Boston's Bettah – A Boston Sports blog from guys that love Boston sports a little too much

I was warned about Henrik Lundqvist before the series began. I have many friends who are fans of Washington and they had just finished a series against the Rangers and Lundqvist. His entire story was that it wasn’t going to be fun, that facing Lundqvist sucks the life out of fans simply because he rarely makes mistakes. It’s almost impossible to break him. To break him, it takes attrition. It takes a constant barrage of shots, screens and rebound put-backs, and even then, Lundqvist simply doesn’t break.

It was the Boston Bruins who finally became the king-slayers. On Sunday, the Bruins beat Lundqvist as they beat him for five goals, but that was not expected to be the norm. Tuesday night, it was clear from the get go that Lundqvist was on his game. The Boston Bruins kept firing shots at him, but Lundqvist made every save, caught every puck, prevented. Suddenly, all of my fears of this series were coming true. Everything I had heard about playoff Lundqvist was coming to fruition. The New York Rangers did not seem to be the most desperate of teams despite their status in the series. It was Lundqvist who seemed to be desperate and to keep the Rangers afloat in the series. He was trying to get the Rangers into an opportunity to win the game and get closer to the series, and he basically did it too. It was one of those games where the Bruins were doing everything right except scoring, and it was all on Lundqvist.

Leave it to the merlot line to be the ones that finally broke Lundqvist. To take down a king, sometimes it takes a war of attrition, and the Boston Bruins fourth line was the hardest-working group for either team in this game. Both of the Bruins goals were set up by the work down below the goal-line and working it back towards the net. Despite Lundqvist’s play all night, the Bruins finally broke him down. Two goals in the third period were enough for the Boston Bruins to win the game and take a 3-0 series lead.

Despite Lundqvist’s best effort, the Boston Bruins now have what is as close to insurmountable lead in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Through the first three games, the Boston Bruins have been the better team and they have deserved this lead. One more win on Thursday, and the Boston Bruins move on to play either Pittsburgh or Ottawa in the Eastern Conference Finals. For a team that has plenty of injuries and rest that is needed, winning game four and finishing the series could be something this team so desperately needs.

Jaromir Jagr has had a frustrating playoff season so far. Despite the fact that he continues to play well, he has mostly been off the scoring sheet. When he finally had a brilliant opportunity to put home a goal on Sunday, he was robbed on a diving stop by King Henrik. It has been a long time since The Jagr was slaying the ladies and scoring goals late into the nights with his long, beautiful flowing mane.

There is The Jagr, though, skating majestically with the lights just shining down on him as he practices once again. Long after the Bruins had won game two, The Jagr knows he must get better, be stronger. One must wonder what goes through the mind of the Jagr. Perhaps he is thinking of former times, about the crazy Berlin-orgy of 1991, when The Jagr went into the nightclub looked around and realized that it was his god given mission to christen little Jagr babies all through the night. On that night, The Jagr jumped into his sports-car, brought the roof down to allow the cold German night to whip at his long beautiful air. “In the Air Tonight” was playing on the car radio, and The Jagr wondered if there would ever come a day where he could no longer enjoy the hockeys and explore the lady parts and whether life would be worth living at that point. For that is what The Jagr does. As he was skating around the Garden ice, The Jagr was reminded of that drum solo, how in that moment life was as perfect as it ever was.

Or, maybe he was just thinking about game three and how he could get better. I don’t ‘effing know.

When the Boston Bruins took to practice today before heading off to New York to continue their series, all eyes seemed pointed towards the Boston Bruins defensemen. Most notably, the status of injured starters Dennis Seidenberg, Wade Redden and Andrew Ference.

In any other post-season, the loss of three starters on the blue-line would be a huge concern simply due to the fact that losing tested players could have an effect on line chemistry. By losing three of them, the chances that a mistake are made because of a roster plug being unaware of where their teammates are increased three-fold. Yet, despite losing three starters, the Boston Bruins blue-line play hasn’t missed a beat and some could argue have even improved. Thanks to three playoff rookies, the Boston Bruins injuries have gone from a concern to a real question over whether or not they become scratches again when the veterans return.

