Former Bruins scrub night at the Garden goes swimmingly

Maybe it's because I was never more than an average athlete but I always find myself developing a special attachment to the pro athletes that aren't the superstars on the four Boston teams.

Obviously, if you're playing a sport for a living, you're doing something right but there's something interesting and refreshing about the people that appreciate it and don't take it for granted.

It wasn't officially recognized but last night might as well have been former Bruins scrub night as a pair of them made a big return in the St. Louis Blues' 2-1 shootout win over the Bs.

Vladimir Sobotka scored St. Louis' (8-1-2) lone goal in regulation and then Brad Boyes had the deciding tally in the third round of the shootout.

Boston (7-3-1) received a goal from Gregory Campbell (his first of his Bruins career) to tie it in the third period but they were befuddled by bad luck. Nathan Horton had two near goals waved off and then Patrice Bergeron and Michael Ryder hit the post in the shootout.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (34 saves) continues to look for his first win of the 2010-2011 season (0-3-0) and this was one he truly deserved better in.

On the other end of the ice, Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak (33 saves) played well in what was a very entertaining Saturday night game.

Sobotka scored his first of the season at 16:40 of the first period from Alexander Steen.

After a scoreless second period (highlighted by two fights - David Backes vs. Andrew Ference and Mark Stuart vs. B.J. Crombeen), Campbell tied it up with seven minutes left in regulation. Ryder and Brad Marchand assisted on the goal.

Boston will look to snap its two game losing streak on Wednesday as they go to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

Tim Thomas & Bruins come back down to Earth

After beating the Washington Capitals the first two times they played this season and with Tim Thomas off to the best start in franchise history, both steaks were bound to come to an end sooner or later.

They both went down last night at the Verizon Center in Washington DC as the Captials (9-4-0) beat the Bruins (7-3-0).

Washington scored three goals in the second period, which forced Claude Julien to yank Thomas (22 saves). Of course, the B's scored three goals in a frantic third period comeback but the Captials - the San Jose Sharks of the Eastern Conference - can still score some goals and they got the game-winner in the third period before an empty-netter put this one in the win column.

Defenseman Tyler Sloan began the Caps' second period barrage with a blast from the point, 59 seconds into the frame. He was assisted by Tomas Fleischmann.

Mike Green made it 2-0 with a nice move, assisted by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. The key goal was by Alex Semin, late in the second period, as he went on a shorthanded odd man rush and slammed home a feed from Green.

With Tuukka Rask (12 saves) in between the pipes in the third period, you have to give the Bruins credit for not giving up.

Michael Ryder sparked the three goal flurry with a power play goal (poking home a rebound with a backhander) at 3:07 from Mark Recchi and Dennis Seidenberg. Less than a minute later, Nathan Horton scored another power play goal, this one from Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic.

One of the most unlikely sources tied it up as Shawn Thornton scored on a pretty backhander, following a 2-on-1 breakaway. Brad Marchand and Mark Stuart assisted.

Washington goaltender Michael Neuvirth (11 saves) was pulled at that point, for rookie Braden Holtby (4 saves), who had never played before in the NHL.

At 13:25, Caps defenseman John Carlson scored the game-winner from Eric Fehr and Boyd Gordon and then Ovechkin (from Backstrom and Jeff Schultz) whipped in the empty-netter.

The B's are back home tonight as they host the St. Louis Blues.

Only in Boston would Brian Scalabrine get a standing ovation

At a jaded 27 years old, it takes a lot to surprise me these days. However, I was at the Celtics-Bulls game last night at the TD Garden and I have to say that I was shocked at what I heard from the Massholes around me.

Former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau was back in town for the first time as Chicago's head coach. Along with him was former Celtics joker Brian Scalabrine. Naturally, when they were both introduced on the HD scoreboard with tribute videos, Thibodeau didn't get much of a reaction (even though he deserved it, since he was the defensive mastermind of the last couple seasons) while Scal (one of the most useless players in the NBA, albeit a funny, self-aware one) received a standing ovation.

