Tim Thomas gives up one of five goals during Wednesday night's game
I have few rules in life, but one of them is when my Boston Bruins have a chance to close out a playoff series and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, I write a running diary for the game. Here’s what transpired:
7:56 EST – Welcome live to my living room! Joining me today is my friend Scott Hagen. He’s not exactly what I would call a hockey fan, but I’m dragging him into it anyway.
7:57 – Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher on Tim Thomas – “He’s making miracles so we have to make miracles”. Sorry evil genius Guy Boucher, but Tim Thomas is making miracles because he is Jesus. He could turn water into wine at this point and I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean, he already walks on water and don’t tell me it’s frozen and everyone in hockey is doing it. It’s still water in my eyes.
8:00- “Doc” Emerick says that the population in the St. Pete Times forum is 21,000 which would imply a sell-out. Sell-out? Tampa Bat? That’s impossible.
8:03 – I can’t take this. If I die tonight, tell the Bruins I love them.
8:04- Bruins AA is live at Day’s of Yorr. Thank god.
8:07- Versus just showed a commercial of some kid who got to spend a day with the Stanley Cup. How do I get to spend a day with the Stanley Cup? I’ll fake a terminal illness if I have to. I just want to drink beers out of the Stanley Cup. Don’t worry. I’ll clean it.
8:09- Oh god. Pierre McGuire is doing the in the glass reporting tonight. Whose ready to hear nothing interesting from inside the glass tonight?
8:12- Finally this game is about to get going. Versus took long enough.
8:13- Well it would get going if Dwyane Roloson’s equipment didn’t suck. Hurry up!
8:15- Why do the Lightning score within the first minute in seemingly EVERY EFFING GAME? I’m honestly getting sick of it. Also, Tampa fans are still trying to get “Ole” going like they are Habs fans or something. All you’re doing is making yourself sound like soccer fans.
8:18- The good news is that the Lightning scored a minute in last time and we won. The bad news is the Bruins are down 1-0 and that’s never a good thing.
8:19 – Having seen the replay I have to admit, that was a hell of a play by Teddy Purcell on the Tampa goal. I just wish refs didn’t toss people out of the face-off circle so fast.
8:20- Nice shot by Lucic off the rush. Unfortunately, no one is in the area to bang the rebound home. Also, Versus mentions the 1-3-1 for the first time. That’s the first of about five hundred.
8:24- Brad Marchand versus Steve Downie is like the good elf versus the evil elf. I’ll let you figure out which one is which. I bet they throw down later.
8:25- LOOOOOCCCCCHHHHHH. That was a hell of a shot by Milan Lucic who got the puck at the blue line and snapped a wrist shot over the glove of Roloson. That is a goal-scorers goal. Been waiting for that for a while. Game tied at 1.
8:27- I feel like that goal could be the start of something for Lucic. Then again, I said that during Game 4 of the Flyers series and he only has one goal and two assists since. Still, that is a great shot.
8:28- Bruins power-play. I’m already wishing I had the next two minutes of my life back.
8:31- The power-play actually wasn’t terrible. The Bruins actually got some nice chances with Chara sitting in front of Roloson trying to screen him. I just wish we could have put one home. Still, keep playing like that and one could go home.
8:35- Right now it feels like an evenly matched game. The Bruins are spending more time in their offensive zone, but they aren’t getting good chances. I almost would rather the Lightning get more chances just to keep Timmy fresh.
8:39- Rich Peverley has moved back to the third line and Tyler Seguin moves to the Greg Campbell line. Seguin responds by making two good chances. I actually like the move. In the first two series the old third line was excellent.
8:40- Power-play for the Bruins. I’ll see you in two minutes.
8:43- Everything good the Bruins did on the first power-play was negated by that power-play. That one was painful. The Bruins got no real good chances.
8:44- David Krejci shot… GOAL! Beats Roloson glove high. That’s the second glove high goal of the night. ATTACK!
8:46- Stamkos made the turnover on the Krejci goal but Versus is still saying good things about him. Typical versus.
8:49- Bruins enter the first intermission with a 2-1 lead. The Bruins are the much better team right now. They are barely letting Tampa into their zone and are getting the better chances at goals. As long as Claude doesn’t go into the locker room and say “Okay guys, play not to lose” then I’ll be fine. Then again, I’m not going to get my hopes up that he won’t.