First there is Matt Bartkowski. At 24 years old, he has played a couple of games for the Boston Bruins and has even been a joke in the blog community as it seems as if the Pittsburgh native only plays in games against Pittsburgh. This spring has marked his first playoff appearances and he has yet to disappoint. While doing nothing spectacular, he has played well enough to warrant consideration for continued play if and when the veterans start to return.

The biggest name on the “Young Gun” list is Dougie Hamilton. The highly touted Bruins prospect who was deemed “off-limits” in any trade that the Bruins were discussing since last summer started off this season at a blistering pace. His game readiness may have been attributed to the fact that he was not sitting around during the lockout and instead still playing Canadian Juniors. His pace has slowed down and over the year he begun to show his age making positioning mistakes and turning the puck over in crucial spots. Still, Hamilton might be the best puck-moving defensive player that the Bruins have on the roster and it is evident in how well he plays on the power-play. There is not a single pass he makes that doesn’t seem to be on target, even if Bruins fans wish he would shoot the puck more.

Of all the playoff rookies, however, the biggest surprise has been Torey Krug. Once a Hobey Baker award finalist, Krug has not been given much of a chance at making at the NHL level seeing only two appearances at the NHL level. His call-up after the injury to Dennis Seidenberg in the first round was surprising considering that the Boston Bruins had Aaron Johnson waiting in the wings as a healthy scratch. Krug, however, has been a revelation and a joy to watch play hockey. Already he might have the best skating ability and footwork of any of the Bruins defensemen. His goal on Sunday where he played it off his skate to the stick for a quick snap-shot was beautiful and his kick to keep the puck in the zone to set up Campbell’s goal was also very pretty. Krug flies up and down the ice, generating an incredible amount of speed with every drive of the skate. On the power-play in the Bruins umbrella set-up, he can gain the puck on the wing and quickly carry it to the point to quarterback the office, all while keeping his body facing towards the goal the entire time. It’s beautiful to watch and it has made Krug a pleasant surprise and a candidate to be on the roster next season.

Thanks to their brilliant play, it is now unclear who will and who should play when everyone is back and healthy. It looks as if Ferrence is done for the year, but Redden skated in practice as did Seidenberg, albeit for an abbreviated session. With how Krug is playing, it’s hard to see him getting scratched. Picking either Bartowski or Hamilton to be the scratch might make sense, but scratching one opens up issues with how the Bruins like to play their defensive pairings in terms of stick sides.

This is a wonderful issue for the Boston Bruins to have, wondering who of all the great choices should take a seat. Heading into the series with New York, the fans and the media were wondering how the Bruins defense would respond with three young kids playing. Through two games, the three of them have proven they can hang with the best of them and continue to give the Bruins a chance to win games.

The past few weeks over here for me have been a blur. With my final finals period at university and graduation and starting a new job, not even the crazy first round series for the Boston Bruins could help me find time to write blog posts. As a result, Boston’s Bettah has been a place where posts have been infrequent and not exactly the place for timely posts.

No longer! Summer is here and despite the fact that I have a new position. It’s time to get back into the swing of things. As a reward, I decided to write a running diary for game two between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. Can the Bruins take a 2-0 series lead heading back to New York, or will the blue-shirts tie the series and make me nervous again? Here’s what transpired:

2:55- Welcome live to my living room! Joining me today is the newest hockey disliking roommate Farmer. I am convinced that I will get one of them to like hockey by the end of the playoffs. It’s my goal. Big news in the pregame is that Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden will not play. I also haven’t heard anything about Andrew Ferrence. I swear, if Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski keep playing as well as they have, it may be a blessing in disguise for the Bruins. Fun fact, Andrew Ferrence kind of sucked this season.

