Conference but the NBA as a whole.

Kevin Garnett led the C's with 18 points while Ray Allen (15 points), Rajon Rondo (14 points, 11 assists), Paul Pierce (13 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists), Rasheed Wallace (12 points), Kendrick Perkins (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Marquis Daniels (10 points) all provided great support.

This might be the deepest team in the NBA or at least one of the deepest and it showed as Utah (3-5) could not keep up with all the talent Celtics coach Doc Rivers kept putting on the court.

Deron Williams and Ronnie Brewer paced the Jazz with 13 points apiece while Andrei Kirilenko (12 points) and Carlos Boozer (10 points) were the only other Jazz players to score over 10.

Boston led 28-23 after one quarter and 54-44 at the half. A fine third quarter (30-18) allowed Rivers to sit the starters.

The shooting was on point all night for the Celts as they shot 53.2% and 16-of-18 from the line. They also had 30 assists to go with 15 turnovers. Utah's assist/turnover ratio was under one since they had 18 assists and 21 turnovers.

The Atlanta Hawks come to the Garden tomorrow night to renew the intense rivalry that started in the playoffs two seasons ago.

Rick Tocchet probably lost a lot of money on this game

It only took 17 games but the Boston Bruins finally won back-to-back games in the 2009-2010 season. The B's (8-7-2) knocked off the road weary and banged up Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins (12-6-0), 3-0 last night at the TD Garden.

Tim Thomas stopped 27 saves for his second shutout of the season and three different Bruins scored goals.

With 1:36 gone by in the second period, Bruins forward/defenseman Matt Hunwick scored his fourth of the year off assists from Dennis Wideman and Steve Begin. The goal was reviewed since the puck quickly bounced out of the net but it stood.

Daniel Paille scored his first goal for Boston in the third period after he was sent in alone on Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury (26 saves). Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi assisted with Recchi providing the pass that sprung Paille who had just hopped over the boards for a line change.

Bergeron wrapped up the scoring with an empty-net, short-handed goal with four seconds left in the game. Begin and Wideman assisted on the Bruins' first short-handed tally of the season.

Even given all the Penguins' injuries, this was a great win since they're tied for the Capitals for most points in the Eastern Conference.

The Florida Panthers come to the Garden tomorrow night as the Bruins look to make it three in a row.

The Patriots are the team to beat in the AFC East, FACT

Last year, the Miami Dolphins came into Gillette Stadium and shocked the Patriots and the NFL by unveiling their old-time offense, the wildcat. It spurred an AFC East title for Miami along with a nation-wide infatuation with this simple offensive system.

Yesterday back at Gillette and with a healthy Tom Brady, the Patriots held off the Dolphins 27-17 in an early season divisional showdown.

It was no surprise that Brady (332 yards passing, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) and Randy Moss (6 catches, 147 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 two-point conversion) were the best players on the field.

Miami (3-5) tried to control the clock with its powerful running game led by Ronnie Brown and a cleaned up Ricky Williams, as evidenced by their ten minute drive to start the second half.

The difference was that New England's (6-2) offense had the quick-strike ability while Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne is still trying to find his way as a starter.

After rookie cornerback Vonte Davis (remember that name) picked off Brady on the game's opening drive, Miami kicker Dan Carpenter hit a career-long 52-yard kick to give the Dolphins an early 3-0 lead.

The Patriots responded with a one-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney. Having to carry the load, Maroney did a decent job with 82 yards on 20 carries. Moss set up the easy six with a one-handed grab that was good for 36 yards. Davis couldn't do anything to stop that absurd catch.

Stephen Gostkowski continues to prove why he's one of the NFL's best as he had three field goals in the second quarter alone. In between, Williams ran for a 15-yard score out of the wildcat.

New England led 16-10 at the half as Gostkowski hit a 34-yarder as time ran out. Once again, the Patriots' struggles in the red zone continued against good teams.

Brown capped off Miami's long drive to start the second half as he threw a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Joey Haynos. Using backup quarterback Pat White, the Dolphins started to find a rhythm against a confused Pats defense.

Three plays later, Moss and Brady connected for a play which you'll see for the rest of the season. On third and 1, Brady hit Moss on a crossing pattern. Moss juked Davis then stiff-armed him and outran him 71 yards for the touchdown. It was the 140th career touchdown catch for Moss, tying him second all-time with Terrell Owens and behind the incomparable Jerry Rice.

The Patriots defense didn't get any turnovers but Adalius Thomas returned from the dead with a key sack as New England held Miami scoreless the rest of the way.

Jerod Mayo led the Patriots with 12 tackles while Brandon McGowan (11 tackles), Tully Banta-Cain (9 tackles) and rookie Darius Butler added seven tackles.

Backup center Dan Connolly also did a nice job for New England after Dan Koppen went down with a knee injury.

The win sets up a huge matchup which I'm already peeing my pants (PG-rated version) over: Patriots at Colts (8-0) on Sunday night.

This is getting silly

Well the good news is that your Boston Bruins just barely avoided getting shut out for the third consecutive game. The bad news is that they still lost in a shootout last night to the Canadiens 2-1 at the TD Garden and center David Krejci has been diagnosed with swine flu. Haha, really.

Proving that Canada has their priorities straight since the Calgary Flames and their families got shots before the rest of Calgary, the Bruins' luck continues to border on ridiculous. What else can happen to this team?

Former Bruin forward Glen Metropolit scored in the first period and a one-goal lead against Boston (6-7-2) right now is the equivalent of a five-goal lead against any other team.

The Bruins took 43 shots but only Bergeron could solve the highly overrated and underperforming Carey Price. Bergeron had another possible goal whistled off late in the second period when the puck slid under Price's pads but the net came off its moorings.

With goaltender Tim Thomas (25 saves) pulled, the B's finally tied it up with 52 seconds remaining. Bergeron was right on top of Price and he was able to knock home a rebound following Zdeno Chara's blast.

That was the only magic in the Bruins' sticks though as all three shooters in the shootout: Blake Wheeler, Bergeron and Mark Recchi fittingly couldn't score.

Montreal's (8-8-0) Mike Cammalleri beat Thomas for the only goal of the shootout.

Boston will try to score more than one goal tomorrow night against Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres, not an easy task since he's the NHL's hottest goalie.