Hurricanes Take Second Straight Over Bruins, Boston Loses Control With 72 Penalty Minutes

The 2011-12 Boston Bruins are a team without an identity right now and one that is struggling desperately to find consistency.

Their four biggest issues at the moment are scoring, maintaining focus, playing well in front of backup goaltender Tuukka Rask and of course the power-play.

In tonight's 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (3-2-1) at TD Garden, the B's (2-4-0) were plagued by the first three of those said problems. The silver lining was that they snapped the horrid 0-for-22 stretch on the power-play.

Boston has yet to post back-to-back strong efforts let alone wins so it should come as no surprise that they also fell to 1-3 on home ice. Yes it would be easy to blame the referees for some shady calls against the Bruins (72 penalty minutes, 4 game misconducts), but if we're being objective it was mostly their own fault.

The B's outshot the Hurricanes 34-23 and hit two posts (by Joe Corvo and Jordan Caron) to one (Brett Sutter) for Carolina but that all doesn't matter.

Carolina knocked off Boston for the second time in six days and this time, goaltender Cam Ward (33 saves) was nearly flawless. Rich Peverley (3rd of the season) finally scored a goal in front of Tuukka (19 saves), the first he's received in two starts, notching a power-play strike at 10:59 of the third to cut it to 2-1. Dennis Seidenberg and Corvo (who survived a nasty hit/fall in the first period) had the assists.

Chris Kelly sparked the team with a fight against Sutter that occured only 29 seconds before Peverley's screened snapshot went by Ward. For a guy that's not known as a fighter at all, this was Kelly's first in a Bruins uniform, it was good to see that somebody cared enough to step up when the team is playing like garbage.

Just as the crowd finally got into it, Nathan Horton picked up a dumb penalty 31 seconds later trying to goad Hurricanes supposed toughguy Tim Gleason into a fight. It didn't work and Carolina got the last laugh as Horton plus Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic (not to mention Zdeno Chara in the second period) were all tagged with 10-minute misconducts.

The Hurricanes took advantage with a pair of 5-on-3 goals by Eric Staal (3rd of the season) at 13:26 and Tuomo Ruutu (1st of the season) at 14:58 to put it away.

Anthony Stewart (2nd of the season) got Carolina off to a quick start as he scored off a rebound just 2:47 into the first period. Joni Pitkanen (2nd of the season) doubled the lead at 10:19 in the second period on a blast from the slot.

This was a really strange game and nothing illustrates that more than the fact that Bruins head coach Claude Julien got ejected late in the third period since he'd seen enough of the one-sided calls. It was nice to see that kind of emotion out of Claude, it marked the first time he was ejected in Boston.

Would you believe me if I told you the B's have only scored a pitiful 11 goals in the first six games? Yuck. Their next game is Thursday as old friend (haha yeah right) Phil Kessel (the NHL's leading goal-scorer with 7 goals) and the Toronto Maple Leafs come to the Garden. Let's hope for a better performance from this team.

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Rich Peverley Receives A Three-Year Extension From The Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has been extremely proactive recently, as he has signed and extended many core members of the B's in order to create a palpable chemistry.

It looks like he is going to continue down that path, as the Bruins have announced a three-year contract extension for versatile forward Rich Peverley. There is a $3.25 million dollar cap hit.

Peverley came to the Bruins from the Thrashers last season at the trade deadline (for Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart) and was a key player for Boston, joining the third line with Michael Ryder and Chris Kelly, the latter another trade deadline acquisition from Ottawa.

In 23 games last season, Pevs had four goals and three assists. Like most of his teammates, he stepped up his production in the playoffs with four goals and eight assists. Statistically, his best season was 2009-10 with the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets) when he put up 22 goals and 33 assists.

This year, Peverley has been promoted to the second line, taking the retired Mark Recchi's spot alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. So far this year, Peverley has two goals (both against Tampa Bay) and is a plus-2 in three games.

Peverley may end up bouncing back and forth between the two lines but the Bruins will continue to utilize his speed and skill on both the power play and the penalty kill.

For an undrafted player out of St. Lawrence University, Peverley is proof that some guys take longer to develop than others. After three stops in his NHL career (Nashville, Atlanta, Boston), Peverley has found a home and a bright future in the Hub of Hockey.

Two other Bruins notes: David Krejci left practice today with an unspecified leg injury. He didn't travel with the team to Carolina today so I doubt that he'll play tomorrow night. Look for possibly Tyler Seguin to get the call up to first line duty with the underachieving Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

Also, Versus will air a special called "Raising the Cup" about the Bruins tomorrow at 6:00 p.m on their show NBC SportsTalk. It's about the ceremony that just happened last week at TD Garden before the season-opener vs. the Flyers.

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Bruins Register Their First Win Of 2011-12

You have to give the NHL schedule makers credit; even though they weren't able to get the Montreal Canadiens in town for when the Boston Bruins raised their Stanley Cup banner from the 2010-11 season, having the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning at the TD Garden for the first two games of the 2011-12 season was pretty sweet.

After understandably sleepwalking a bit on Thursday vs. Philly, the B's (1-1-0) looked like a different team tonight as they beat the Lightning (1-1-0) 4-1. After facing their opponents from the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Finals in succession, you wish that the Vancouver Canucks were up next (they're not) but you can't complain.

Rich Peverley led Boston with two goals (his first two of the season) while Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand added two assists apiece. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (1-1-0) picked up his first win of the season thanks to a tidy 25 save effort.

