The Bruins are ready for the playoffs (please don't let lightning strike me for saying that)

One of Bruins coach Claude Julien's most annoying habits is overplaying his fourth line. There's nothing he enjoys more than giving too much ice time to guys with plenty of heart but limited skills. It's one thing to do that in the regular season which is a marathon but when you get to the playoffs, you have to ride your big guns that got you there.

With that said, it was ironic that last night, Boston's fourth line of Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille carried the team as they beat the New York Islanders 3-2 at TD Garden.

Campbell (assist) and Thornton had goals while Paille had an assist. They brought energy to a team that was mostly biding their time until the playoffs start (likely in a week).

The win brought a couple nice milestones as the Bruins (45-24-11) went over 100 points (currently 101) while Thornton reached 10 goals for the first time in his career. Boston is still in third place in the Eastern Conference but they're only two points behind Philadelphia (both have two games left).

For the Islanders (30-38-12), rookie Michael Grabner had a pair of goals: shorthanded and on the power-play but the erratic play of Winthrop's own Rick DiPietro (30 saves) sealed another loss in a NHL lottery bound season.

Tim Thomas made 30 saves in the win, improving to 34-11-9.

Thornton gave Boston a 1-0 lead as he scored with 0.1 seconds left in the first period. It was his first game back since getting 40 stitches against the Blackhawks last week. Paille and Campbell assisted with Thornton cleaning up a rebound in front of DiPietro (who sported an old school mask) and beating the clock.

Grabner tied it up with the power-play snipe (his 32nd overall) at 3:24 of the second period from Blake Comeau and DiPietro.

Dennis Seidenberg put the Bs up 2-1 at 7:51 of the second period with a blast from the point. Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley assisted.

Campbell made it 3-1 just over a minute later with his 13th goal of the season. Adam McQuaid and Tomas Kaberle assisted on Campbell's shot that DiPietro would probably like to have back. It wasn't a strong shot but it snuck under DiPietro's pads.

Grabner kept it interesting with his shorthanded tally at 14:26 of the second period. Josh Bailey and Ty Wishart assisted as Grabner was first to the puck and raced in alone on a breakaway before roofing it over Thomas with a backhander.

After a couple days off, the Bruins host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon in their regular season home finale and then wrap up the regular season on Sunday afternoon in New Jersey.

The lineups will be shuffled with Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Mark Recchi, etc. all more than deserving of some rest before the playoffs start.

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.

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.

Bruins squeak one out over hopeless Islanders

Is there a more irrelevant franchise in the big four pro sports than the New York Islanders? When you take out pointless expansion teams, I'd say the Isles are on the short list of that painful group.

As I predicted two days ago, last night was the optimal time to get two points (check) and give Tuukka Rask some real ice time (check).

The 5-2 win for the Boston Bruins (16-8-3) at the TD Garden looks good on paper but in truth, it was much uglier than that since the Bs had two empty-net goals.

It was a weird game, Boston had two power-play goals, a short-handed goal and the two empty-netters.

I guess it's only fitting that New York (5-16-15) also has one of the worst contracts of all-time in the NHL for Winthrop native Rick DiPietro hanging around Strong Island like an albatross (thanks English classes in college).

In case you forgot how bad DiPietro (32 saves) is (when he can actually get on the ice), he gifted Brad Marchand a short-handed goal at 14:40 of the second period. DiPietro cleared it right to Marchand, who just had to corral the puck behind the net and stuff it in. That gave Boston a 2-1 advantage that they would not lose.

It was Marchand's fourth goal of the season, his third short-handed tally of the year (tying him for the NHL lead).

Milan Lucic had given the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first period with a power-play goal at 14:00 from Marc Savard. The face-off win by Savard allowed Looch to take a quick shot that hit the post, DiPietro's skate then slid in.

The Islanders tied it at 1 early in the second period when Patrice Bergeron (on a power-play) tripped Frans Nielsen on a breakaway. Nielsen was awarded a penalty shot and tucked it behind Rask (33 saves) with a nifty backhander.

Michael Ryder gave Boston some breathing room with a power-play goal at 14:16 of the third period from Andrew Ference and Zdeno Chara. Ference hit a slap pass that Ryder perfectly deflected into the net, his eighth of the season.

New York made it interesting as Rob Schremp poked it in after some traffic in front of Rask at 16:27. Travis Hamonic and Zenon Konopka assisted on that one.

From there, the Islanders pulled DiPietro and Lucic (15th of the season, 4th empty-netter) from Johnny Boychuk and Patrice Bergeron (4th of the season) from David Krejci and Zdeno Chara put it away.

Two more fights for the Bruins as Adam McQuaid squared off with Konopka in the first period and Shawn Thornton traded blows with Trevor Gillies. Also, rookie defenseman Steven Kampfer made his NHL debut with Mark Stuart shelved for 4-6 weeks (broken finger). Kampfer seemed like a carbon copy of Matt Hunwick, undersized, right-handed puck-moving defenseman. All in all, a solid start for him with the big team.

Boston will have to play much better tomorrow night though, expect Tim Thomas in net, as the Philadelphia Flyers come to town. They faced off in Philly last week (with the Bruins winning) but this will be their first time in Boston since last spring when you know what happened.

a statement win in October

After pointing out in my last Bruins post how irrelevant the NHL is right now, I am going to do a 180 and tell you what a big win it was last night over the Islanders.

