Hell yes! WOOOOOOOOOO! Bruins reach their first Stanley Cup finals since 1990

I never played a day of organized hockey in my life so I'm not going to sit here and claim that the Boston Bruins have been my everything since I strapped on a pair of skates.

However, I will say that as I've gotten older and the three other Boston professional sports teams have all won championships in the last decade, the Bruins have become the last place for a real fan existence that you can find in this town. Up until now, the B's haven't been trendy, they always let their fans down and they are one of the most frustrating franchises in sports.

Well no more complaining from me or other true Bruins fans as they won the Eastern Conference finals last night by virtue of a scintillating 1-0 Game 7 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden.

Boston is back in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1990 and they'll get it started on Wednesday in Vancouver against the Canucks.

It's only fitting that their epic series was capped off with one of their greatest wins in franchise history. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas made 24 saves for his second shutout of the series and Nathan Horton had the game-winner at 12:27 of the third period (his eighth of the playoffs) to send the Garden into delirium.

People hate on soccer when it's 0-0 but it's hard to picture a hockey game being much more exciting even though both teams failed to score a goal for over 52 minutes of regulation. Unlike the NBA where the refs have to be front and center all the time, the NHL refs assigned to the game last night stayed out of the way and didn't call a single penalty (first time that's happened in 20 years)!

When Milan Lucic was stuffed on a breakaway on the first period, it was clear that Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson (37 saves) was sharp and it would probably be a very low scoring game.

Kudos to Tampa Bay for playing their asses off. Star Steven Stamkos took a Johnny Boychuk slap shot right off his nose in the second period and he only missed a few minutes of action. His face was disgusting but I have a new found respect for him since he sucked it up and got right back out there.

Andrew Ference started the goal with a long breakout pass to David Krejci. Dangerous David put a perfect backhand pass right between Roloson, a pair of Tampa Bay defensemen and on Horton's stick. All he had to do was redirect it in.

The Bruins will be heavy underdogs against the Canucks, who rolled through the Western Conference, but they wouldn't want it any other way. It's been clear in the postseason that this is a different Bruins team. They're not the choke artists of the past as they proved again and again (beating Montreal in a Game 7 overtime, sweeping the Flyers, beating Tampa Bay in another Game 7).

I'm not making any predictions but I think it's going to be a really good series. You have to remember that Vancouver has never won a Stanley Cup in their 40 years of existence (a longer drought than the B's by a year) so it's not like Boston's facing Detroit or something. The Bruins have Thomas, Zdeno Chara and a team full of guys that know their roles and don't get rattled.

Hockey in June! Pinch me.

Can I please trademark "It's never easy with the Boston Bruins"?

Before the Eastern Conference finals started between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning a few weeks back, I felt that either way the series was going the distance (seven games).

Still I take no joy in knowing that I was right since the B's should have ended this series already. Tampa Bay won 5-4 at the St. Pete Times Forum last night to tie it up at 3 and send the teams back to the TD Garden tomorrow night for Game 7 and a shot in the Stanley Cup finals against the Vancouver Canucks (starting next Wednesday).

Last night's outcome couldn't be more simply defined: Tampa Bay's power play was 3 of 4 while Boston was 1 of 5. The gamesmanship from Lightning head coach Guy Boucher before Game 6 is irrelevant since the B's had more opportunities and also earned the first three power plays of the game so end of discussion.

I would love to dump on the Bruins for losing since it might make me feel temporarily better but they don't deserve it. They actually showed a ton of heart (rare for them) as they battled back from a 5-3 deficit in the third period and essentially ran out of time as Tampa Bay switched roles with Boston and hung on for dear life.

The loss wasted a hat trick by David Krejci along with a big boy game by his linemates Milan Lucic (1 goal, 1 assist) and Nathan Horton (2 assists). Unfortunately, the Lightning received similar primetime performances from Martin St. Louis (2 goals, 1 assist), Steven Stamkos (1 goal, 2 assists) and Vincent Lecavalier (2 assists).

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (21 saves) continued his trick or treat series with another rough outing. Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson (16 saves) didn't do much and looked extremely shaky as well but hey, he came out on top.

Besides the power play struggles for Boston, which everyone in New England could point out (including my dog and cat at this point), the much more unreported nightmare has been the Bruins' propensity to give up both early and late goals in periods. Two times last night, Tampa Bay scored with 36 seconds or less into a frame. That's simply unacceptable at any time, especially now with so much at stake.

Teddy Purcell made it 1-0 Tampa Bay 36 seconds into Game 6, scoring his fifth of the playoffs assisted by Lecavalier. Before Bruins fans could freak out too much, Lucic had scored his third of the playoffs (at 7:09 from Horton and Johnny Boychuk) and Krejci potted his eighth of the playoffs (at 16:30 off a nice feed from Daniel Paille of all people).

All the effort and hard work in the first was quickly wiped out in the second as the Lightning got a pair of power play goals. St. Louis tied it up at 7:55 (from Lecavalier and Stamkos) and Purcell scored his second at 13:35 (from Steve Downie and Brett Clark).

Boston always seems to play better from behind so a one-goal deficit wasn't the end of the world, particularly since they were on the road (where they're more mentally tough for some unknown reason).

Stamkos scored (his sixth of the postseason, from Eric Brewer and St. Louis) another power play goal, 34 seconds into the third and that seemed like game over.

Krejci wouldn't let the B's go down so quietly as he cut it to 4-3 at 9:46 on the power play (!). Horton and Tomas Kaberle had the assists.

Before you could even get too excited though, Boston made sure to punch you in the gut one more time as St. Louis scored the game-winner 29 seconds later. Downie and Stamkos assisted on a play that was a complete fail by so many Bruins. Boychuk pinched in offensive zone and got caught up ice, Thomas over committed and came out too far and Ference didn't cut off the cross ice feed. Yuck.

Boucher was still in a gift giving mood and he let Krejci get his hat trick (Boston's first in the playoffs since Cam Neely in 1991) at 13:28 from Lucic and Kaberle. However, the Bruins couldn't find the tying goal and are forced to play one more deciding game.

I don't care if you have tickets to Game 7, no sane Bruins fan (an oxymoron) wanted it to happen. Boston survived Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round but in the last three seasons they've departed the playoffs with brutal Game 7 losses. The last two were particularly unforgivable since they were on home ice.

Tomorrow night will answer many questions regarding head coach Claude Julien's legacy along with the leaders of the team: Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron to name a few. If the Bruins lose, it's time to shake things up since this group will have maxed out and they won't go any further with a coach as stubborn and simple-minded as Julien.

Tim Thomas restores some order in the Eastern Conference finals

After scoring five goals in both Game 1 and Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Tampa Bay Lightning's potent offense was due for a letdown. Likewise, the defensively strong Boston Bruins couldn't possibly play any worse in their own end.

Some order was restored to the hockey universe last night in Game 3 at the St. Pete Times Forum as Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (31 saves) shut out the Lightning 2-0, helping Boston grab the all-important 2-1 lead (and wrestle back the home-ice advantage they lost in Game 1).