Yikes. I guess all you can say is the the pink hats that have taken over Red Sox games at Fenway Park, have found their way to the Garden when the weather gets cold. I don't think it was about being ironic too, no, no, people genuinely thought Scal deserved the applause. Is this real life?

Anyways, it was a hell of a game as the Celts (5-1) won 110-105 in overtime.

Much like the Hawks, the Bulls (2-3) are one of those teams that for whatever reason, matches up well with the C's. Surprisingly, it wasn't even all about Derrick Rose (18 points, 9 assists) although he had his highlights. Joakim Noah had a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Luol Deng added 20 points and six rebounds while Taj Gibson notched 18 points and seven rebounds.

Ray Allen led Boston with 25 points, including a rare dunk in OT. Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Jermaine O'Neal scored 12 points, Rajon Rondo had 10 points and 11 assists while Paul Pierce was off all night with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The bench was the story though for the C's as Glen Davis (15 points), Marquis Daniels (13 points) and Nate Robinson (7 points) outscored Chicago's bench 37-19.

The Bulls led 23-19 after an ugly first quarter but the Celtics exploded in the second quarter (30-15) for a 49-38 lead. Boston increased their lead up to 16 in the third quarter before the inevitable Bulls run (26-23 Chicago third quarter). It seemed like Chicago couldn't miss in the fourth quarter (32-24) and as a result, it went to overtime. The Bulls actually had the ball on the last possession with a chance to win it but Rondo knocked it away from Rose.

Boston goes to Oklahoma City tomorrow night, the tough start of a four-game road trip.

Pierce reaches elite company in Celtics history

In overtime last night, Paul Pierce joined John Havlicek and Larry Bird as the only Celtics players to reach 20,000 points in their career with just Boston.

It's been a remarkable turnaround for Pierce personally and professionally and save for the occasional wheelchair drama, he's a steady leader that truly loves to play here and appreciates being with one storied franchise for his whole career.

The Celtics (4-1) beat the Bucks (1-4) 105-102 at the TD Garden. It marks the first time this season that Boston has won on back to back nights, something that will be talked about often until they prove it is real or not.

Pierce had a game-high 28 points, Ray Allen scored 23, Rajon Rondo nearly had another triple double (17 points, 15 assists, 8 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett had 13 points and eight rebounds. Glen Davis continued to be the guy off the bench, scoring 14 points and coming up with several great hustle plays.

Despite its poor start, the Bucks are a team to watch this season, particularly if Andrew Bogut (21 points, 13 rebounds) stays healthy. They have a bunch of players not really known around the NBA but they can play.

Carlos Delfino had 15 points, Ersan Ilyasova scored 15 off the bench, Brandon Jennings added 13 points while Corey Maggette (11) and Keyon Dooling (10) were in double figures.

Like almost every NBA game, this one was back and forth. The Celts led 25-16 after one quarter but their old legs showed up in the second quarter (31-22 Milwaukee). It was a gross third quarter (16-15) but Boston seemed to take control in crunch time. They were up six with under two minutes left but the Bucks kept hitting shots and making free throws, hence overtime.

Former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau returns to Boston tomorrow night with his new team, the Chicago Bulls. This rivalry developed two seasons ago with the epic first round playoff series and it will continue as long as Rondo and Derrick Rose are on these respective teams. Should be a good one and I'm happy to say, I'll be in the building.

Get set for another miserable winter in Buffalo

Tim Thomas gave up a season-high two goals but somehow the Bruins still managed to win, 5-2 last night in Buffalo's HSBC Arena.

Thomas (7-0-0) made 33 saves and became the first Bruins goalie in franchise history to start out with that spotless mark.

This one was over early (maybe before it started since Sabres goalie Ryan Miller was out with an injury) as the B's (7-2-0) scored three goals in the first period.

