The Bruins came out with the type of intensity that B's fans had hope for on Thursday night. The were skating hard, throwing hits, and sticking up for each other. Basically, they looked like everything they weren't against the Penguins on Thursday. Miroslav Satan and Dennis Wideman supplied the goals, while Tuukka Rask turned in a solid effort turning aside 23 of the 24 shots he faced.
The Bruins seemed to feed off the physical play early in the game. Steve Begin and Brandon Prust dropped the gloves 2:40 into the game. Prust got the better of Begin in the fight, but it was good to see Begin contribute somehow after being a non-factor for most of this season. 4:49 into the game, Vinny Prospal drilled Mark Stuart from behind into the end boards, which drew a reaction from the Bruins (the kind of reaction, you would have liked to have seen two weeks ago when Marc Savard went down).
The Bruins were awarded a penalty shot with 3:47 left in the second period after Daniel Paille was wrapped up by Artem Anisimov after Steve Begin's pass into space sprung Paille on a breakaway. Paille missed wide right on the ensuing penalty shot.
Miroslav Satan found the back of the net just 23 seconds after Paille's failed penalty shot to make it 1-0 after Andrew Ference fed a nice pass from the left wing boards to Satan at the right post.
Dennis Wideman beat Henrik Lundqvist top shelf with a backhander from the left circle with 9:40 left in the third period to give the Bruins some breathing room at 2-0.Vladmir Sobotka's pass from behind the net was off line and caught Wideman in the skates and Wideman had to kick the puck to his backhand and threw a shot on net that somehow found its way passed Lundvist for Wideman's 4th goal of the season and first marker in 25 games.
Tuukka Rask lost the shutout with 3:04 left in the period when Michael Del Zotto cut the Bruins' lead in half when his slapper from the high slot deflected off Milan Lucic and past Rask for his 8th goal of the season.
The Rangers had a few chances to tie the game in the final moments, but the Bruins were able to survive the late-game push by the Rangers.
Notes:
- Brad Marchand and Matt Hunwick were the scratches for today's game.
- 11 penalties were called in the first period.
- It is obvious that Patrice Bergeron is a bit touchy (and rightfully so) about hits from behind. Did you see how fast he came to the aid of Mark Stuart after getting hit from behind by Vinny Prospal?
- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com noticed and he also noticed how slow Dennis Wideman was to react. He thinks that Dennis Wideman's true lack of character showed in the scrum after Prospal's hit on Stuart.
- Steve Begin probably played his best game as a Bruin today. He was gritty and made a couple of very good plays, including the pass that created the breakaway for Paille. Those things don't show up in the box score, but I noticed and so did the guys from 98.5 The Sports Hub, who named Begin as the game's official 2nd Star.
- The Bruins were credited with 3 give-aways today (all by Zdeno Chara).
- Dennis Seidenberg logged a game-high 28:22 and blocked 4 shots.
- Bruins out-shot the Rangers 31-24
- My "Gold Out The Garden" attempt didn't go over very well, but there were definitely some empty seats. I am calling B.S. on the Bruins' claim of 17,565 in attendance (sell-out).
- The Bruins will lace 'em up with the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night. The Thrashers are also right in the race for one of the bottom playoff seeds in the East.