3:01-

Every game at TD Garden pregame music gets more & more Vancouver

— Matt Kalman (@TheBruinsBlog) May 19, 2013

 

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN KALMAN?

3:04- The pregame show is talking about John Torterella’s comments that Carl Hagelin “stinks” on the power-play. At what point is Mike Milbury going to start wearing crazy suits, talking with his hands and sounding like he just came out of the retirement home? He so desperately wants to be America’s Don Cherry.

3:07- Did I just get unnecessarily excited that America’s Got Talent is coming back soon? Um… no I didn’t and stop asking.

3:10- NBC so desperatly wants us to pretend that the Bruins and the Rangers are rivals. Just because it’s Boston and New York does not automatically create a rivalry as much as they want to think. Ratings? Yeah, they are probably getting those.

3:15-

I’m ready to go. Are you?

3:19- Farmer and now Chris are here and are bashing hockey. Hey I got the television first.

3:24- Early play highlighted by the Bruins getting some wonderful opportunities in the slot for Krejci and Seguin. Tyler Seguin can’t buy a bucket right now.

3:26- Torey Krug is going to have to play every game for the rest of forever. He’s on pace for approximately 20 goals in the playoffs. That one was also beautiful. 1-0 Bruins.

3:29- If Torey Krug’s goal was pretty, then Ryan Callahan’s goal was a complete undressing of Tuukka Rask. Suddenly it is a tie game. At the first commercial break. The Bruins were controlling the game and then they have that terrible turnover and that nasty Ryan Callahan move and its a tie game. Dammit.

3:35- I approve of this name:

McKrug #3rdPair

— Matt Kalman (@TheBruinsBlog) May 19, 2013

 

3:37- Believe it or not, the Bruins killed a Rangers power-play. I thought our power-play was bad two years ago. The Rangers is atrocious. It still is surprising that nothing really happened there. It hasn’t exactly been the most defensive of games so far. Of course, this means that the game will be 1-1 at the end of the third period.

3:45- More chances for the Bruins and more queffed shots. Also, I think I can convince Farmer to like hockey. He’s seems to be enjoying this. Wouldn’t that be nice.

3:50- Chara just destroyed Derek Brassard’s stick and the Bruins are going on the penalty kill. Hey, if you’re going to take a slashing penalty, that certainly is a hell of a way to do it.

3:53- I’m confused. This Rangers power-play doesn’t look terrible. The period will end though with the game tied 1-1. It’s been a weird first period. On one hand, the Boston Bruins had a ton of chances. They’re seeing the ice really well of the pass and delivering beautiful passes to open guys. The Rangers are recovering and preventing the shots from happening. The Boston Bruins certainly out-played the Rangers, but the fact that it’s 1-1 is worrisome.

4:04- I’m sorry NBC, I didn’t realize that Sidney Crosby was now playing in this series.

4:09- How were the Rangers credited with 20 hits in the first period? That seems like too high a number. Also, what is with everyone bashing Dougie Hamilton on the first goal? Marchand turned it over and last I checked Hamilton can’t skate fifty miles an hour.

4:13- Second period time. More of the same for the Bruins and they should be okay.

4:14- The Rangers almost had their second goal of the game on a terrible turnover. This time from David Krejci. Thankfully Tuukka Rask is there to save our bacon.

4:16- Krug keeps the puck in with his skate at the blue-line and fires a shot at the net. Greg Campbell finds the puck and fires it home. What a play from both Krug to keep it in and Campbell to find the puck and finish it. 2-1 Bruins.

4:18- Of course, Rick Nash beats Chara off the rush and goes backhand to forehand to score his first goal of the playoffs. Would it kill the Bruins to hold a lead for more than two minutes in this game?

4:23- Commercial break. All of a sudden after the Rick Nash goal he looks more awake and they clearly won that four and four. Again, Tuukka Rask is being awesome.