If you watched the B's all season, the team that skated last night was a much closer resemblance than the frauds that showed up in Game 1 and 2. Yes they won Game 2, but they're not going to win many games playing run and gun hockey with a team as talented offensively as the Lightning.

David Krejci popped a goal 1:09 into regulation and from there, Boston improved to 7-0 in the playoffs when they score first. Milan Lucic and Johnny Boychuk had the assists on Krejci's team-high seventh of the postseason. A defensive breakdown by Tampa Bay allowed Krejci to camp in front of goaltender Dwayne Roloson (23 saves) and wait him out (he took a Thomas-esque dive) before shoveling a backhander in.

After a scoreless and truthfully dull second period (which plays exactly into Claude Julien and the Bruins' paws), Andrew Ference scored his second of the playoffs at 8:12 of the third period. Michael Ryder and Chris Kelly had the assists to a goal which was originally given to Tyler Seguin (who didn't come even close to tipping it). There was tons of traffic in front of Roloson and he stopped it but the puck had just enough steam on it to trickle over the goal line in slow motion.

Thomas had to make a couple great saves but other than that, Tampa Bay was pretty quiet even when they were down two goals.

Game 4 is tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 p.m. and I don't have to be a genius like Lightning head coach Guy Boucher to tell you that it's the biggest game of the series. If the B's win, they'll be one game away from the Stanley Cup finals (!). If they lose, Tampa Bay is right back into it and they will have forgotten their struggles in Game 2 and 3.

Tyler Seguin will give you pants tents for days

With last night's roller coaster 6-5 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden, the Boston Bruins tied the Eastern Conference finals 1-1 with the series shifting to Florida tomorrow night for Game 3.

If his career pans out, the foremost memory from the win will be rookie Tyler Seguin's absurd four-point night. After sitting out the first two playoff series', he had a goal and assist in Game 1 on Saturday. He doubled that output and better yet, did it all in one period (the second, tying a team record) as Boston turned a 2-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead and then held on for dear life.

It's hard to believe that Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (36 saves) had a good game when he gave up five goals, including a couple soft ones but trust me when I tell you that he made a couple unbelievable stops in the third to secure this vital win.

Lightning goaltender and Stephen King doppleganger Dwayne Roloson (21 saves) came back to Earth like you knew a 41-year-old journeyman eventually would. Like Thomas, he actually made a bunch of solid stops (in the first period) but was done in by a leaky defense in front of him and pulled after the second period.

In a crazy contest, it's only fitting that Boston's beyond dead power play arose from the dead, scored two goals and created numerous other chances. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

Once again, Tampa Bay took an early lead, this time 13 seconds into regulation as Adam Hall (first of the playoffs) took advantage of a shot off the back boards that bounced right to him as he used his backhanded to put in a tough angle shot. Vincent Lecavalier and former Bruin Nate Thompson assisted on that gift.

Nathan Horton (sixth of the playoffs) got the Bruins on the board with their first power-play strike, at 13:58. He tipped in Dennis Seidenberg's shot from the point with Tomas Kaberle picking up the second assist.

The B's absolutely dominated play in the first period (18-11 shot advantage) yet it was a bitter feeling as the Lightning scored another fluky goal with seven seconds left in the frame. Steven Stamkos threw the puck at the net and Martin St. Louis was in front to bat it in past Thomas for his seventh of the playoffs. Lecavalier also assisted on that one.

Yes, the B's almost committed a nightmare of a collapse in the third period as they seemingly couldn't gain control of the puck or do simple things like score into an empty net but hey, they won. With Patrice Bergeron likely to make his return in Game 3, there's much to be excited about.

Given the stakes and setting, I honestly can't think of a better period than the one submitted in the second by Boston (5-1 in a must-win game in the Eastern Conference finals). Therefore, I stand by my delirious Tweet from last night that said "best Bruins period of my life." For 20 minutes, Claude Julien's boring defensive system was thrown into the trash as Seguin and the Bruins' other most talented forwards flew around the rink.

Seguin tied it up 48 seconds into the second after Michael Ryder sprung him for a breakaway. The 19-year-old knows what do in that position and he beat Roloson with a sweet backhander.

At 2:24 Seidenberg found David Krejci with a nice cross-ice feed and Krejci one-timed it for his sixth goal of the playoffs. Horton also assisted on his linemate's tally.

At 6:30 Seguin roofed a forehand shot over Roloson, assisted by Horton and Adam McQuaid. It's not understatement to say the TD Garden went bananas at that point, breaking out the Tyler.....Seguin chant.

Lecavalier (sixth of the playoffs) struck on a Tampa Bay power play to pull the Lightning within 4-3 at 7:48. St. Louis and Stamkos had the assists.

The ghost of Michael Ryder stopped by for a visit late in the second period and it was a pleasant stay as he potted two goals of his own (his third and fourth of the playoffs). He scored on the power play at 16:16 from Seguin (of course) and Kaberle. With 19 seconds left in the second, Ryder jumped on a rebound and scored after Roloson had stopped shots from Chris Kelly and Seguin.

I don't know how to explain it but Boston is just the worst hockey team ever playing with a lead, especially when it's more than one goal. Furthering my point, they were completely lifeless in the third period as Stamkos sniped one over Thomas' shoulder at 3:47 (his fifth of the playoffs) from Victor Hedman and Hall.

The clock seemed to be stuck in slow motion or maybe it was just the Bruins who seemed to be killing an invisible penalty all period. When former Harvard star Dominic Moore put in a rebound (on a play that should have been whistled dead since Thomas' mask came off) at 13:15, it looked like Tampa Bay was going to win this game.

Thankfully for hearts across New England, that didn't happen as the B's managed to hang on despite things like Milan Lucic shooting over an empty net (something you don't see every day).

Last night only proved that this series is probably going to the distance (seven games) either way. Tampa Bay has too much firepower to go down quietly but Boston has better goaltending (usually) and defense (sometimes) with more overall depth. Seguin really is the X factor; if he can continue to produce and Bergeron returns, I like the B's chances to get to their first Stanley Cup final since 1990.

This ain't last year bro, get over it

Some pink hat Bruins fans or just miserable human beings-namely the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy- love to joke now that the Boston Bruins are up 3-0 on the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second year in a row, that Philly finally has the Bs where they want them.

I'm not going to dignify that with much of a response since it's a different year and a completely overhauled team for Boston. Yes, they had one of the biggest choke jobs in sports history last postseason which completely scarred all of us forever but that was by a fraudulent team (that still should have gotten the job done).

The Bruins' best players in this postseason: Tim Thomas, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Dennis Seidenberg, Chris Kelly and Nathan Horton were all for one reason or another (poor play, injuries, not on the team) were not playing for Boston last spring.

Zdeno Chara had two goals and an assist last night as the Bruins beat up the Flyers 5-1 at TD Garden to take a 3-0 series lead. Game 4 is tomorrow night back at TD Garden.

