Bruins vs. Coyotes LIVE!

Back in Boston for the fifth of a six game homestand where the B's (42-13-9) will look to avenge their 4-2 loss to the Flyers on Tuesday night. The Coyotes (27-31-5) and the Bruins both will look different than they did 24 hours ago, with the Bruins adding Mark Recchi and Steve Montador and the Coyotes clearing house and apparently starting over.

Gone from Phoenix are Derek Morris and Olli Jokinen. Jokinen was signed just a summer ago to be Phoenix's star center, but not being in the thick of the playoff race will make a GM do crazy things and blowing up the team is one of those things.

Good news for the Bruins tonight, Milan Lucic returns after a two game absence with a "body injury." We all know it was his hand. This is excellent news for the club, you've got to believe the Bruins will rediscover some of that physicality they were missing over the last 2/3 of the Flyers game.

Recchi and Montador are suited up and skating around pregame. Brick muses that Recchi will likely be on the left with Savard and Kessel. He's not sure where Montador will fit in, and as I said after the trade happened, I'm not quite sure either.

Even the Boston Globe's Bruins blog isn't sure, they're best guess is that Byron Bitz sits so PJ Axelsson can move to the checking line.

Remember, it's another night of Jack Bingo! Hopefully less frustrating that Tuesday night's version.

I find it terribly satisfying that the Coyotes have yet to make the playoffs in Gretzky's three seasons as coach.

Bruins lines in warm-ups..

Forwards:
Mark Recchi-Marc Savard-Phil Kessel
P.J. Axelsson-Patrice Bergeron-Chuck Kobasew
Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
Milan Lucic-Stephane Yelle-Shawn Thornton

Defencemen:
Zdeno Chara-Aaron Ward
Andrew Ference-Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart-Steve Montador

Goaltending:
Tim Thomas

Looks as if Bitz, Hunwick and Hnidy are gonna sit tonight. Has to be disappointing for them. I'm disappointed to see Hunwick sit, but let's see if Montador can help Lucic make this team the physical beast it can be.

First Period

Ilya Bryzgalov starting for the Coyotes tonight. My guess is he could have a long game.

17:50 - "D to D." Mark an X for me Jack, we're off to a good start. Early two minutes haven't been too exciting, teams feeling each other out. The Krejci line looked to have the best movement, but it's way too early to make any calls on things of that nature.

15:25 - One too many passes. Kessel breaks in with Recchi two on one, passes over to Recchi, back to Savard, back to Recchi and it skips to the wall. Gotta pull the trigger boys.

13:49 - Bruins defending extremely well. Coyotes can't keep position in the Bruins end. Also, I don't think I've seen Shawn Thornton put a shot on net yet, they always go wide.

12:51 GOAL 1-0 Bruins - Chuck Kobasew! Perfect pass from Bergeron along the halfwall to find Kobasew in the slot, who beats Bryzgalov with the shot. Now that the Bruins have the lead, let's see the intensity and energy remain constant and not drop off as it did on Tuesday.

11:58 - PING! Recchi re-directs Wideman's slap shot off the crossbar and out of play. Recchi's had two clear-cut scoring chances in three shifts on the ice. You can tell he's definitely excited and energized to be on this team.

10:32 - Brick talking about Wheeler facing his old team, despite never suiting up for the Coyotes and how there's "money on the board" for him to do well and score. Brick sounds serious about this. Gambling? Sounds sketchy.

10:00 - "Wing to wing." Mark it.

Ooh tempers flaring as Chara crushes Prucha into the boards. Looked like a completely clean hit. Appears to be a penalty, as Jack says "because he's 6'9"." Well it's called interference. Chara pretty much steamrolls through him. It's a bit of a wishy-washy call. Julien certainly does not agree.

7:59 PPG 1-1 - Scottie Upshall loves playing the Bruins! Wideman turns it over at the halfwall, it's flipped into the slot by Lindstrom and Upshall backhands it past Timmy Thomas.

It was Upshall who tied the game at one on Tuesday night as well...

6:04 - Shane Doan going in for hooking. Bruins have responded to the Coyotes goal favorably. Let's see if that can continue here. Brick thinks the B's will run the overload toward Savard.

5:31 - Recchi misses another chance right at the post, Ryder comes from behind and whiffs on it. I think Rex has a goal in him tonight.

4:04 - Coyotes kill the penalty.

1:40 - Wideman with a dangerous turnover that immediately got a pass to Prucha in front of the net, he couldn't put it over Thomas though. Not surprisingly, the Coyotes coming on a bit stronger after they tied it up and the Bruins seem to let them in it.

Need to play smarter.

After one, the Bruins certainly came out as the better of the clubs, but seem to fall into a comfort zone and get complacent once they achieve the lead. Phoenix clawed back with the power play goal and from then on the Bruins seem to look flat and they lacked some luster.

Let's hope Claude gets them hyped back up in the dressing room.

It's obvious that the Bruins have a clear advantage of Phoenix's youthful defencemen and they need to capitalize on the chances they're given in the offensive zone. Pull the trigger and shoot the puck. If you pepper Bryzgalov enough good things will happen.