8:53- Jeremy Ronieck just said in the intermission show “I know you guys love it when I say ‘come with speed’.” I’ll let you make your own jokes.
8:59- Versus is showing the highlights from the last two playoff losses for the Bruins. Remind me to yell at Versus later.
9:07- Second period, here we go.
9:10- Bruins are sleep-walking to start the period sleepwalking again. Thankfully, Hedman bails us out by hitting Seguin with a high-stick.
9:14- No power-play goal again. Typical.In other news, Scott and I just determined that Guy Boucher looks like the coach of Team Iceland in D2 only if he had dark hair. No wonder he looks evil.
9:15- Tim Thomas is doing his best Jesus impression right now.
9:16- Now that I think about it, the Tampa jerseys look like Team Iceland’s jerseys. If Steve Stamkos revealed himself to be Gunner Stahl, it wouldn’t shock me.
9:20- Tampa is playing much better hockey right now. The Bruins are going on the penalty kill. Huge one midway through the second.
9:21- Somehow the puck ended up in the back of the net, it looks like Tim Thomas lost the puck and Martin St. Louis found it. Game tied at two now.
9:22- Okay, if they can get a power-play goal, we can too. Right?
9:25- I wish the Bruins knew that good things happen when you shoot. It looks like they forgot how to shoot.
9:27- I wish we could score on the power-play, you can’t always get what you want though.
9:31- If there ever was a time for a penalty kill, now would be the time.
9:34- I thought Thomas had that save. Dammit. 3-2 Tampa. Not good. Thomas was pissed at himself after that even though he had no reason to actually make that save.
9:36- Tampa is playing better than the Bruins right now, plain and simple. Tampa is scoring on the power-play and Boston looks a high-school team on the power-play.
9:41- If I am the Boston Bruins I keep going glove high on Roloson. He looks uncomfortable on every shot that is put there by the Bruins.
9:46- Dennis Seidenberg just saved a fourth goal for Tampa. Unfortunately, Andrew Ferrence puts the Bruins back on the PK.
9:48- St. Louis’ speed just prevented Bergeron from getting a shorthanded shot on Roloson, much to the dismay of the yelling me.
9:49- End of the second period. That period felt like a classic Claude Julien lean back period. I don’t even think the Bruins played hockey that period. They just sat back and tried not to lose the game while the Lightning played with desperation and passion. Claude needs to change his ways, plain and simple. It isn’t okay for their to be a Game 7. The Bruins should have fire in their eyes and be trying to end this series tonight. It looked that way in the first period and not that way in the second. The Bruins need that first period team to show up or else we are having a Game 7 and I don’t think my heart can take it.
9:54- Watching a bunch of explosions on Mythbusters during the intermission. Making me feel a little bit better. Just a little though.
10:05- I would love to tell you that I feel confident about the Boston Bruins coming back and winning this game, but I don’t. It’s the Boston Bruins.
10:07- And the Boston Bruins give up a power-play goal to start the period. Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck fuck fuck.
10:10- The Boston Bruins are going to make me emo. The way we have played in the last two periods, we don’t deserve to win this game.
10:17- Kaberle commits a penalty. I feel a PPG goal coming for Tampa followed by me settling into depression.
10:22- With the way that Tomas Kaberle has been playing, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a Tampa Bay Stanley Cup ring.
10:23- A powerplay goal? What? For the Bruins? Holy shit. Hang on everyone. These last ten minutes are going to get good.
10:24- Followed by Tampa scoring. Fuck this.
10:26- I guess according to the Bruins, hockey is a one period game.
10:29- The Boston Bruins threw this hockey game away. Plain and simple. They had the momentum and the flow of the game and they forgot to play the final two periods. That’s why there is going to be a Game 7 on Friday night.
10:33- Somehow, the Bruins get one into the back of the Lightning net. This is a cock-tease. there is no way we can tie this, right?
10:34- Jesus Christ the Bruins finally woke up. It only took them a period and a half.
10:39- The Bruins might have one or two more rushes left in them. Maybe, just maybe we can sneak one across. We sure as hell don’t deserve it.
10:41- What the fuck was Kaberle doing in Ryder’s way? Fucking Kaberle.
10:44- I just stopped breathing… I can’t make this up.
10:47- Bruins didn’t deserve to win, Game 7 Friday in the Garden.
God help my heart.
~Benti
Filed in Bruins | Tagged: Boston Bruins