This was one over as fast as you can say Big Z (first of the playoffs) as the captain scored 30 seconds into regulation (from Marchand and Patrice Bergeron) and Krejci (fifth of the playoffs) made it 2-0 at 1:01 (with assists to Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton).

Philadelphia took a timeout after Krejci's goal but the damage had been done to goaltender Brian Boucher's (16 saves) already fragile psyche. For the third straight game in the series, he didn't make it through the entire contest as Sergei Bobrovsky (8 saves) entered in the second period.

Thomas (37 saves) continued to be a brick wall in goal and bar none, the best goaltender in the NHL playoffs. He never let the Flyers jump back into it and has completely neutralized their loaded offense.

The Bruins didn't let up when they got the early lead as Daniel Paille (first of the playoffs) and Horton scored in the second period to make it 4-0. Paille's goal at 13:39 was the direct result of a great transition with linemates Gregory Campbell (who had an assist) and Shawn Thornton (who drove to the net). Johnny Boychuck also assisted.

Horton's tally at 15:14 was Boucher's requisite soft as Kim Kardashian's butt goal that he allows each and every game. Krejci and Chara assisted on Horton's fifth of the playoffs that went right through Boucher's five-hole.

Philadelphia defenseman Andrej Maszaros got his team on the board at 16:26 of the second period. Darroll Powe and Daniel Carcillo assisted on Maszaros' strike that was inevitable since they were getting good pressure on Thomas.

Horton and Sean O'Donnell fought early in the second period. It was the first fight of the playoffs (as far as I know) but it was nice to see Horton step up and not give in to the endless cheap shots by the Flyers.

It was in garbage time but confidence-wise moving forward, Boston's last goal was perhaps its most important of the blowout as Chara broke the Bruins' 0-for-30 slump on the power-play in the playoffs. Yes it was on a 5-on-3 but who cares? Now they don't have to hear about that anymore. With assists to Krejci and Seidenberg, Chara fired a laser over Bobrovsky's shoulder.

One of the biggest misconceptions coming into this series was that the big bad Flyers would push around the Bruins. On second thought, not so much. Marchand, Paille, Boychuk, Lucic and Co. were all flying around last night and landing huge hits on Flyers. It was beautiful to see.

I'm not looking too far ahead but I'm very confident that if the Bruins don't win tomorrow night, they'll win in Game 5. The Flyers are just a mess right now while the Bruins have seven of their last eight playoff games including four in overtime. The best thing to do is get this over in Game 4, sweep the Flyers and get ready to face the Tampa Bay Lightning (who swept the Washington Capitals last night) in the Eastern Conference finals, someplace the Bs haven't been since 1992.

Tim Thomas shows he's a changed man

There was absolutely no reason to think the Boston Bruins would win Game 2 last night against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals at the Wells Fargo Center.

Down 1-0 in the series, Philly needed a big effort to even it up and they couldn't have gotten off to a better start as James van Riemsdyk scored 29 seconds into the first period and then at 9:31 on the power-play.

From that point on though, Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (career-high 52 saves) played the best game of his career as he stood on his head and his team rallied for a heart-stopping 3-2 overtime win.

Chris Kelly (4th of the playoffs) and Brad Marchand (4th of the playoffs) tied it up later in the first period and then the teams flew up and down the ice in a scoreless second and third period.

Krejci (4th of the playoffs) got it done at 14:00 of overtime as he one-timed a great feed from Nathan Horton past Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher (32 saves).

van Rimesdyk was a revelation for Philadelphia as he was the most dominant offensive player in the game. I lost count on how many times he had great scoring chances for himself or teammates. His first goal was the result of a 2 on 1 with Claude Giroux. It looked like Giroux whiffed on his shot attempt but it went right to the former UNH star who put it past Thomas. Nikolay Zherdev also assisted on the goal.

The second Philly goal was the fault of Boston's defense, not Thomas. He stopped two shots before van Riemsdyk banged home the rebound. Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen assisted on the power-play tally, van Rimesdyk's seventh of the postseason.

It makes sense that Boston's two most dependable forwards in the playoffs-not named Patrice Bergeron-combined to knot it at two before the first twenty minutes were up.

Tomas Kaberle's shot was blocked by Boucher, Michael Ryder drove to the net and was stuffed but Boucher couldn't stop Kelly as he swooped by and poked it in at 12:50.

Marchand's goal was a wrist shot from about 35-feet out which in most cases (especially when there's no traffic) should be stopped. Lucky for us, Marchand scored and it was thanks to a tasty pass from Bergeron with Mark Recchi picking up the second assist.

It's hard to imagine there's a hotter team in the NHL right now than the Bruins. They've won six of their last seven games, including a bananas four in overtime.

Game 3 is tomorrow night at TD Garden and needless to say, we don't need a refresher course on what happened last spring when these teams met. Boston dominated Game 1 and stole Game 2 thanks to Thomas' majestic play. Just like the Flyers came out on fire last night, I expect more of the same tomorrow. It's up to the Bruins to weather it all and come out on top, again.

Bruins get off to a perfect start in Game 1 vs. Flyers

In my Black and Gold tinted world, I honestly can't imagine a much better start to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia than the one submitted yesterday by the Boston Bruins.

The Bs embarrassed the Flyers 7-3 at the Wells Fargo Center.

The only real advantage Boston has over Philadelphia is in goaltenders but as my buddy who likes the Flyers said, "goaltending in the playoffs is the great equalizer." His name isn't Nostradamus but damn, that was pretty prophetic.

After their offense was shackled up for most of the quarterfinals vs. Montreal, Boston exploded for seven goals with two in the first period, three in the second period and two in the third period.

Brian Boucher (18 saves, 5 goals allowed) got the start between the pipes for the Flyers but he was pulled in the second period for rookie Sergei Bobrovsky (8 saves, 2 goals allowed). Good luck trying to figure out who starts for Philly in Game 2.

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (31 saves) gave up three goals and had some sketchy moments as he flopped around but the difference between him and the Flyers goalies was immense. Thomas looks like Dominik Hasek compared to those two graduates of Philly's goaltending clown college.

The Bruins power-play carried over its misery from the first round as it went 0 for 5 yesterday with the Flyers committing numerous dumb penalties. In total, Boston is now 0 for 24 on the power play and getting worse by the game if that's possible.

David Krejci's value was underscored in the playoffs last season when he broke his wrist in Game 3 vs. the Flyers. Not saying it was only because of him but we all remember how the next four games went.

Yesterday, Krejci was all over the ice as he scored two goals and had two assists. Brad Marchand added two goals and an assist, Patrice Bergeron notched three assists while Nathan Horton had a goal and assist while Dennis Seidenberg had two assists.

Claude Giroux was the only Flyer with multiple points as he had two assists.

Krejci (2nd of the playoffs) scored 1:52 into the game as he put a backhander past Boucher. Horton and Seidenberg assisted on that one.

Danny Briere (7th of the playoffs) tied it up at 11:02 as Thomas gave a rebound right to him and Horton failed to cover him properly. Braydon Coburn and Ville Leino assisted.

