The Boston Bruins (5-2-3) were out chanced and out worked, but were able to eke out a 1-0 victory over the hard luck Canucks (4-5-0). Securing a 1 goal lead in the first period, the Bruins, playing their 3rd game in 4 nights, were content to play a 1-4 (1 man forecheck, 4 men on the defensive side of the red line) trap the rest of the night.Former University of Vermont Catamount (look to notes below) keeper Tim Thomas played well and recorded his second straight shut out for the Bruins.
Once again the Canucks struggled in the first period. With an upcoming holding penalty to Sami Salo, Marc Savard came on as the extra attacker. Savard's pass to the slot was deflected to Luongo's crease where Luongo immediately pushed the puck out to the slot, directly to the circling Michael Ryder, who one timed the puck through the crowd in front, 1-0 Bruins. So called experts may criticize Luongo for not trying to cover up the puck, but he didn't have time as Bruin Marco Sturm was at his doorstop whacking away at the puck.
Steve Bernier once again showed his immaturity in the defensive zone and failed to collapse accordingly to cover Ryder. Legs open, gliding, guilty of watching the play, Bernier knew he should have taken Ryder. Luongo was completely screened on the shot, and didn't have a chance to stop it.
Frustrating to watch, probably more frustrating to play, the Canucks had far more chances than the visitors from Beantown, but couldn't put anything past the 5'11" 201lb Tim Thomas. If Thomas is only 201lb, I have a full head of hair. He has to be at least 225lb!
Asked if he ever had two shut outs in row before, Thomas replied that he thought he did while he played for the Helsinki Jokerit (Jokers) hockey team during the lockout 2004-05 season. Thomas recorded 15 shut outs in 54 games, for 1.54 goals against average, that season for the Jokers.
The Sedins continue to create chances and just cannot finish. Hank and Daniel were dangerous every shift, no matter if they were playing with Bernier, Wellwood or Krog.
The best chances of the night went to Daniel Sedin and Jason Krog. Daniel had a clear cut breakaway, tried to go five hole, but Thomas was up to the task. Krog had an open net from a sharp angle as he tried to one time a cross crease pass from one of twins, but shot wide and hit the side of the net.
With the Bruins playing their 1-4 trap effectively and controlling the pace of the game in the 2nd period, Darcy Hordichuk did his best to change the atmosphere of the game, but Shawn Thornton declined Hordichuk's invitation to dance.
Milan Lucic threw 10 hits, and had a glorious opportunity to score on Luongo as he came in all alone from the left wing but couldn't convert. The 2006 2nd round draft (50th overall) of the Bruins, had a large cheering section for his homecoming. He would look good in a Canuck uniform, but the Canucks didn't have a 2nd round draft pick in '06 and Lucic wasn't projected to go until the 3rd round. Whether then Canuck GM Dave Nonis tried to trade to get Lucic in the 2nd round is not known, nor does it matter. Kudos to the Bruins scouts for seeing the Cam Neely type talent Lucic possessed, a full year before he had his break out season in leading the Giants to the Memorial Cup in 2007.
It's hard to criticize too much about the Canucks on a night when they were the better team on the ice, but came up short on the scoreboard. Yes, they could have hit a little more, and yes on top of their 30 shots, 12 shots were blocked, and 10 went wide, but that is knit picking. If they continue to outchance and outwork the opposition, the victories will follow.
Canucks now embark on a short 2 game stint in SoCal. Thursday night in L.A. against Anze Kopitar and the Kings, and a Friday night tilt against former Canuck Brendan Morrison and the Anaheim Ducks.
Notes:
- Catamount: a large American wildcat resembling a lion
- Another University of Vermount Catamount alum playing in the NHL is Chicago Blackhawk captain Patrick Sharpe, former Montreal Canadien/Philadelphia Flyer John LeClaire is another former Catamount
- Rick Rypien starts to practice again after getting over a sickness, and promptly tears and abdominal muscle and is gone 4-6 weeks. He goes under the knife Wednesday. The Canucks miss his grit.
- With Rypien out, why isn't Mike Brown drawing into the line up? Note to Coach V, sit Pyatt or Krog and get Brown in the line up!
4 comments:
whats the deal with lucic...is he the real deal or what? i have a hard time with the neely comparisons, especially this early.
Lucic is the a very good hard nosed player with a huge upside. Can he be as good as Cam Neely? I doubt it. But's it's far too early to tell.
As long as he keeps playing the way he is, he is going to be a valuable member of the Bruins for a long time. He had 15 fights last year, but hasn't dropped the gloves in his first 10 games so far this season.
Every team in the league would love to have this kid in the line up.
Per recent developments, I will try and keep my comments to a minimum...(Woods!).
In my opinion, Lucic is the real deal. The kid knows when to go the extra distance to finish a hit and knows when to keep the mitts on to win a game.
I watched this kid win the Memorial in Vancouver back in 07' and he stood out like Dion Pheneuf did a few years back...(Sarge - you should love that plug for a Flame!)...a man among boys.
It so happens I played with his agent at UofC, and he and his partner represent the Neidermeyer brothers as well. Point being, that although they were grinding Boston's brass at the time tp get more dough for the kid, he said from what he saw, as well as others in his circles, they expect big things from this kid.
That said, I'm going on record that if he can stay healthy, as is the case with everyone really, I think he's going to be star, maybe even earn the comparisons to our Island's own #8.
As for the upcoming schedule - put Brown in the lineup to run Morrison...he should of been run out of town years ago!
nice work .... good to see...i love guys like neely, roberts, tochet, phaneuf....hopefully lucic can continue to roll.. i bet Sutter is drooling over this kid...look for flames to bring him in when he's a free Age... he'd look good in a Flames 22...resembling a more talented Nick Fotiu
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