Bruins pick a good time to start a losing streak

The regular season is quickly winding down and with only 15 games left, the Boston Bruins desperately need points to stay near the top of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Last night, they lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime at the TD Garden. Former Bruins forward Brad Boyes was able to tap-in a great pass from Nathan Gerbe (former BC star) at 3:44 in the extra session.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (41 saves) did not have his best night of the season, flopping around in his crease which is always a bad sign when he reverts to his old helter skelter ways. It was an innocent shot by Gerbe that started the sequence but Thomas couldn't squeeze it. Gerbe tracked down the rebound and with Thomas coming way out and whiffing, Boyes parked himself at the side of the net.

Buffalo (33-26-8) rallied from a 2-0 deficit and was able to hand Boston (38-20-9) its third straight loss, even though it did get the bogus point.

It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is tripping up the Bruins at the moment, it seems to be something different in each game (goal-scoring, everything, defense, goaltending).

Nathan Horton's 19th of the season gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 8:54 of the first period. Some wonderful passing from linemates Milan Lucic and David Krejci (they've all been outstanding lately) ended in Horton's quick release.

Mark Recchi (12th of the season) made it 2-0 at 11:26 of the second period with a classic Recchi goal. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller (27 saves) made a save but Recchi went to the dirty net-front area and flipped the rebound in. Michael Ryder and Zdeno Chara assisted on that one.

Buffalo responded right away as Tyler Ennis cut it to 2-1 at 11:53 and Thomas Vanek tied it at 2 at 18:52. Ennis' goal took some skill as he waited out Thomas and seemingly the whole Bruins team to put it over them and into the net. Vanek's goal was much more unforgivable since his weak flip on net tied up Thomas.

Gregory Campbell (10th of the season) got his first point in eight games with another mucking and grinding goal at 2:18 in the third period. Miller's rebound went right to Soupy who poked it in. Chara and Shawn Thornton assisted.

More bad luck ensued for Thomas as Buffalo tied it up after a shot went off Chara's skate and into the net. Tim Connolly was credited for the goal at 5:05.

Rich Peverley had a great chance to end it in overtime but his shot went off the post and shortly after that, Boyes ended it.

The Bruins are right back at it tonight as they take on the Islanders in Long Island. They are playing out the string as always but the Islanders have been playing pretty decently lately and they have a dearth of talented forwards.

Let the miserable bastards in Buffalo enjoy a little glory for once in their lives

Well hopefully the Buffalo Sabres don't make the playoffs this spring but if they do, fingers crossed they don't face our beloved Boston Bruins.

Why am I afraid of such a mediocre team? Maybe because they match up well with the Bs and have now beaten them three out of five times this season after last night's 4-2 win at the TD Garden. One more meeting between the Northeast Division rivals left.

After playing very good hockey for the past few weeks, Boston (26-14-7) was due for a poor effort and last night's flat performance fit the bill.

Ryan Miller reminded the U.S. why they fell in love with him last winter during the Olympics as he made 38 saves for the Sabres (21-20-5).

No flat, unexplainable loss would be complete without Tuukka Rask between the pipes and poor Tuukka had 29 saves but he continued to struggle to find wins. I have no idea why the same team can play so well in front of Tim Thomas but then completely flip a switch when Rask gets the occasional start. Weird.

Things looked promising when Dennis Seidenberg gave the Bs a 1-0 lead at 11:01 of the first period on a slap shot. Mark Stuart and Marc Savard had assists on Seidenberg's fourth goal of the season and Nathan Horton did something with his life by screening Miller.

Buffalo goon Cody McCormick tied it up 1:04 into the second period when his shot went off the post and back to him, all he had to do was fling it in. Tim Connolly and Tyler Ennis had the assists.

Gregory Campbell continued his hot scoring touch with his seventh of the season, giving Boston another lead, this time 2-1 at 4:51 of the second period. It was the result of tic-tac-toe passing from Shawn Thornton to Blake Wheeler to Campbell.

Pint-sized BC alum Nathan Gerbe tied it up on a power play later in the second period with help from Tyler Myers and Ennis. Gerbe found himself wide open out front and he let it loose before Rask had a chance to square it up.

Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville, who seem like Bruins killers, finalized this victory with third-period goals. Vanek's was at 5:13 when he skated in on a 2-on-1 and shot it rather than pass. Pominville's went off his skate (unintentionally) as he got to the net for Vanek's centering pass (Jochen Hecht also had an assist).

Only three more games left until the All-Star break and Boston heads out on a mini two-game West Coast trip. They'll play an afternoon game in Colorado tomorrow against the Avalanche who are unknown nationally but they can put the puck in the net.

Ryan Miller: a real American hero

After three of four road teams won on the first night of the NHL playoffs, the Boston Bruins were able to buck that trend by losing 2-1 to the Buffalo Sabres last night in Game 1 at the HSBC Arena.

Normally, I would make fun of the B's and how pathetic they are but they actually carried play and deserved a better fate. They outshot the Sabres 39-32 but Buffalo goaltender and Team USA icon Ryan Miller made 38 saves.

In his first NHL playoff game, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask played well (30 saves) but it wasn't good enough against the NHL's best goalie.

Buffalo came out flying to start the game and opened the scoring only 4:52 in as Thomas Vanek took a feed from Derek Roy for a one-timer that Rask had no chance at stopping.

After surviving the fast start by Buffalo, Boston settled down and completely dominated in the second period, outshooting the Sabres 24-8. They were finally rewarded at 9:30 on the power play as the ageless Mark Recchi roofed one over Miller from Zdeno Chara and Matt Hunwick.

The lead was short-lived though as Craig Rivet scored what proved to be the game-winner at 14:10 from Tim Kennedy. Rask was screened by a Buffalo player and again, he had no chance to stop it.

Both teams had chances in the third period but Boston couldn't find the tying goal; penalties late in the third ended any chance of a Bruins comeback.

Even for a 2-1 game, this was an exciting playoff hockey game. There was a huge scrum in the first period and a ton of hard but clean hits. Game 2 is tomorrow afternoon back in Buffalo. It is basically a must-win for Boston because they can't go down two games to Miller. He is that good.