Horton (4th of the playoffs) gave Boston a late lead, scoring with 36 seconds left in the first period. Krejci and Seidenberg assisted as Horton was able to just flip it by Boucher, who helped out by knocking it into the net with his glove.

Boston came out on fire in the second period, pumping in three goals before Philadelphia could respond.

At 2:34, Mark Recchi (2nd of the playoffs) got his own rebound and squeezed it past Boucher. Bergeron and Marchand had the assists.

Krejci tipped in a shot from the point by Adam McQuaid at 15:26 for a 4-1 Bruins lead. Marchand's (2nd of the playoffs) snipe at 17:14 from in close, signaled the end of the day for Boucher. Bergeron and Andrew Ference assisted.

16 seconds later, James van Riemsdyk (5th of the playoffs) stopped the rally with a goal from Sean O'Donnell and Giroux.

Mike Richards' power-play goal (1st of the playoffs) at 13:02 from Kimmo Timonen and Giroux gave the Flyers a glimmer of hope that maybe they could comeback.

Psyche, not happening with their nightmare of a goaltending situation. Marchand snuck to the post and scored again at 14:59 from Bergeron. Then Gregory Campbell (1st of the season) closed it out with his first of the playoffs at 17:39 after a nice pass from Krejci. Daniel Paille also assisted on Campbell's goal.

No doubt about it, the Flyers will play much better in Game 2 tomorrow night. They can't afford to go back to Boston down 0-2 so they'll throw everything they have at the Bruins. Conversely for the Bruins, there's no way they'll perform as well as they did yesterday but if they can somehow manage another win, they'll be in great shape moving forward.

A couple heart attacks later, the Bruins hang on for dear life and a Game 3 win

You know you're watching a pivotal Boston Bruins playoff game when your emotions run the gamut: from worry to joy to shock and despair.

Despite some ridiculously tense moments and two soft as silk goals allowed by Tim Thomas, the Bruins held on for a 4-2 win in Game 3 last night at the Bell Centre.

The victory cut Montreal's series lead to 2-1 and ensured there will be a Game 5 on Saturday night at TD Garden. First things first, Game 4 is Thursday night back at the Bell Centre.

To the Bs' credit, they finally decided to get out to a good start. Make that a great start. David Krejci gave Boston its first lead of the series at 3:11 of the first period with a one-timer from Patrice Bergeron.

Nathan Horton doubled the lead with a banked shot off Carey Price's (21 saves) back for a 2-0 lead at 14:38 of the first period.

Andrew Ference and Benoit Pouliot squared off with four seconds left in the first period, the direct result of Pouliot's attempted cheap shot (charging) on Johnny Boychuk.

Price had a terrible gaffe to start the second period as he cleared a puck right to Rich Peverley, who put in his first career playoff goal. Mark Recchi assisted on that gift which gave Boston a commanding 3-0 lead at 2:02 of the second period.

From there, it was hang on to your hats boys as Thomas (34 saves) gave up a weak backhander (deflected by Zdeno Chara) to Andrei Kostitsyn at 7:03 of the second period.

The tempo of the game was fast from the start but it really picked up after Montreal finally got on the board. Boston retreated to their dressing room with a 3-1 lead after two periods but the Canadiens got another jolt of energy from another weak sauce goal.

Tomas Plekanec turned quickly and fired a seeing-eye shot that somehow got under Thomas' pads and in the net. Yikes, 3-2 Boston with 15:52 left in regulation.

Thomas deserves a ton of credit though. After the two terrible goals he gave up, he stood on his head for the rest of the contest as the Bs could barely get the puck out of their zone.

Chris Kelly scored an empty-netter with 26 seconds and that was it. Boston heads to Lake Placid, NY for two days to get out of "the circus" as NESN's one and only Jack Edwards called it.

Game 4 is similarly a must-win for the Bruins. The keys will be the same: Boston needs to score first and they have to get out to a solid start. They can't get bogged down by Montreal's joker fans who freak out every time a Canadien gets touched or falls on the ice like they've been shot (which is pretty much every shift).

Good news for the Bruins: no shootouts in the playoffs and probably no Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not particularly good. Granted, they've improved by leaps and bounds over the last few pathetic seasons of their Original Six existence but they'll once again likely miss the playoffs in 2010-11.

For some unknown reason, Toronto (36-32-10) has given Boston (43-23-11) fits this season and last night's 4-3 shootout win at TD Garden for the Leafs wrapped up a 4-2 season series in their favor.

The Bruins didn't even play that poorly, albeit they gave up two one-goal leads, but it's clear that shootouts are still their biggest weakness. So let's thank the Gods and Gary Bettman that the stupid gimmick is not used in the playoffs.

Joffrey Lupul led Toronto with two goals and an assist while Phil Kessel had two assists in the win. Rookie goaltender James Reimer (19-8-4) continued to play well for the Maple Leafs, stopping 35 shots in the win.

Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist for the Bruins while goaltender Tim Thomas (33-10-9) made 28 saves in the loss that still earned Boston the fraudulent one point.

Luke Schenn gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the first period as his shot took a lucky bounce of Tomas Kaberle's skate and past Thomas.

Boston exploded for three goals in the second period. Marchand tied it up at 1 just 2:09 into the frame with his fifth shorthanded tally of the season (21st goal overall). He intercepted the puck at center ice, then skated in, fended off a Toronto player and beat Reimer. One of Marchand's best plays of the season in what has been a superb rookie campaign for Marchmont (inside joke).

David Krejci was the recipient of tic-tac-toe passing, scoring his 13th of the season at 3:08 from Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

Lupul evened it at 2 with a power-play strike at 7:06 from Kessel and Tyler Bozak. It was a nice feed from Kessel and Lupul basically whiffed but it went off his skate (unintentionally).

Andrew Ference gave Boston it's final lead at 3-2 with his 3rd of the season at 8:31. He jumped up on the play and his quick release coupled with a key deflection fooled Reimer. Marchand and Patrice Bergeron assisted.

These two teams clearly don't like each other and their constant battles after the whistle morphed into a heavyweight fight as Lucic took on Jay Rosehill in a lengthy bout in the second period.

Lupul tied it at 3 at 7:53 of the third period from Kessel and Schenn. A poor clearance by Boston put the puck on Lupul's stick and he roofed it over Thomas.

Nobody could find the back of the net in overtime, despite a bogus penalty shot awarded to Toronto, so the teams went to the shootout.

Tyler Seguin, Michael Ryder and Rich Peverley all were unsuccessful for Boston and Nazem Kadri beat Tim Thomas for the winner.

With the point, the Bruins are guaranteed of at worst tying for the Northeast Division title with Montreal.

Boston hosts Atlanta tomorrow afternoon. As I said last weekend after their no-show against the Rangers, the Bruins are horrible in afternoon games but you have to believe they have some extra motivation in this one.

Bruins hang 7-0 loss on spineless Canadiens, world is back in proper alignment

In their biggest and most important game of the regular season, the Boston Bruins played hands down their best 60 minutes.