4:27- Rangers hit the post and it slides back down underneath Tuukka Rask’s pads. That was a scary moment for everyone in the black and gold.

Remember Bruins, if you stop starting playing a bit better your luck is going to run out.

— Jon Days of Y’Orr (@JonFDOY) May 19, 2013

 

4:29- Bruins power-play time after Dougie jumps into a play and gets hooked. Remember the rule is to finish your beer in two minutes because the Bruins likely won’t score.

4:31- The way Torey Krug skates is so fast and with purpose and awesome. He is really excited right now. Bruins have a couple chances on the power-play, but as you could probably guess they don’t score.

4:36- I bet that John Torterella will get fined for that. Johnny Boychuk from the point… GOAL! Bergeron with the screen in front and Henrik Lundqvist never saw it. If there was ever evidence that the Bruins should just decline penalties and go 4-on-4, that is the evidence. 3-2 Bruins.

4:38- What another fantastic save by Tuukka Rask. I could have swore we were about to give up yet another game-tying goal.

4:40- Peverley commits his second high-stick penalty of the game. Someone should tell him that keeping the stick down on the ice is the rule. This is unfortunate because the Rangers power-play hasn’t been terrible today and seems due for a goal.

4:42- Tuukka Rask is the best bruins penalty killer tonight.

4:43- Rask with a huge backside pad save off a terrible Boychuk turnover. All hail king Rask!

4:45- Torey Krug escapes three defenders a pack of wild-dogs and a roving band of marauders to set up another beautiful shot on goal. This must be what rooting for Erik Karlsson feels like.

4:48- I don’t think NBC is talking about Ryan Callahan enough.

4:51- Second intermission. Bruins are up one after they finally realized they shouldn’t give up the game tying goal shortly after the game-winning goal. I would type more, but I’m too busy salivating over Torey Krug’s skating and Tuukka Rask’s beautiful saves.

4:55- One of my friends who I know for a fact hates Ryan Callahan is trolling really hard right now. “Callahan does the little things to win. Callahan does the things to win Stanley Cups. RYAN CALLAHAN IS SO AWESOME AND WE LOVE HIM”. Despite the fact that he is a Caps fan, we get a long really well.

5:02-

Bruins: 12 giveaways, Rangers: 1

— Nicholas W. Goss (@NicholasGoss35) May 19, 2013

That’s not very good. How about we also put in the fact that the Rangers two goals were scored off two of the Boston giveaways? Thankfully, Tuukka Rask brought his A game today. Far and away the reason the Boston Bruins are winning this game.

5:09- Third period starts and the Boston Bruins basically run the same play they won game one with. Bergeron to Marchand for a 4-2 lead.

5:20- Nothing crazy has really happened in the past 11 minutes. Just a lot of Rask saves and a bunch of conversations in the house about rent prices and stuff. Exhilarating.

5:24- The Jagr is robbed on the doorstep by King Henrik. If the Rangers come back and win this game. Remember this save. Holy shit.

5:29- Dougie scoops it into the zone and the Bruins chase it into the zone. Krejci misses on the doorstep but Lucic is there to put it home. That should end it.

5:30- Campbell goes after Dorsett on a check. Dorsett takes offense for some reason and drops the gloves with Campbell. Dorsett wins the fight pretty clearly, but again, the Bruins are up on the scoreboard.

I’m closing this down now. Boston Bruins simply earned this win today. They skated better, they were more physical and they were more skilled than them. Most importantly, they had the better goalie. If there was ever a question about whether or not Tuukka Rask could be a playoff goalie, a game like game one and game two just goes to show that. After the Bruins took the lead in this game 3-2, the Rangers had a couple of fantastic opportunities and Tuukka shut the door on all of them. He was excellent in this game and a big reason why the Bruins are 10 wins away from the ultimate prize.

Time to move on. Game three is on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden and the Boston Bruins have got to keep plugging away. Win on Tuesday and the series should feel over, although I guess we said that last time.