Game 3 Recap

The Boston Bruins have not surrendered a goal in a home game over the last 2 games. Even more impressively, is the squads that they’ve shut out. First, it was the best offense in the NHL in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, it is the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that was not shutout once during the entire regular season. This is a huge testament to how well the Bruins have been playing since the third period of the Toronto series. Bottom line is, this Bruins team is playing great defensive hockey and are now starting to get scoring from some unlikely sources in, as Claude Julien has dubbed them, “The Hunch Line”, made up of Seguin, Kelly, and Paille.

I do have one bone to pick about Game 3 and that is with the play of Kaspars Daugavins. From what I have observed, Daugavins has struggled in all aspects of play. He single-handedly ruined a potential 3 on 1 opportunity for the Bruins by putting himself offside and has committed bad penalties. Luckily, the Bruins have killed off every penalty they have faced thus far in the Stanley Cup Finals. I would suggest giving Jay Pandolfo a run in the lineup. At least you know with Pandolfo that he will be solid veteran who will provide more consistency then Daugavins. To me, it would be worth a shot and would make me less nervous watching the Merlot Line on the ice.

Game 4 Preview

The biggest story just prior to Game 3 game time for both teams were pregame skate injuries to Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara. Hossa supposedly took a puck off the leg and was scratched from the lineup just prior to game time. Chara required stitches over his left eye after falling into Milan Lucic and having Lucic land on him. Now, the big story going into Game 4 is if the skirmishes in the last minute of the Game 3 carry over into Game 4. The Blackhawks need to do something to try and change momentum in this series and perhaps they are going to try and take the strategy of increasing physicality. If there is one saying that even the new Bruins fans know it is “Don’t Poke the Bear”. And that is for good reason too. The Bruins are the best team in the National Hockey League when they play angry. As of now, the Chicago Blackhawks have not given them a reason to play angry and I don’t think they should start now. Doing so would be a big mistake. I know that the Bruins are going to get Chicago’s best game in Game 4, and the question is, will it be enough to grind out a win against the Bruins. Hopefully, the Bruins will be able to weather the storm and grind out another victory. Let’s go B’s!