The fact that the 7-0 whitewashing came at the hands of the hated Montreal Canadiens at the TD Garden last night made it all the more sweeter and meaningful.

Boston (41-22-10) came into the meeting with a 1-4 record against Montreal (40-28-7) this season. They were only three points ahead of those clowns from the North and the playoff matchup that looks all but guaranteed in the first round was a downright scary possibility.

Well it's funny how much one game can change everything right? The Bs were determined from the opening face-off to not let all the bullshit drag them down as they pounded the Canadiens on the scoreboard, what matters most.

Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and put up four more goals in the third period but if you think Montreal would put up any fight (literally or physically), well you must not be from around here. Those frauds couldn't be bothered to drop the gloves or do anything remotely tough even when it was clear it was not their night.

The highlights for the Bruins were numerous as the team looked as stacked, from top to bottom, as they have at any point this season. Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell both scored two goals while Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and David Krejci all added three assists. Tim Thomas made 24 saves for the eighth shutout of the season and 25th of his career.

Johnny Boychuk (2nd goal of the season) didn't waste much time to get the electric Garden crowd into it as he scored 1:01 into the contest. Chara and Krejci assisted while Canadiens goalie Carey Price seemed to be screened on the shot. Things didn't get much better for Price as he was mercifully yanked in the third period in favor of Alex Auld.

Campbell made it 2-0 with his 11th of the season at 13:43 (from Chara and Boychuk). He tipped Chara's shot from the point.

You knew the Black and Gold were rolling when they potted a power-play goal at 17:28 as Horton collected a rebound and scored his 21st of the season (from Krejci and Lucic).

The only life that Montreal showed in the first period was on Tomas' Plekanec's home run swing high stick on Horton that rightfully earned a double-minor.

Things slowed down in the second period but Campbell earned more love from his teammates as he took on the much bigger Paul Mara in a late fight. Honestly, I would have traded Dennis Wideman straight up for Campbell if I knew how solid Colin Campbell's little boy can be. The fact that Horton was also a part of the deal with Florida signifies what a robbery it was in Boston's favor.

Horton (from Krejci, Lucic), Adam McQuaid (3th of the season, from Chara and Lucic) and Tomas Kaberle's first goal as a Bruin (from Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand) set the stage in the third period for something truly absurd. Campbell scored a shorthanded goal when Montreal was skating 5-on-3. Haha just a completely gutless effort by the Canadiens but what do you expect? I can honestly never remember a 3-on-5 goal, it doesn't get much more embarrassing than that.

The Bruins will look to take this great momentum into tomorrow's matinee against the New York Rangers.

Say hello to the Tuukka Rask of 2009-10

With the way the Boston Bruins were playing last night and recently (riding a season-high four-game losing streak), it was going to take something drastic to turn things around.

If you guessed that a vintage performance from Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask and a shootout goal by Tyler Seguin (who has been in mothballs for the last few months) would be the difference, well I don't know what to say because you're clearly insane.

The Bruins (39-21-9) beat the Columbus Blue Jackets (32-27-10) 3-2 in a shootout at the Nationwide Arena in a game that they really didn't deserve to win.

That doesn't matter though, with the Washington Capitals riding a nine-game winning streak and the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins staying above water, the Bs were in desperation mode since they don't want to find themselves slipping in the muddled Eastern Conference playoff picture. We need that home ice son!

Rask (34 saves; 10-12-1) looked like the stud that came out of nowhere last season and carried the team until they predictably fell apart in the playoffs (albeit in the most unpredictable way possible). He had a bunch of highlight reel saves last night which is why it was his top performance of this season given the stakes and Boston's recent struggles.

Grant Clitsome, my favorite ex-porn star, gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with a goal at 19:07 of the first period from Jacub Voracek and Rick Nash.

David Krejci tied it (his 11th of the season) at 12:20 of the second period by tipping Zdeno Chara's shot from the point. It was nice to see the delicate Czech park himself in front of Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason (27 saves). Johnny Boychuk also assisted on the goal.

Columbus made it 2-1 at 12:19 of the third period when Scottie Upshall took advantage of Rask being out of position. All Upshall had to do was tap it in after Rask came out too far to cut down an earlier shooting angle.

Adding to the bizarre nature of this contest and the Bruins in general, none other than Rich Peverley played hero with the tying goal while Boston was short-handed no less. It was a great individual effort as Peverley used his speed to get around Columbus' defense and tuck it past Mason with a nice move. Peverley's 16th of the season came at 14:24.

For once, a Claude Julien coaching move worked wonders in the shootout. He chose to sit Michael Ryder (for the first time in his Bruins career) and as it turned out, Seguin took his place and scored the only goal in the shootout. It was that kind of night.

Boston has two more games on the road (at Nashville tomorrow night and then at Toronto on Saturday night). With only 13 games left in the regular season, points are at a premium for the Black and Gold.

Bruins lose fourth straight, the world is ending

Last night, the Boston Bruins experienced the rare trap game in the NHL and as expected, they did not respond well.

For the second straight night, they held a 2-0 lead but for the second consecutive game they blew it (first two times they've done that all season) as they lost 4-2 to the host New York Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Boston (38-21-9) has now lost a season-high four games and even that is misleading since they've been playing bad for longer than that. They didn't really deserve to win the last few games on their last road trip but they ended up on top.

For whatever reason, now the hockey Gods are not smiling on this woeful franchise.

Nathan Horton stayed hot with his 20th goal of the season at 16:29 of the first period. Milan Lucic and David Krejci assisted on the goal that Horton finished with a backhander to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

Things looked good when the power-play shook off the cobwebs and scored its first goal since February 18 when Zdeno Chara scored at 13:02 of the second period (his 12th of the season). Krejci and Tomas Kaberle assisted on Big Z's goal.

From there New York goaltender Al Montoya (26 saves) kept Boston scoreless.

The turning point happened with two seconds left in the second period as Matt Moulson scored his 29th of the season for the Islanders (27-32-10). It wasn't pretty as Moulson stuffed it past Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (38 saves) but it counted with assists to John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau.

I was texting with a buddy at that point and we were already predicting the Bruins' demise. He said they'd lose in a shootout, luckily for us they didn't drag it out that long.

Rookie Michael Grabner scored his 28th of the season at 1:58 to tie it up (from Kyle Okposo and Milan Jurcina). Defenseman Jack Hillen potted the game-winner at 5:58 (from Radek Martinek and Okposo). The meltdown wasn't complete without the rare empty-netter awarded when Patrice Bergeron hauled down Parenteau with 10 seconds left.

The good news is that the Bruins have the weekend to recover before three more games on the road (Columbus, Nashville, Toronto). Boston visits the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. I'd say Columbus is not very good (which is a true statement) but anybody is capable of giving the Bruins trouble at the moment. The Bruins have to wake up, starting now.

