Boston had to quickly pack their bags and leave Vancouver to get to Edmonton for a game less than 24 hours later to take on the Oilers at Rexall Place.
Normally I would gripe and moan about it, but given that the B's had a substantial rest between the Calgary and Vancouver contests, it didn't seem to be that big an issue (if you had read my past articles, I have been making comments of the often four games a week and back-to-back games schedule that the Bruins have faced this season).
Andrew Ference has been listed with a lower body injury after the game against the Canucks. I suspect it was due to the punishing Victor Oreskovich hit he received.
The Game
First Period
Edmonton wasted no time to open the scoring with Ales Hemsky. Jim Vandermeer ripped a shot from the point and Tuukka Rask stopped it, but the rebound went straight out to Hemsky. Hemsky made no mistake on the opportunity and notched his 14th goal of the season with just 1:05 into the contest.
Late in the period, Michael Ryder tied it up. McQuaid ripped on from the point and the rebound found Ryder. Ryder skated a little further to Devan Dubnyk's left and wristed it high to make it count.
Three minutes, nine seconds later, Nathan Horton gave the Bruins the lead. David Krejci was close and looked like he was ready to shoot but Dubnyk was square. Krejci passed to Horton who was all alone in the slot to bury it in the open right side. 2-1 Bruins.
Second Period
The only goal scored was in the last minute of play. Rich Peverley passed the puck to an open Ryder but Ryder had other ideas and passed it back to Peverley who was freed up by the play. Peverley skated from Dubnyk's right to left and put in his first as a Bruin to give Boston a 3-1 lead.
Edmonton only managed to muster 12 shots on Rask after 40 minutes.
Third Period
Just over three minutes of play in the final frame, Gilbert Brule fired one from the point and it looked like there was a combination of a screen and Rask out of position that made the difference as the Oilers got within one to make it 3-2 Bruins.
The game got a little chippy with Brad Marchand and Andrew Cogliano getting the flippers up. Cogliano seemed to have gotten a couple more pokes in on Marchand, but Marchand decisively made the takedown.
Just over a minute later, Jim Vandemeer and Milan Lucic got into it. Lucic looked like he got the first couple of punches in but the fight suddenly slowed down as if Lucic got stunned. Vandemeer took advantage of that and got a few good shots that took Lucic's helmet off and he appeared as if he was stunned again. All of a sudden, Lucic Looked like he woke up as he got a few good shot of his own in. Very strange fight and un-Looch-like (Yeah I know. Not a word, but it's my article. It wasn't Looch-like).
The Bruins took their fifth straight win and after going through a three-game losing streak at the hands of the Red Wings and Maple Leafs. All five wins were on the road so a trend like this would be welcoming in the playoffs, if they can win some at home and steal some in their opponent's barn.
The Oilers have not defeated the Bruins in their last nine meetings and we can date back to the year 2000 since this happened.
The Good
Where do I begin?
- In the five wins, the Bruins have outscored their opponents 19-9.
- Rask was solid. Having taken four of the last five games, he seemed to have rediscovered his game.
- The Bruins are not skating around like chickens with their heads cut off. Everybody seemed to be following their role to the letter and that has limited the mistakes.
- The transition, whether it was offensive or defensive has been instant. Once the play changed, everybody responded appropriately.
- Both Goalies played very well. My hat is off to Dubnyk after facing 40 shots on goal—he held his own, but his team mates couldn't muster more than 17 shots.
The Bad
So far not so bad, but the youngsters really have to stop their blind passes. There were a number of them in the recent past that could have eaten them up. So far, nothing like the Brad Marchand blind pass in front of the net where someone like Todd Bertuzzi could snatch it up and be left alone to score.
The Ugly
Again. Where do I begin?
- Edmonton's 17 shots on goal is not a stat that I would want to post on my wall. Edmonton couldn't muster a proper offense against a team that leads the league in the least amount of goals against. To post 17 shots on net will not be enough to win games period, let alone against a defensive team like the Bruins.
- Dubnyk was not deserving of this loss. His teammates let him down.
- The Officiating. Some calls the referees did not make could have cost the Bruins the game or at the very least an extra point.
- There was a no-call on a clear icing. Chara thought it was and the play went on. Fortunately for the Bruins, nothing came out of it for the Oilers.
- The headlock on Johnny Boychuk from Gilbert Brule which was followed by a cross-check in the shoulders when he was down on one knee, after the whistle and while the referee was right there.
- A.) Brule held to the point of ripping Boychuk's Helmet off.
- B.) Sure it was less than a minute left to play, but it was a one-goal game and Brule clearly held Boychuk and followed up with an obvious attempt to goad Boychuk into a penalty to thin the defense at a crucial point of the game. Brule should have been sent off. Do the crime, get in the box.
My Take
Good game overall. Both Rask and Dubnyk played very well but someone had to take the W and leave the L for the other guy.
The B's did not panic and stuck to the game plan. The Oilers hung in there and made the game interesting.
This is Cory Ducey saying "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean"
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