Barry says the B's are the best 5-on-5 team in the NHL. Detroit or San Jose anyone? And by the way Calgary is ripping apart the Flyers (4-0 after one) they may have something to say as well.

Interesting. Aaron Ward and Blake Wheeler were both drafted #5 overall by the WIN/PHO organization, but neither actually played for them at the NHL level.

Second Period

19:36 - Phoenix has 5 power play shots and 1 full strength shot. Ouch.

17:15 - Upshall "spoons it" into the corner. X it.

15:23 - Bruins have done an excellent job stalling Phoenix at the blue line and causing a good number of offside calls.

14:08 - Some of the passes Savard has made lately are concerning. Luckily there was no one near it, but Savard shoveled one back for Montador and was a good 5 or 6 feet off on his aim.

12:08 GOAL 2-1 Coyotes - Steve Reinprecht! Nigel Dawes skates in down the right side, feeds it across the zone to Reinprecht who tips it up and over Thomas.

Shades of the Flyers game here...

11:50 - Thomas "fungos" it out of the air. Mark an X.

8:52 - Tempers flare. Thornton and Montador along with Klee all shoving each other around a bit.

7:46 - Chara pushing Lindstrom down. Getting chippy here.

Where's the crisp passing from the Bruins? Everything's skipping or long, or intercepted in the neutral zone. Not taking care of the puck particularly well at all.

7:00 - B's 30 seconds into a power play, Klee was called for interference.

6:42 - Savard all alone can't pick the corner, shoots it wide.

5:55 - Bruins moving the puck quickly, but a lot of wide shots from the point in a disappointing effort.

5:29 - Ference trips Klee out of the box and it's another 'Yotes power play. Five shots on the first.

4:16 - Coyotes moving the puck really well, Thomas is able to pounce on the puck beside the net for a cover.

3:28 - Two pucks slid just past the post on that power play. Bruins are fortunate to kill it off. Where's the energy, where's the intensity? For the second straight game the Bruins are failing to follow their usual game plan and now a younger, less experienced club is taking advantage.

1:00 - Showing a bit more fire in these last couple of minutes. Can it carry over?

:10 - Bruins almost level it before the end of the period. Montador takes a terrific rip from the point that goes wide. Wideman gets it and takes a huge rip, Savard gets it and takes an impossible angle shot that flies toward the blue line.

Bruins down a goal after two. Lucic is hitting well, but he's not being hugely productive on the checking line. There's been a lot of sloppy passing, too many turnovers, not playing well on the forecheck and the tempo isn't high enough.

The Bruins need to pull a 180 to get back in this.

Barry thinks that Ference looks "a lot more confident" at the point on the power play than Bergeron does. Does it have anything to do with Andy being a defencemen? Seriously. What kind of commentary is that?

And now I listen to Barry tell me everything I just typed into the post five minutes ago. Yawn.

An unrelated exchange through AIM...

Casey: GILL LAYS DOWN AND BLOCKS A SHOT
Justin: take him off the ice!

Looking at Jack Bingo on NESN, I have missed Juicy Rebound, He Bangs Him, Save By Thomas and Stick a Fork in It... I am X'ing those off.

Third Period

18:58 - Bruins 2nd in the NHL with 76 third period goals. Also have the best 3rd period defense.

18:15 - Lucic is with Savard and Kessel. Someone heard me.

15:00 - It's getting tough to watch the Bruins miss pass after pass after pass.

12:32 - Not a whole lot.. brewin right now. B's got an icing, but couldn't win the face off.

11:00 - Here's the pressure and energy we've been looking for. Kessel walks in and snaps it wide. Bruins skating a lot harder. Lucic sends Michalek down like a... sack of flour? Thank you, Jack.

8:39 - Boston finally dominating physically here. Throwing bodies around with reckless abandon. Bryzgalov is getting a lot of work but he's holding the fort down. Terrific energy from the B's, but they need a result from this.

6:51 - Lucic comes in on Bryzgalov 2 on 1 and can't control the puck. Oh woe is the Bruins.

6:11 - Krejci has certainly been one of the best Bruins on the ice tonight. Seems to be playing his heart out, trying to make things happen. Give the kid a little help, please.

3:35 - Urgent, urgent... emergency. Yes. Foreigner completely sums up the Bruins style of play right now.

3:11 - Bryzgalov is huge again! Slid across from Lucic to Ryder who tries to force it by Ilya, but the 'Yotes goalie makes another fantastic save. The desperate Bruins can feel this one slipping away.

1:38 - Tikhonov throws a big elbow into Montador's head. Bruins on the power play for the rest of this game. Surprisingly Thomas is still in net... for now.

:35.4 - A scrum in front of the net at the beginning of the power play, but nothing doing. Ference is on for Thomas, Chara moves to the front of the net. Fantastic game from Ilya Bryzgalov tonight.

And the Phoenix Coyotes have beaten the Brins 2-1. With a ton of new faces and an incredible performance from, Bryzgalov the Coyotes deserved their win. However, the Bruins once against came out complacent and stayed that way for 40 minutes. The urgency shown in the third period is something they need to come out with from the start and stick with for 60 minutes.