All good things must come to an end, Bruins style

As much as I might dream about it, the Boston Bruins were bound to lose a game at some point after they had won seven straight entering last night vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The fact that they lost 3-2 to the scrappy Penguins (38-21-8) wasn't surprising in the least bit. However, it's the Bruins (38-19-8) so they have to remind you that they do losing like nobody else.

With goaltender Tim Thomas (36 saves; 29-8-7) pulled for an extra attacker, David Krejci tied it up with 33 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime. It was Krejci's 10th of the season and it was the result of beautiful triangular passing from Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

All that joy was quickly curtailed as Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg had an unforgivable giveaway in his own zone that led to Dustin Jeffrey's second goal of the game, unassisted and 1:52 into overtime.

The Bruins still got a point out of the game but they didn't really deserve it. With the Flyers loss yesterday, Boston had a chance to pull within one point of Philly.

Yet there seemed to be no urgency from the Black and Gold as they were continually pushed around by the Penguins who are without Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. The best way to describe Pittsburgh is that they're annoying to play against. They win all the one-on-one battles, they play with an edge and they seem content to do whatever it takes to win since they know they're missing their top-end talent at the moment.

Zdeno Chara gave the Bs a 1-0 lead in the second period, assists to Krejci and Lucic on the captain's 11th of the season. It came at 7:26 as he took a nifty backhand feed from Krejci, stepped into a soft part of the Pens' defense and snapped a shot over Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's (29 saves) shoulder.

The Penguins quickly responded as Jordan Staal tied it up at 10:09 with assists from Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke. The play started since Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk got caught too far up ice when he tried to keep the puck in Pittsburgh's zone.

Jeffrey made it 2-1 at 11:19 of the second period when his quick release got under Thomas' leg pads. Maxime Talbot and Zbynek Michalek had the assists.

Patrice Bergeron was home in Canada dealing with some family issues and his two-way game was missed although Rich Peverley looked solid in his spot. Steve Kampfer is expected out at least for the next week as he gets over his mild concussion and Andrew Ference is still shelved with a lower body injury. Matt Bartkowski got his third call up of the season, ironically all against his hometown Penguins. Haven't seen enough of him yet to form much of an opinion.

The Bruins will need to regroup ahead of what's always an emotional game: at Montreal on Tuesday. Last time those teams met, it was the 8-6 bonkers win for Boston. Who knows what will happen next with the ancient rivals?

Bruins knock off the NHL's hottest team (bad pun alert!)

The Calgary Flames were 11-1-2 in their last 14 games, an incredible stretch that had gotten them back from the dead and in the middle of a very messy Western Conference playoff picture.

No matter since with Tomas Kaberle, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley playing their first game together, the Boston Bruins were the better team and came away with a 3-1 win last night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Milan Lucic scored two goals, David Krejci had two assists and Tim Thomas (28 saves; 27-8-6) looked like the brick wall we've all enjoyed this season (leaving his past three poor performances in the dust).

It only took Lucic 59 seconds to give Boston (34-19-7) a 1-0 lead. Krejci faked out Flames (31-23-8) goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff (26 saves) and dished across the goalmouth to Lucic (his 25th of the season) for an easy tap-in. Adam McQuaid also assisted.

After a scoreless second period, Marchand gave the Bruins some insurance with his 19th (!) of the season from Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Ference at 5:55 of the third period. Bergeron started the play with a great body check to keep the puck deep in the Calgary zone. Ference's shot went right to Marchand who is on quite a tear. He roofed it in a flash.

Curtis Glencross scored his 20th of the season, off a sweet dish from Jarome Iginla (and Alex Tanguay) to cut it to 2-1 at 17:27.

Lucic cinched it with an empty-netter with 47 seconds left. Krejci and Mark Recchi assisted.

So far the Bs are 3-0-0 on their pivotal six-game road trip. It doesn't get any easier as they matchup with the NHL's best team: the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

Bruins fist pump their way to a lop-sided win on the Island

For once this season, the Boston Bruins played well in front of Tuukka Rask and they jump-started their pivotal six-game road trip with a 6-3 thumping of the New York Islanders last night at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

It was a prototypical Bruins (32-19-7) victory with six different players notching goals (from all four lines) while Rask improved to 6-11-1 with 34 saves. They also snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Islanders (21-30-7) are still one of the absolute worst franchises in the NHL but there's been a little hope lately as they came in riding a four-game winning streak. John Tavares scored twice for New York but that was their only highlight since their goaltending situation is nothing short of a nightmare.

Blake Wheeler, the subject of constant trade talk, increased his value with a goal at 1:52 of the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. It was a weak shot that he just threw at the net and Islanders goaltender Nathan Lawson (13 saves) showed why you've never heard of him. Tyler Seguin and Andrew Ference assisted on Wheeler's 11th of the season.

Nine seconds later, Zenon Konopka tried to fire up the home crowd and his teammates by fighting Adam McQuaid but I'd say it didn't really work since the Bs added two more goals in the first period.

At 7:03 Mark Recchi scored his 11th of the season after the puck inadvertently deflected in off his skate (no kicking motion). Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Boychuck assisted.

Just over two minutes later, Gregory Campbell put a shot on goal that appeared to bounced off an Islander stick. It was Campbell's ninth of the season, unassisted.

The second period featured five goals as Boston scored twice more and New York got on the board with a pair.

David Krejci scored his ninth of the season 55 seconds into the frame, from Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic.

Tavares, the former No. 1 pick in 2009, finally got the Islanders a goal (his 22nd) less than a minute later from Blake Comeau.

Seguin notched his 10th of the season at 2:48 from Shawn Thornton and Wheeler. Like Wheeler, it was nice to see Seguin find the back of the net since those times have been few and far between lately. With that, Lawson was done and Al "Don't call me Aldo" Montoya (15 saves) went between the pipes for New York.

Josh Bailey cut it to 5-2 (from Comeau and Radek Martinek) but Lucic sealed it with his 24th of the season (on the power play) from Krecji and Zdeno Chara.

Tavares had the only goal of the third period (from Jack Hillen and Matt Moulson) but by then, the Bruins were doing what any sane person would do: they were dreaming about getting off Long Island.

Boston is right back at it tonight, taking on the Ottawa Senators. Expect Tim Thomas in net and the newest Bruin Chris Kelly (who's had mysterious Visa problems) should be in uniform to make his debut for the Bs against his old team.

So that's what a real hockey team looks like

You have to admire the way that the Boston Bruins never let their fans get too high before quickly cutting them down to size.

I feel like anytime they play a great game, they follow it up with a dud that always leaves you questioning the team.

The latest chapter in this neverending give and take was last night at TD Garden as the Detroit Red Wings made their first visit to Boston since 2008. The Bs never ever play on a Friday night (especially at home) so naturally they treated they're hard-working fans to a diaper full of Indian food.

It was a fun night for Eminem, Kid Rock and all the other miserable souls from that wretched area as the Red Wings (33-16-6) won 6-1 in a game that didn't even feel that close.

To say the Bruins (31-17-7) didn't show up would be too kind. It was easily their worst performance of the season thus far. Tuukka Rask (14 saves) gave up two goals in the first 3:10 and Detroit added three second-period goals in this laugher.