The Sabres (3-8-2) gave up two straight shorthanded in the first period, a pathetic start for a terrible team. Brad Marchand took advantage of missed connection to go in on a breakaway and pot his first NHL goal. Then Patrice Bergeron scored after his first shot was blocked but then he whipped a snipe of a wrist shot in (from Marchand and Gregory Campbell).

Even Blake Wheeler got in on the scoring act (a rare thing) as he tapped in a nice feed from Michael Ryder (stationed behind the Buffalo goal) later in the first period. Zdeno Chara also assisted on Wheeler's first of the season.

Ryder kept the good times rolling with his third of the season 2:11 into the second period.

Buffalo's Drew Stafford got his team on the board with a power play goal at 16:39 in the second period. He was right in front of Thomas and was able to jam it home.

The Sabres added another grimy goal in the third period, from Andrej Sekera. Finally, Milan Lucic iced it with an empty-netter with 2:07. Nathan Horton and David Krejci assisted on Looch's goal.

Boston goes to our nation's capital tomorrow night for its third matchup already with the Capitals. They've beaten them the first two times so Washington is due for a win at some point.

Rajon Rondo is from another planet

Admittedly, it's hard to get pumped out about any NBA regular season game unless you're going or some other special situation.

Still, there's a reason I set the DVR for the Celtics' game at the Detroit Pistons last night and I plan to the do the same for the rest of the season - Rajon Rondo.

Boston's young point guard is the heart and soul of the team and he is playing on another level right now.

In last night's easy 106-89 win for the Celts (3-1) at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Rondo had 17 assists and no turnovers. Think about that. This comes after a triple-double on Friday vs. the Knicks with 24 assists (four short of the franchise record by Bob Cousy).

I've never seen a guy that's able to control the game like he can, especially when he's not much of a scoring threat at all himself.

Kevin Garnett looks more like the 2008 KG than last year's shadow of himself. He had 22 points, Paul Pierce had 21 points and Ray Allen added 16 points.

In his first start for the Green, zombie Jermaine O'Neal even had 12 points and two blocks. He was getting plenty of open looks so if he can knock a few shots down a game, Boston will be in great shape. Him and Shaq are sure to be hurt a ton this season and Kendrick Perkins won't come back until at least January.

The C's bench continues to play well without its leader - Delonte West. Glen Davis had 10 points, Marquis Daniels scored nine while rookies Luke Harangody (4 points) and Semih Erden (2 points, 2 blocks) scored their first NBA buckets in limited action.

Detroit (0-4) is a mess as they're off to their first 0-4 start in 11 seasons. They can't seem to decide if they want to completely rebuild around Rodney Stuckey (15 points) and Austin Daye (16 points) or live off past glory with Ben Wallace (6 points, 8 rebounds) and Tayshaun Prince (10 points), not to mention Richard Hamilton, who didn't play since he's injured.

I don't know where Ben Gordon (14 points) fits into that equation but either way, the Pistons are going nowhere fast despite having a decent collection of talent. Charlie Villanueva should start, even though he doesn't play defense, since he put up a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Boston shot 51.9% to Detroit's 44.9%. The Celtics made five more 3-pointers (7-2) and shot 100% from the free throw line (18 for 18). Oh and they had a whopping 20 more assists (33-13), eight more steals (10-2) and five more blocks (7-2). The Pistons had 17 turnovers while the C's only had eight, which was a great sign since that's been a major issue in their first few games this season.

The other big issue will come tonight as they face the Milwaukee Bucks at the TD Garden. Can the Celts beat a good team in the second night of back to back games? The Bucks have gotten off to a slow start but the Celtics lost in Cleveland last week under similar circumstances to a bad team.

Happy Halloween from the Minnesota Vikings

As expected, the Minnesota Vikings coming to Gillette yesterday was similar to the circus coming to the TD Garden.