Tampa Bay played in Carolina last night (winning 5-1) and they seemed to leave all their energy there, along with starting goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Mathieu Garon (38 saves) got the start and showed why he backs up a guy that turns 42 this week (!). The B's outshot them every period and finished with a wide advantage in shots (42-27), something that rarely happens that much for the defensive-minded Bruins.

The game was full of penalties but neither team could take advantage as Boston was 0 for 6 and Tampa Bay was 0 for 5 on the power play. Marchmont's power play goal on Opening Night feels like a lifetime ago. Speaking of the Lightning, it only took about one period to remember how they play Montreal's typical slimy style. All talk and flopping, no backing it up physically. It's pathetic and with the talent they have, utterly despicable.

The first period was scoreless, Peverley cashed in at 2:04 of the second period when Marchand's shot hit both posts and bounced right to him on the doorstep. Johnny Boychuk had the second assist.

The always pesky Martin St. Louis tied it up only 1:16 with the 300th goal of the his career, beating his former teammate (Thomas) at UVM. Ryan Malone and Vincent Lecavalier assisted on St. Louis' goal as a turnover in the neutral zone led to a breakaway.

Daniel Paille (first of the season) put the Bruins ahead for good as he tipped in Adam McQuaid's shot from the point at 4:58 of the second. Seguin started it with a pretty drop pass to Darth Quaider. Side note, I'm kicking myself for not drafting Seguin in either of my Fantasy leagues, he already looks so much more comfortable in just his second year in the NHL.

David Krejci (first of the season) got on the scoreboard with a goal at 3:07 of the third period from Milan Lucic and Seguin. It was a pure snipe from a guy that led the B's in goals during the Stanley Cup run (that'll be good trivia some day).

Peverley and Co. ended it as he scored his second goal at 8:43 from Patrice Bergeron and Marchand. Putting Peverley on the second line (in Mark Recchi's place) has made that trio (Bergeron, Marchand, Peverley) so much more dynamic. Right now, they look better than Boston's top line (Lucic, Krejci, Nathan Horton) but that's neither here nor there.

Benoit Pouliot had his first game in a Bruins uniform as he was on the third line instead of Jordan Caron. It was a very small sample size (7:42, 14 shifts) but I have to say I liked what I saw from the former first-round pick of Minnesota. The ex-Canadien had two shots and two hits so you can't argue about that production in such limited time.

The Bruins are back at it on Monday afternoon (Columbus Day) as the Colorado Avalanche come to TD Garden. Expect Tuukka Rask to get the start as head coach Claude Julien has pledged to give Thomas more rest during the regular season.

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Well folks, we got a series now

Since Nathan Horton got knocked out in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals (by a vicious cheap shot by Aaron Rome), the Boston Bruins have outscored the Vancouver Canucks 12-1 and most importantly, they've gone from life support to having all the momentum in the world with a 2-2 series tie heading back to Vancouver.

The B's closed out an extremely memorable two games at the TD Garden with a 4-0 win last night in Game 4 that was every bit as impressive as their 8-1 Game 3 ass kicking. One had to wonder if Boston could carry over the emotional response to Horton's injury. Now, I think everyone has to question whether Vancouver has the balls to not only fight back in this series but avoid choking away a 2-0 series lead.

Perhaps nothing signifies the tenor of this series than the two starting goaltenders. Tim Thomas of the Bruins has been dumped on his whole life and now in the biggest stage of his career, he's showing why he's undoubtedly the NHL's best. On the other end of the rink, we had all heard that Roberto Luongo was the outstanding player that somehow usually screws things up (minus the 2010 Olympics, but Canada was a wagon).

Thomas made 38 saves in Game 4 for his fourth career playoff shutout and the third of this magical run. Luongo had 16 saves and he was mercifully pulled in the third period in favor of Marblehead, MA native Cory Schneider (9 saves) by his asleep at the wheel coach Alain Vigneault. Hey, it only came one game too late (since Luongo was left to give up all eight goals in Game 3). As Ryan said, there's no doubt that Louie will be back in there tomorrow night, but yeah, good luck with that. Dude must have the confidence of an ugly porn star at this juncture.

Like every championship team in any sport, Claude Julien and the Bruins can do no wrong right now. Rich Peverley and Michael Ryder picked up the slack on the first line with Horton out and both responded in a big way. Peverley scored twice (his third and fourth of the playoffs) and Ryder (seventh of the playoffs) had another tally.

Brad Marchand continued to be a lovable rat, getting in the Sedin sisters' faces and not backing down from any of the other fake tough guys on the Canucks. Marchand scored the other goal (his eighth of the playoffs, tying a Bruins rookie record).

Peverley opened the scoring with a wrist shot right through Luongo's huge five hole at 11:59 of the first period. David Krejci started the play with a slick one-handed pass while Zdeno Chara had the other assist.

Ryder's goal at 11:11 of the second period was further proof that Luongo was a puddle. It was a long wrist shot that was just slightly tipped by Sami Salo's stick. It went right under Luongo's glove hand. Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly had the assists.

Marchmont ended it with a backhander following some top-notch work behind Vancouver's net by Patrice Bergeron. Again, another shot that Luongo could have stopped if he was on his game.

Finally, Peverley put in his second at 3:39 of the third period after a sweet move by Lucic that left Kevin Bieksa looking for his jock strap. Lucic threw it at the net (he had a great game by the way) and it ricocheted off Peverley's body. The perfect goal for such a hard-working, versatile guy.

For the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years, they'll have to win a game in Vancouver. Why not Game 5? Get a lead, continue to bury Luongo and I think this is over on Monday in Boston. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves though. This series is far from over and the B's know that. Tomorrow is the third consecutive huge game and the Canucks play great at home.

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