After scoring 12 goals in the first two games of this homestand, the Bruins have now scored 6 in the last three, all losses.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, the Bruins won't make it out of the first round of the playoffs if they continue to give this sort of effort.

Jack Bingo fails to deliver once again tonight, but Jack put forth a strong effort to get us closer...


So with the Blackhawks on tap, Claude and company are going to have to once again look to motivate these Bruins for a full sixty minutes. I'm starting to wonder if they're running out of steam after such a torrid start to the season. The opponents that come from here on out are odds on to be better teams than the Coyotes, so hopefully this game can snap the Bruins back out of it.

Pronger Off, Kaberle as Well?

To begin with, our friends at NESN are reporting that any deal involving Ducks d-man Chris Pronger coming to Beantown are off.

It's certainly for the best in my view. Whether they were giving up Phil Kessel straight up, or any combination of Mark Stuart, Chuck Kobasew, Joe Colborne, etc. would have been far too steep a price to pay for what would likely be an 18 month rental.

Our good friends up north at TSN.ca are reporting that Leafs GM Brian Burke has denied last night's report out of Boston that an offer was made for Tomas Kaberle.

Burke himself told TSN the following:

“It's not true, a total fabrication,” Burke told TSN. “I sat with (Boston GM) Peter Chiarelli for the first period of Saturday's game in Boston and we never discussed Tomas Kaberle. We hadn't spoken about Kaberle before that and we most certainly haven't since then. There is no truth to it at all. None.”

Well then. I suppose that settles that... then again Burke vehemently denied rumors that he was leaving Anaheim for Toronto and we all know how that ended up.

It's also been said by ESPN that the B's may also be interested in Derek Morris from Phoenix.

More to come...

NHL Headlines For 3/14/08

I've just finished a massive playoff analysis for Apryl DeLancey's Women Like Sports blog so be sure to click on over and check it out as it should be up soon.

Anyway, I've calmed down a bit after yesterday's rant on Chris Pronger so let's get right into it.

Red Wings Lock Up Playoff Berth

This was only a matter of time, but with last night's win over the Dallas Stars they also now have 100 points. Ladies and gentlemen, the race to 100 is over.

The only thing left for them to lock up is the No. 1 seed and there's no reason to think that won't come by this time next week. They hold a 10 point lead over the No. 2 seeded Sharks currently.

Welcome back to the show boys and good luck in the playoffs.

Coyotes Blank Canucks 2-0, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

OK, this cannot happen. I refuse to admit that the Coyotes are even in a playoff hunt. Why you might ask? Does anyone remember the "White Out" they did a few years back? I'm still amazed that this trend was started.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, fans were encouraged to wear white shirts. If you didn't wear a white shirt, you were handed one on the way in and told to wear it. Did they really think that this would be effective? I'm still baffled at how this started showing up around the league and in other sports.

Anyway, the Coyotes (or as we affectionately call them, "The Fighting Gretzkys") are the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, but trail the Canucks by three points.

Crosby To Miss A Week

And the injury woes continue for the Pens. Crosby is expected to miss the next three games with soreness in his ankle. Dare I say that the Pens might get Marian Hossa back for Sunday's game against the Flyers? I don't because everything I've said about this team over the last week has come back to bite me.

The good news in this is that the Pens have proven they can still win when Crosby is out. Evgeni Malkin has stepped up and flourished in the spotlight when Sid went down and I don't expect this to change.

New Video Shows Pronger's Stomp Clearer

OK apparently I was calm until I saw the pictures contained on that link. Don't read any more of this until you click the above link from TSN.ca. They have two video stills that show the apparent stomp.

Go ahead, I'll still be here when you get back.

(Jeopardy Theme)

Welcome back...

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

Are you kidding me?! How does he get off for that? That is a more blatant stomp than Chris Simon's on Jarkko Ruutu! How did the entire Canucks bench not empty to slay him for that?

Colin Campbell if you read this, grow a pair and suspend this guy for at least 10 games. Pronger is one of the dirtiest players in the league and seems to get away with murder all the time. If he were to pull a Todd Bertuzzi, would you suspend him then?

For those who haven't seen the Bertuzzi play I'm referring to here you go:



Laraque Suspended 3 Games For Elbowing Incident

To continue on with the above rant.

Mr. Campbell you have got to be kidding me. What justification do you have for suspending Laraque for three games here and not giving Pronger anything? I agree that Laraque should be suspended for the elbow, but I don't think there was a blatant attempt to injure someone like Pronger did.

Can you only be suspended now if you actually hurt someone? If Kesler would have has his career ended because of what was done would Pronger then face some disciplinary action? This is unbelievable. You suspend Steve Ott for three games for a hit up high and allow Pronger to skate away clean? Come on. Either the rules apply to all or none, make up your mind.

Here's the apparent elbow in slow motion.



That to me looks like Laraque went to put a hit on and Paetsch moved out of the way and caught the follow through in the head. Yes, it's still a penalty, but I don't see a clear attempt to hurt the guy. Again, the fact that he's suspended and Pronger is allowed to walk away disgusts me.

I think I need to go take a walk and cool off, but check back tomorrow for more headlines!