Believe it or not, the Bruins have played very well lately. Even with their loss Saturday to Philadelphia, the Bruins have now taken points in their last six games, for a record of 4-0-2. For all the complaining of late, that seems pretty good.

 But the complaining is still warranted. This team continues to miss opportunities, and lacks creativity on offense sometimes. How many times is there a two-on-one and you are yelling, "Shoot!" and he makes a pass, only to be blocked? Too many. The one time they shot in that situation was in Washington when Shawn Thornton scored. And why? Because Tyler Seguin was on the other side, and everyone in the room thought Thornton was going to pass. This is where you need creativity. Sad, with this team, that shooting a puck is creative.

 But nonetheless, the Bruins continue to rack up the points and are two points back of Montreal with three games in hand. Before this recent stretch, the Bruins were really struggling. What is different now? Obviously Tim Thomas has not only kept the Bruins in games, but he has single handily won them. But it is no coincidence the return of Marc Savard and to an extent David Krejci has changed this team. I always believed Krejci was the MVP of the Bruins. When he was out for about six games, the Bruins play slipped and Nathan Horton began to slump a little bit. Now as for Savard, not that he has been great, his presence changes the game. Over his career, he has been a point per game player. He has not really helped the power play too much, but again, he has just come back and I am willing to give him time.

 No one wants to admit it, but Micheal Ryder is having a nice season with eight goals. He is on pace for maybe twenty goals, and I'm pretty sure that is all we are asking from him right now. To be honest though, I would have preferred to move him to Marco Sturm. But that would have had its pros and cons as well. Sturm is coming off two knee surgeries. I am sure the Bruins tried to move Ryder but were not able to. It would be nearly impossible to move that contract. The Bruins got nothing for Sturm, what would have they gotten for Ryder? You can't get less than nothing. So the Bruins begin play again on Wednesday in Buffalo. After that is a huge game for Montreal. Hopefully, they can keep this point streak up.