Any thoughts of some positive carryover effect from the 2010 Winter Classic were quickly extinguished last night in New York as the Bruins sleepwalked through the first two periods, down 2-0 at Madison Square Garden to the average at best Rangers.
Boston (21-13-7) made it interesting by scoring their requisite two goals late in the third period but Tuukka Rask (32 saves) pulled a Tim Thomas by giving up a cellulite-soft goal to Chris Higgins with 1:29 left in the game.
Even worse, the B's lost Patrice Bergeron to a thumb injury earlier in the game when Dennis Wideman hit him with a slap shot. Yup, it's been that type of season. Their three best offensive players: Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron will have all missed significant time in the first half of the season.
Two bums scored for the Rangers (20-17-5), Ales Kotalik had a power-play goal in the first period and Erik Christensen made it 2-0 in the second period.
Matt Hunwick's short-handed goal with 5:27 left in the game put some sparks in the Bruins' skates. Blake Wheeler and David Krejci-two of the team's biggest underachievers-assisted on that goal. 1:26 later, Wheeler tied it up with a snap shot from the slot. Michael Ryder and Hunwick assisted on the goal that looked sure to produce at least one point.
Thomas should be back in net tonight as the Bruins travel to Ottawa. They've beaten the Senators the first three times they've played this season, we'll see if that trend continues. Miroslav Satan is expected to be in the lineup (haha, yes our offense is that bad) with Bergeron shelved anywhere from 2-6 weeks.
Bergeron's injury is certainly not on the Wes Welker level of heartbreak but after having just made the Canadian Olympic team and having a great overall season (Claude Julien called him Boston's best player this season), Bergeron deserved a better fate. This is a guy whose career almost ended with multiple severe concussions, it seemed like he finally was catching some breaks.
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