It got so bad that Rask was booed then given mock cheers when he made routine saves. If that wasn't bad enough for his fragile confidence, Bruins head coach Claude Julien mercifully pulled him after two periods.

Henrik Zetterberg (1 goal, 2 assists), Jiri Hudler (1 goal, 2 assists), Todd Bertuzzi (2 goals), Tomas Holmstrom (1 goal, 1 assist), Daniel Cleary (1 goal, 1 assist) and Pavel Datsyuk (2 assists) led the Red Wings, who believe it or not came into town on a skid (losers of three of their last four, outscored 12-4).

Former University of Maine star Jimmy Howard made 25 saves for Detroit in a very quiet night's work.

Bertuzzi scored at 1:10 of the first period from Johan Franzen and Zetterberg. Cleary made it 2-0 on Detroit's second shot of the game at 3:10 from Jiri Hudler and Niklas Kronwall.

Boston's only highlight of the game was David Krejci's first goal in 21 games (his 8th of the season). It was at 17:53 of the first period on the power play with a nifty pass from Milan Lucic, who caught Howard out of position. Zdeno Chara also assisted.

Hudler (from Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski), Zetterberg (on the power play, from Holmstrom and Cleary) and Bertuzzi (from Datsyuk) all scored in the second period.

A third power-play goal, this one from Holmstrom, was the final Red Wings goal in the third period. Hudler and Datsyuk assisted on that one.

I figured it out, the Red Wings are the San Antonio Spurs and the New England Patriots. The robotically efficient teams that are always good but don't get any credit nationally since they're you know boring. It'll be interesting to see how they fare the rest of the season.

More importantly, the Bruins have a chance to atone for last night's stinker when they go to Joe Louis Arena tomorrow afternoon for a rematch with the Red Wings on NBC. Tim Thomas will be in goal to start and I'm guessing Boston will play just a tad better.

Old Time Hockey gives everyone pants tents

When the Boston Bruins had their fight-filled game against the Atlanta Thrashers right before Christmas, I didn't think it would be topped in terms of excitement this season. However, last week they staged a ridiculous game with the Dallas Stars which included three fights in the first four seconds. Again, I was too narrow-minded to imagine a regular season game that would be better than that.

Last night was proof that all the excitement of those first two games added to facing your most bitter rival (the Montreal Canadiens) can make for an absurdly entertaining contest that the Bruins won 8-6 at the TD Garden.

If 187 combined penalty minutes don't do it for you, how about 14 total goals? Truly, this game had it all and I'm insanely jealous of anyone that was in the building. The atmosphere was understandably electric and we can only hope that these teams meet in the playoffs.

Montreal had beaten Boston the first three times they played this season, they have two more left in the regular season.

Nathan Horton (1 goal, 4 assists) had his first career five-point game, David Krejci had three assists, Dennis Seidenberg had a goal and an assist while Milan Lucic (1 assist) and Michael Ryder each scored a pair of goals for the Bs (31-16-7), who stayed four points ahead of the Canadiens (30-20-5) with the win and on top of the Northeast Division.

For Montreal, Yanick Webber had one goal and two assists, Max Pacioretty scored twice while David Desharnais (1 goal, 1 assist), Brian Gionta (1 goal, 1 assist), Tomas Plekanec (2 assists), PK Subban (1 goal, 1 assist) and James Wisniewski (2 assists) all had multiple points.

To put a bow on it, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (27 saves) and Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (26 saves) even tried to have a goalie fight in the second period but it never really materialized since you know, neither knows how to fight.

This was one of those nights where I was thankful to have the night off from work since I got to watch this all unfold live and not second-hand through Twitter, AP stories and highlights then DVR when I got home.

The game couldn't have gotten off to a better start as Boston popped in two first-period goals for a 2-0 lead. Brad Marchand (his 15th of the season) scored one of the prettier goals of the season off assists from linemates Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. Then Seidenberg took advantage of a poor clearance by Subban to score his fifth of the season, from Horton. Those goals were 12 seconds apart (13:16-13:28), tying their quickest mark of the season.

As I always like to say though, nothing is ever easy for the Bruins and they immediately allowed Montreal to tie it early in the second period. Gionta scored 25 seconds in from Plekanec and Wisniewski. At 8:30 Subban put in the first of four power-play goals for the Canadiens. Gionta and Plekanec assisted on the rookie defenseman's slap shot from the point.

From there, things went absolutely berserk as Adam McQuaid scored his first of the season (from Horton and Lucic) at 9:48. Weber tied it at 11:01 from Mathieu Darche. Ryder scored his first goal (his 15th of the season) after a sweet pass from rookie Zach Hamill. Blake Wheeler also assisted on Ryder's tally. Lucic put the Bruins up 5-3 at 12:31 (his 22nd of the season) from Horton and Krejci.

Five seconds later, a flurry of scraps broke out (including Thomas and Price) which ended up with the comical sight of six Bruins in the penalty box at the same time.

Desharnais scored a power-play goal at 12:48 from Subban and Weber. At 14:49, Lucic scored a short-handed goal from Krejci and Horton that was key.

Pacioretty got his first of two third-period goals at 7:06 from Wisniewski on the power play. Ryder had a goal wiped out on a bogus call when Marchand was pushed into Price but he exacted some revenge a few moments later when he scored on the power play at 10:01 from Seidenberg and Steve Kampfer.

Horton gave Boston a three-goal lead with his 14th of the season at 14:54, don't ask me how Price played the entire game, before Pacioretty got a garbage time power-play goal at 19:46 from Desharnais and Weber.

Oh and there were two more huge brawls that were way too complicated to detail.

This game took nearly three hours and I feel like it will go down as one of the most memorable Bruins games I'll ever see. Just insane from start to finish.

No doubt, there will be a letdown tomorrow night when they host the Detroit Red Wings but hopefully Thomas can carry them enough and they'll wake up in time to get two points against one of the Western Conference's best teams.

Fight Night in Boston

I have no idea what got into the Boston Bruins last night. A team that usually exhibits little heart got into three fights vs. the Dallas Stars in the first four seconds of the game at the TD Garden.

You can have NHL Center Ice (which I do not) and you can watch every NHL game this season but I doubt you'll ever see a more exciting or crazy period than the first. I've never seen anything like it (and probably never will again) as the Bs had four fights and jumped ahead 4-0 before they eventually held on for a 6-4 win.

For two teams that only play once or twice a season, it's hard to believe that the bitter feelings from two seasons ago could carry over to last night but that looked to be the case. The teams had a similar shitshow game in October 2008 in Boston.

As the game began, Gregory Campbell took on goon Steve Ott (most penalties in the league) one second into the action. Campbell took a beating and received a nasty gash on his face/nose but he returned soon after that cause hey, he's a hockey player.

One second later, Shawn Thornton fought Krys Barch with Thornton scoring the takedown. Finally, two seconds later Adam McQuaid absolutely blew up Brian Sutherby in a quick, Jersey Shore style brawl.