There was plenty of media coverage and in the end, the team with more substance (the Patriots) beat a team loaded with way more talent (the Vikings) but completely held back by their joke of a quarterback (Brett Favre) and powerless, enabler of a head coach (Brad Childress).

New England (6-1) won their fifth straight game overall, 28-18 over Minnesota (2-5) and surprisingly Favre (22 of 32, 259 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT) didn't cost them the game. However, since he couldn't win, he still had to get some attention and he successfully did that by acting like he was dead after a fourth quarter hit.

His pathetic 41-year old body was dragged off the field and he was laid on the training table. My buddy compared it to the Undertaker of WWF fame cause once the Vikings scored on the next play after he left, he raised his arm then sat up like nothing happened. Sure, he had a nasty laceration on his chin (which required eight stitches) but I feel no pity for the biggest fraud in sports and possibly on the planet.

Nobody with the Vikings has the balls to sit him down when he clearly can't help this Super Bowl contender as they fade faster than Randy Moss (1 catch, 8 yards) in crunch time.

Ah yes, it was Moss' return to Gillette after his surprising trade four weeks ago. The only thing more predictable than Favre's attention whore tendencies are seeing Moss completely disappear against our average secondary. Moss is done, over the hill, case closed.

He opened the field up for his teammates but he can't be counted on to do anything other than that anymore. It's all reputation with him now, his skills have really diminished. Seeing him reflect on his days as a Patriot after the game was strange but that's typical for his post-game stream of consciousness diatribes.

Adrian Peterson (92 yards rushing, 50 yards receiving) is still the best running back in the NFL, sorry Chris Johnson, but for the most part, the Pats contained him. He started off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter. It's a moot point since he probably would have gotten in on the next play (third down) but it didn't look like he broke the plain since Jerod Mayo (14 tackles) met him in the air and sent him flying back with a shoulder thump.

New England answered on the next drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by everybody's favorite folk hero Danny Woodhead (58 yards).

Childress had a chance to take a 10-7 lead into halftime but decided to predictably run up the gut with Peterson on fourth down late in the second quarter and he was stuffed.

Ryan Longwell gave the Vikings a 10-7 lead on their first drive of the third quarter with a 24-yard kick.

That's when the luck and bounces started to go the Patriots' way. Brandon Tate caught a 65-yard touchdown pass from Brady on a broken play. Brady had absolutely nobody to throw to but he bought time with a spin move and then found Tate (101 yards receiving) wide open on the sideline after his defender bit on a short pass.

After that, Percy Harvin (6 catches, 104 yards) had a reception ripped from his hands by Devin McCourty, who returned it 37 yards. How much of a stud is McCourty? Nobody knew who he was when he was drafted late in the first round this April but he's proven to be a solid all-around football player: he can cover, tackle and play special teams. What's not to like about him?

From there, it was the BenJarvus Green-Ellis (career-high 112 yards rushing) show. He used the short field to get a 13-yard TD run which put the Pats up 21-10 late in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota was in the red zone halfway through the fourth quarter when Favre got crushed by bum Myron Pryor. On the next play, Tavaris Jackson threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Naufahu Tahi and then found Harvin for a nice grab in the corner of the end zone on the two-point conversion.

I'm not dumb enough to say Tavaris Jackson is the answer but how long can the Vikings stick with Favre? This season is pretty much a wrap already unless they win out or go on a crazy run (which is quite unlikely).

The Pats iced it with a long, clock-killing drive, including a 16-yard catch and run by Woodhead on third-and-12. Green-Ellis put it away with a 2-yard touchdown run, his first two TD game of his career.

Don't look now but New England is in first place in the AFC East, thanks to the Packers' shutout of the Jets, and they have the best record in the NFL. That doesn't mean anything in the middle of the season but it's crazy how much progress they've already made this season.

The Patriots go to Cleveland next Sunday afternoon to play the Browns. I'm not going to break out my Super Bowl DVDs quite yet but this season is quickly starting to feel like one of those magical years.