Good News and Bad News for the Bruins
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by Rawbeezeitz
The good news is that Patrice Bergeron will be okay. The bad news is that he won’t be okay for at least another month. The Bruins center suffered a Grade 3 (most severe) concussion, as well as a broken nose. It will take him at least a month to recover and rehabilitate from the concussion.
Randy Jones - the Flyers’ player that checked Bergeron into the boards - was suspended for 2 games by the NHL. Jones does not have a reputation for dirty and/or overly aggressive play. The major penalty he received in Saturday’s game in Boston was the first of his career. However, it is strange that the Bruins will be without Bergeron for a month, and the Flyers will get Jones back much sooner. To his credit, Jones immediately issued an apology for the hit.
The hit on Bergeron was the play of the game on Saturday. Not only did the Bruins players have to deal with the emotions surrounding the event and the uncertainty of Bergeron’s condition, but they also had to play 2+ periods without their best player.
The Bruins went on top nearly 8 minutes into the 2nd period thanks a to power play tip in by Marco Sturm. The normally reserved Sturm, who makes J.D. Drew look like a manic depressive, celebrated profusely after the goal. Sturm is one of Bergeron’s linemates and the goal was probably one of the most emotional scores in the German’s career.
The lead did not last for long. With the Bruins once again on the power play, Zdeno Chara gave away the puck at the blue line after being unable to handle a hard pass. Mike Richards stole it from the big man and skated unchallenged up the ice, backhanding the puck past goalie Tim Thomas to tie the game at 1-1.
Joffrey Lupul would add another goal for Philadelphia, with a power play wrist shot. The penalty that caused the power play was for too many men on the ice, a problem which plagued the Bruins last year. Boston had 12 too many men penalties in the 06-07 season.
The Bruins had a chance to equalize as Philip Kessel was awarded a penalty shot. Kessel had been the lone scorer in penalty shots in Boston’s 1-0 win over the Rangers a week prior to this game, but he was unable to find the back of the net against Martin Biron. Kessel’s shot hit Biron in the blocker and bounced safely away from the net. It was the last premium scoring opportunity the Bruins would have.
Biron had a great game in goal, stopping 38 of 39 shots he faced, including the penalty shot. Tim Thomas had one of his worst games of the season, statistically, stopping 26 of 28 shots. However, one of those shots was on a shorthanded breakaway, and the other was a power play opportunity.
Zdeno Chara continues to struggle in the offensive end. In his own zone, and in the neutral zone, he is an asset. But offensively, he is a liability. His ill-timed pinches, and puck misplays have directly led to 3 breakaway goals by opponents, and countless Bruins opportunities squandered. The big defenseman is at -1 this season, the worst +/- for any defenseman on the team.
Goalie Manny Fernandez suffered a left knee sprain in practice yesterday, and will be out for an undisclosed period of time. Jordan Sigalet was recalled from Providence of the AHL to replace him. Thankfully, this will prevent head coach Claude Julien from platooning the unreliable Fernandez with the consistently impressive Thomas.
Losing Bergeron could not come at a worse time. The Bruins begin a 9 game stretch against divisional opponents starting tomorrow night. The Bruins will play Buffalo 3 times, Montreal twice, Ottawa twice, and Toronto twice. Last season, Boston could only scrap together 29 points from divisional play. If the Bruins wish to get out of the basement and into the playoffs, they will have to do much better than that within the Northeast Division.
Sources:
BostonBruins.com
The Boston Herald
Photo Credit:
AP/Michael Dwyer
Alright, I'm done now..."waaaaaahhhhhhhhh"