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Bruins get the points in a much-needed victory 10.21.09 at 9:25 pm ET
By Joe Haggerty

It wasn’t a puck masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but the Bruins managed to get two points in a 3-2 win they most definitely needed Wednesday night. With games against higher caliber competition coming Thursday night against the Flyers and Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators, a victory over the lowly, offensively challenged Preds — last in the NHL in scoring with 10 goals coming into the game – was a virtual must.

“We have to realize we have lots of room for improvement,” B’s coach Claude Julien said. “Our confidence isn’t where it should be right now, but I thought we gained in confidence as the game went on. We were better period by period.”

The B’s trailed through nearly the entire game before pulling ahead midway through the third period when the fourth line once again proved to be the dirty-faced savior. Steve Begin battled to keep the puck in the zone and then was rewarded when Daniel Paille wheeled around the net and found him wide open in the high slot. Begin put the hammer down on a one-timer past Preds goalie Dan Ellis, and the Bruins finally had sweet victory in their grasp. It was Begin’s first goal as a Bruin after thoroughly impressing everyone with his high-effort style through the team’s first eight games.

Things didn’t start out all that well as the Bruins didn’t pose even a threat in the first period while the new skaters settled in a collection of four reconfigured lines. The Predators took advantage of Boston’s transition phase in the first period, and Jerred Smithson scored Nashville’s first goal on pure grit and persistence around the Boston cage.

After a lifeless first 20 minutes, the B’s jumped on the Preds in the second and scored 26 seconds into the period. Rookie Brad Marchand, playing in his first NHL game, made a great tip pass to Michael Ryder on a 2-on-1 hustle play and Ryder flipped a backhanded bid top shelf for Boston’s first score.

Former BU skater Colin Wilson struck back for Nashville and potted his first career NHL goal to once again give the Preds a lead, but Boston fought back and finally showed a little ferocity. This time it was Patrice Bergeron. The 24-year-old center battled through traffic to attack the rebound of a Zdeno Chara blast, and his third effort finally squirted pads Ellis’ pads for the tying score. The line of Bergeron-Marchand-Ryder was clearly Boston’s best of the night and put consistent pressure on the Preds.

YOU’RE THE BEST AROUND AND NOTHING’S EVER GONNA KEEP YOU DOWN: Brad Marchand didn’t show a lot of his infamous rabble-rousing style in his debut, but he helped spark the Bruins by setting up Boston’s first goal of the game after a dreadful first period. It was appropriate that Marchand picked up a point in his first career NHL game, and his line was the most effective all night long for Julien. This also was the line that finished the night out for the Bruins during a frenetic final minute — the ultimate reward from the coaching staff for a job well done.

GOAT HORNS: The B’s power play. Still no life and not a ton of quality scoring chances for Bruins during their few attempts on the man-advantage. In fact, there were none. Zero shots on net in four minutes worth of power play time for the B’s in the win over the Predators.  Why hasn’t Mark Recchi shown up much on the power play this season after being very effective last year?

Read More: Mark Recchi, Patrice Bergeron, Steve Begin, Print  |  Email   | Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Miranda

    Haggs – Thanks, and good points; esp. regarding the PP.

    I wasn’t overly impressed with this game, but once again (for the 3rd time now), it’s a starting point.

  • http://bigbadblog.weei.com Joe Haggerty

    It truly was a good place to start Miranda…now they just have to follow it up with another strong effort against the Philadelphia Flyers on the road. It’s a tall order as the Flyers got knocked around on a road trip in Florida and are going to be highly motivated tomorrow night.

    –Haggs

  • Randy

    I’ll take any type of wins right now. Nice to see the Bruins start to gel a bit more after that 1st period.These are how these games are gonna be won. It’s all about who is willing to dig the deepesnt out comepete their opponent. Seems like Bergeron is the clear cut the offensive leader right now and he definitely stepped up last night and has had a good season thus far. Always been impressed with Sobotka and his style of play, love how he creates chances by protecting the puck so well and isn’t afriad to dig in the corners. Liked what we saw out of Marchand and Paille as well. Oh, Haggs, what did you think of the lineup combinations last night?

  • Jesse

    I have said it all along and i will say it again, when healthy, Patrice Bergeron is the BEST player on the Bruins. People get all caught up into the fancy-ness of Savard and the sudden uprise of Krejci. Bergeron is a complete different player (center) than either of them. Patrice is a puck protector, hard-nose center that uses his body and puck handling skills to make plays especially along the walls and below the goal line. He is defficult one-on-one and is by far the most complete player. Krejci’s game relys on his patience, gaining time and space to visualize a certain play, not overlly physical. Savard is a straight run-n-gun player, he’s vision is the greatest asset he has and uses creativity when setting up his team mates. But at times he does way too much and tends to throw the puck across the ice into no-man’s land, pretty risky center.

    If anyone remembers, Patrice was tagged to be the #1 center after Joe Thorton was traded and before Savard’s arrival. To me, he was worth every penny he was given when he signed the contract. He is going to have a break out year. Although bold, i made a prediction before the season started, he will lead the team with 85+ points this season…he can be that good.

  • http://bigbadblog.weei.com Joe Haggerty

    Totally agree Jesse…Last year was a transitional year for Bergeron, and he looks every bit the player he was pre-concussion. He will be the guy to step up and fill in the void with Savard on the shelf for the next 4-6 weeks, and Krejci will slide as the No. 2 guy. It’s a great story actually.

    It’s pretty enjoyable to watch Bergeron simply shield guys away from the puck and basically play keep-away while waiting for a play to develop. I think Krejci has some physical element to his game as well and is best when he plays with a slight edge, but he’s nowhere near as physically strong as Bergeron.

    One thing people forget is that Bergeron is only a year older than Krejci. That to me, is amazing and speaks to how much Bergeron is capable of giving this year. Check out today’s three things if you’re looking for more about Bergeron.

    http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/bruins/jerry-spar/2009/10/22/hat-trick-three-things-we-learned-much-needed-win

    Liked the line combinations, Randy. People are going to love the Bergeron, Marchand, Ryder combo if they keep that together. Plenty of grit and skill combined into Black and Gold three-man gang. Good stuff. Perhaps skating with Wheeler can spark Sobotka, and vice-versa.

    –Haggs

  • Jesse

    Great article Mr. Haggerty.

    As i read, i got the sense that you could not wait for Bergeron to re-surface to write a wonderful piece about the young centermen. I can tell that within your hearts of hearts you hold a special place for Patrice Bergeron. I am so glad you actually understand the transition Bergeron had to go through and you realized how good of a player he was before the injury. Many fans just click on the “stats” tab and analyze and criticize a player, numbers don’t ALWAYS tell the story.

    As an examiner of the game, i consider last year a wash for Bergeron. It was hard to see Bergeron patrol the third-line for the last seasons. Especially with second and third tier players as linemates (Kobasew/Axelsson)for the majority of time. Which i think delayed his offensive devlopment. Let’s be honest, put those two along Krejci or Savard and they too would not fair much better than Bergeron production wise. With the arrival of Marchand and the addition of Ryder i believe the new trio has a chance to re-invent the exciting line of Sturm-Bergeron-Boyes just a few seasons back.

    Look once again for Bergeron to become one of the best young players in the NHL. I gaurantee it…

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