Did you hear the one about the Bruins power play?

No, there’s no punchline. It’s just that Boston’s toothless man advantage is one of the biggest jokes currently running in the Eastern Conference. The Black and Gold power play unit squandered five different opportunities against a feisty New York Rangers defense and All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, and the B’s fell by a 1-0 score to the Blueshirts Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Bruins outshot the Rags 14-6 in the third period and 29-23 over the course of 60 minutes, and outhit the Rangers by a 41-28 margin in a game where the Black and Gold clearly paid the price. The biggest difference between the two teams were glaring, however.

Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik provided the only goal of the game in the final minutes of the second period on a pure goal-scorer’s strike from the high slot, and the B’s just couldn’t capitalize on five frittered away power play chances. The biggest disappointment for the team is simply how well they’re playing in just about every other area of the game, but they just don’t have any elite goal-scorers.

Everything earned offensively is going to through gallons of sweat and hard work in front of the net. Goals simply aren’t going to sometimes come easily as they did last season when the B’s were the second-best offense in the NHL. The Bruins now sit 28th in the NHL with a power play that’s scoring only 12.2 percent of the time, and taking out their blowout against the Carolina Hurricanes makes things only more gruesome in these post-Halloween days. 

It’s almost fitting that Boston’s scoring fits are coming in the same week that Phil Kessel is expected to make his debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and give their woebegone franchise the scoring transfusion that the B’s seem to badly need after the season’s first month. Patrice Bergeron and Blake Wheeler share the B’s lead in goal-scoring with four apiece, and Boston needs to do much better if they hope to escape a .500 fate that seems all too realistic 13 games into the season.

YOU’RE THE BEST AROUND, NOTHING’S EVER GONNA KEEP YOU DOWN:Brad Marchand played a physical spark plug game for the Bruins, and finished with five shots on net and three registered hits in 17:18 of action. His open ice flying shoulder hit on fellow rookie Michael DelZotto was exactly what the B’s could use more of. Mark Recchi was also a strong presence around the net in the third period when Boston was trying to force overtime and secure a point. 

GOAT HORNS:Ummm, power play anyone? No offense, but no offense. This is becoming a serious flaw within the hockey team, and one has to hope it’s not a fatal flaw for this season.

5 Comments for “B’s searching for scoring against the Rags”

1. Lt Col Podovsky Says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 8:00 pm

   Sturm: Your wife hasn’t the foggiest idea what you do at work

2. Jesse Says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 8:38 pm

   Mr.Haggerty,

   I’m not trying to throw any further fuel to the fire but this 1,1,1,1 combination of wins and loses is getting really frustrating to watch, just stating the obvious. This team actually reminds me of the 07-08 squad. They had to dig and claw for offense and had to use a lot of energy into outworking the other team. Many of the games won were 3-2, 2-1, all close contests. They had little offense and relied on pure effort to get wins. It’s time the Bruins get an elite caliber player. Maybe it’s too soon to jump to conclusions and in fairness they seem to be playing a bit more structured but it does not give them (Bruins Organization)the excuse of playing the “waiting” game. They are in 9th place in the eastern conference and in hockey a team could run off 4-5 games straight, seperating themselves from the Bruins. Although it’s not time to panic yet, the Bruins should take out thier space-scope and search for a star…because they clearly don’t have one.

   Side Note: Tyler Hall is not walking through that door next summer.

3. mike Says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 9:37 pm

   Wideman has been terrible this year. Someone should tell him the season started and he can start earning his money now.

4. Anguillaman Says:
   November 1st, 2009 at 9:54 pm

   The RUINS just have extremely limited scoring ability or punch ….look you have 4 minutes with a power play advantage and can’t score…what more do you need to know this teams stinks…and so does the owner/management group that had a team on the verge of a cup, but chose to take the RUINS route again of dumping players to make more $$$. Thankully we have 3 other teams in town to follow and that put a legitamate team on the field or court. Once we get to mid-season, your going to see a lot of empty seats.

5. NE Redneck Says:
   November 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm

   Thanks Chiapet. I knew letting a 30 goal scorer (I understand he may not be playing yet due to injury) was easy because you didn’t want to pay him Savvy money. He didn’t want to be here? Baloney, I don’t buy it.

   I don’t care if he is a one-way player. He can put the puck in the freakin’ net! We now have a club made up of all the same average players with few exceptions. Is that a team that will go far against the Pens or the Caps? No.

   Signing TT to a deal that everyone laughed at shows you are not afraid to pay for past performance and my guess is that you also thought it was his due. Thanks for the sympathy vote but now we have $7 to 8 million locked up in 2 goaltenders, one who will be near 40 when the contract expires (can’t wait to buy out this contract in year 3!). Rask is not going to stick around while he shows he deserves TT’s ice time from TT who continues to let in the soft ones. Not a good sign.

   Savvy is the real deal and you better get ready to pay him or we will certainly be back to the pathetic old days.

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