Boston (2-2-0) was completely lifeless at the Garden and faced a 3-0 deficit in the third period before they tied it up with three goals in a little over five minutes. The B's kept the good vibes going as they outscored the Islanders (0-0-3) 2-1 in the shootout.

Looking for a spark, Bruins head coach Claude Julien started talented backup goalie Tukka Rask. It wasn't really his fault as New York scored three goals in the second period.

Jon Sim scored on a power-play goal, Radek Martinek tallied a goal and No. 1 draft pick John Tavares rounded out the scoring for what is expected to be one of the NHL's worst teams.

At 11:59 in the third period, Marc Savard finally got the B's on the board with a goal from Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic. Byron Bitz cut it to 3-2 with a pretty spin and shot that deflected off an Islanders defenseman's skate, past goalie Dwayne Roloson. Steve Begin and Matt Hunwick assisted on the goal.

Through four games, Boston's best line by far has been the fourth which consistently brings energy and pressure.

Less than two minutes later Hunwick tied it with his wrist shot that went top shelf through a ton of traffic in front of Roloson (27 saves). The Garden crowd went nuts as the Bruins had improbably come back from a seemingly insurmountable hole.

Blake Wheeler scored first in the shootout and Rob Schremp answered for New York. Savard was the last shooter to score as the Islanders last two shooters missed the net.

Rask finished with 35 saves in his first win of the '09-'10 season. It should be the first of many this season as along with Tim Thomas, the Bruins possess one of the best goalie tandems in the league.

Boston hosts Colorado tomorrow afternoon in a Columbus Day matinee at the Garden.

Everything is coming up black and gold for this team

Last night in Long Island was a classic trap game for the Boston Bruins.

They were coming off an emotional win over the Canadiens on Tuesday and probably looking a bit ahead to Saturday night's showdown in our nation's capital with the second best team in the Eastern Conference-the Washington Capitals.

The B's (33-7-4) played like a team with other things on its mind but it still managed to sneak out of Nassau Coliseum with a 2-1 win over the Islanders (12-28-4).

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas was the number one star as he stopped 40 shots, en route to his 19th win (4 losses, 3 overtime defeats) of the season.

The Islanders outshot the Bruins, 41-27 but they scored their only goal in the last minute of play as Bill Guerin's (14th goal) attempt kicked off of a Bruin skate in front of Thomas.

Marc Savard opened the scoring in the second period with his 15th goal of the year, from Chuck Kobasew and Marc Stuart.

Martin St. Pierre made it 2-0 B's in the third (his 2nd of the year) from Vladimir Sobotka and Shawn Thornton.

Boston traveled to DC after the game and they'll meet the Caps tomorrow night in a game that I just so happen to be attending with a college friend.

Should be great, I'm excited to see Alexander Oveckin in person. Washington has been playing great hockey lately.

Let's be real: Nobody likes the Islanders

Thanksgiving night, my buddy Jim texted me with an offer to go to the Bruins-Islanders game yesterday afternoon (the annual day after thanksgiving noon start) and of course I said yes even though I'm going tonight too.

The Bruins (15-4-4) came out slow against the Islanders (9-12-2), down 1-0 after the first period but they blew New York out in the third period with a five-goal barrage, en route to a 7-2 domination.

With the games on back-to-back nights, Manny Fernandez got the start against the Islanders and true to form, he gave up a soft goal 1:46 into the game. Nate Thompson skated down the wall and wristed a shot past Fernandez's glove-side.

Chuck Kobasew tied it up 3:28 into the second on a power-play goal (his fourth of the year) from Marc Savard and P.J. Axelsson. Islanders goalie Joey MacDonald stopped the inital shot but Kobasew stuck with it and jammed it over the line.

A bad turnover in their own end by New York led to Michael Ryder's goal 15:16 into the the second. Ryder intercepted the puck and quickly loaded his stick before wristing it past MacDonald (his fourth of the season).

The third period was absurd, definitely one of the craziest 20 minutes I've ever seen for the Bruins as they scored five goals and got into two fights.

At 6:48, Blake Wheeler (6th of the year) scored from David Krejci and Mark Stuart. After winning the ensuing face-off, Krejci scored (his 6th of the season) from Wheeler and Zdeno Chara, just 10 seconds later.

MacDonald got the hook in favor of rookie Peter Mannnino, who was making his NHL debut.

Dennis Wideman tallied a power-play goal (6th of the season) from Matt Hunwick and Phil Kessel. Right after the goal, Milan Lucic and Islanders goon Brendan Witt fought in front of New York's goal.

22 seconds after that, Shane Hnidy and Tim Jackman also fought. Both fights were pretty even but it should be noted that the Bruins guys scored the takedowns.

Richard Park's power-play goal (from Andy Hilbert and Mark Streit) cut the Bruins lead to 5-2.

No matter though as Ryder got a power-play goal (from Wideman and Hunwick) and Kessel scored on a sick deflection of a Lucic pass across the middle (Savard started the play).

Things should be much more difficult tonight as the Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, come to the Garden for an early-season showdown. It's the teams' only meeting of the season and it should be a good one, dare I say a Stanley Cup preview?