Oh and Andrew Ference one-punched Adam Burish ("one shot kid!") a few minutes later to complete the crazy beginning. Today, Burish went on IR.

Not only did the Bruins (30-15-7) beat the Stars (30-17-5) physically but they almost ran them out of the rink. Milan Lucic (his 21st of the season) scored 35 seconds into the game from David Krejci and Nathan Horton.

Then Patrice Bergeron put in a pair of goals (18th and 19th), from Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi both times. Former Bruins goaltender Andrew Raycroft was pulled after Bergeron's first goal, giving him a night's work of 1:20 (haha!).

Thornton put Boston ahead 4-0 late in the first period with a snipe that admittedly, Keri Lehtonen (29 saves) should have had but he probably thought he had a quiet night on the bench ahead of him. Daniel Paille and Zdeno Chara assisted on Thornton's eighth of the season.

Dallas began to wake up in the second period as Karlis Skrastins scored from Burish.

The Stars cut it to 4-3 in the third period as Brendan Morrow (short-handed) and Brad Richards showed why they each are over 20 goals this season.

This would have been an epic collapse for the Bruins (something which they specialize in) but thankfully, Tuukka Rask (30 saves; 5-10-1) made enough stops and Tyler Seguin broke his 10-game scoreless streak.

Again it was a soft one from Lehtonen but who cares? Seguin has been scuffling for a while now and seeing him get his eighth of the season (from Michael Ryder and Blake Weeler) at 5:31 was great.

Marchand capped it off with an empty-netter at 17:40 from Bergeron (who missed a hat trick bid) and Recchi. Their on fire line combined for nine points in the game.

The only bad news coming out of the game was that Paille was suspended four games after his dirty, Matt Cooke-esque hit. It's a fair punishment but don't get me started on how Cooke got off the hook last season.

I am going to Bruins-San Jose Sharks tomorrow afternoon at the TD Garden. I know there will be a letdown from last night but hopefully the Bs can send Joe Thornton and the Sharks home without any points.

Bruins begin road trip with a bang: completely blowout the Avalanche

The Boston Bruins begin their strange two-game West Coast trip with an even more bizarre game: a Saturday afternoon contest in Colorado vs. the Avalanche.

Luckily, the Bs (27-14-7) didn't need to use the standard crutches of a long flight, thin air of Denver, etc. as they blasted the Avs (24-18-6) 6-2 yesterday at the Pepsi Center.

Five players had two or more points for Boston led by Brad Marchand (2 goals, 2 assists). Milan Lucic (2 goals), Mark Recchi (1 goal, 2 assists), David Krejci (2 assists) and Patrice Bergeron (1 goal, 1 assist) were the others to rack up the fantasy points.

The underplayed storyline of the season thus far with the Bruins is their scoring punch that was completely absent all last season. Since the team is pretty much the same with the additions of Nathan Horton, Tyler Seguin, Gregory Campbell and Marchand, it's hard to explain how it's been this much better. Particularly when Marc Savard seemingly gets hurt every other game and has to leave.

Yesterday, he was slammed into the glass by former Bruins defenseman Matt Hunwick and didn't return. It looked like he cut his forehead but who knows with all his concussion issues. Poor guy.

Tim Thomas (23-4-6) made 32 saves as he outlasted Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson (24 saves), who got pulled after two periods.

Paul Stasny from Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead two minutes into the game and you had to think as a Bs fan, here we go. It was a fluky goal that Thomas despite all his greatness is prone to give up from time to time.

Boston roared back with two goals of their own later in the first period. Marchand scored (his 11th) at 9:20 from Recchi and Bergeron and Lucic tied his career-high at 12:00 with his 18th of the season from Krejci and Recchi on the power play.

The Bruins seemed to gain some steam from Campbell's fight with Cody McLeod shortly after Stasny's goal. Campbell can't do anything wrong these days, the guy that was just a throw in for the Horton deal is playing the best hockey of his life (and outperforming Horton).

Two late goals in the second period gave the Bs control. Recchi became the eighth Bruin with 10+ goals at 14:44 from Marchand and Lucic set his career-high at 19:04 from Krejci and Bergeron.

BU alum Shattenkirk cut it to 4-2 early in the third period from Milan Hejduk and despite plenty of running around in their own end, Thomas made some big stops to settle his team down.

Bergeron scored at 9:56 (his 16th) from one knee (from Marchand and Johnny Boychuk) and Marchand took over the short-handed goal lead in the NHL with his fourth, an empty-netter at 18:25 (from Campbell and Andrew Ference).

The Bruins wrap up this bite size trip tomorrow night against the reeling Los Angeles Kings.

In the land of blue hairs, Bs come away with their 1st shootout win of the season

The Florida Panthers are one of those special franchises in pro sports that is too easy to make fun of. Between their location, non-existent fan base and pathetic jerseys, you almost feel bad for them.

Despite a slow start to their five-game road trip, the Boston Bruins (19-11-4) did just enough to come away with a 3-2 shootout win over the Panthers (16-17-1) last night at the BankAtlantic Center, for their first shootout victory of the season.

As always this season, this win started and ended with Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (32 saves). He not only leads the NHL in goals against but also save percentage which I believe pushes him to the front of the line in terms of most valuable player in the league at the moment (sorry Sidney Crosby).

The two points simultaneously vaulted Boston into a first-place tie with Montreal in the Northeast Division while also carrying over their fine play from last Thursday against the Thrashers.

Other than Thomas, the stars for the Bruins were David Krejci (2 goals), Michael Ryder (2 assists) and Blake Wheeler (1 assist, only shootout goal). Yes, I just wrote that sentence. Perhaps Boston's most frustrating trio have been reunited on a line (they were great together in 2008) and so far, the returns are very positive.

After a scoreless first period, Panthers forward David Booth scored at 1:02 of the second period thanks to a misplayed pass from Bs defenseman Steven Kampfer. Michael Frolik assisted on Booth's shot which was a snipe from close range that Thomas didn't have much time to react to.

Krejci responded with the tying goal at 9:05 in the second. After fine work and shots from Zdeno Chara and Ryder, Krejci was able to get his backhander past Florida goaltender Scott Clemmensen (40 saves).

Panthers forward Mike Santorelli scored a controversial goal later in the second period when he seemed to tip Frolik's shot from the point with an obvious high stick. Surprisingly, the goal stood with Bryan Allen picking up the other assist.

It looked like a classic Bruins road no-show as more than half of the third period had gone by and Florida still led 2-1. However, Krejci stepped up (for one of the only times so far this season) and scored a pretty backhander off an equally gorgeous feed from Wheeler and Ryder at 10:35.

Boston carried play in overtime but couldn't pot the winner. Thomas stopped all three Panthers shooters he faced in the shootout (of course) and Wheeler scored after Tyler Seguin was stuffed.

The Bruins will need to play much better tonight as they travel to Tampa Bay to face the high-scoring Lightning, co-leaders of the Southeast Division with the Washington Capitals.