The Boston Bruins played better than on Friday night against the Red Wings, but that is not saying much as they lose again Sunday 4-2 against the Wings in Hockey Town.
The Bruins scratched Michigan native Steve Kampfer for Mark Stuart, which may have been a mistake because the Bruins could have used his puck moving skills all game long. Oh and Kampfer also had 50 friends and family attending the game today. Have to feel bad for the kid. Zach Hamill also got scratched, as Tyler Seguin re-joined the line up.
The Wheeler-Seguin-Ryder line got off to a good start potting a goal early to take a 1-0 lead. Wheeler made a great play taking the puck to the net, which led to a rebound given up by Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. Tyler Seguin stuffed the biscuit in the net, off of the Howard rebound.
Seguin had a decent game, and seemed to be flying around the ice. He had a great shift on the goal, but completely missed his assignment on the Red Wings third goal later in the game, which gave Kris Draper a breakaway on Tim Thomas.
Brad Marchand had an up and down game, he basically gave Detroit two goals, and also scored a goal on the power play. The Red Wings tied it at 1-1 as Marchand made a blind pass, which found Todd Bertuzzi and Bertuzzi buried it. Marchand then made it a 2-1 Bruins lead by beating Howard on a one-timeer on the power play, which was set up by a crisp pass from Michael Ryder.
The Red Wings tied it at 2-2, when Marchand fell on top of Tim Thomas, leaving the net wide open. The puck found its way to Pavel Datsyuk, and he isn’t going to miss a wide open net.
Todd Bertuzzi scored on a two on one to make it 4-2, which put the game out of reach for the Bruins. Chara was left out to dry by the rest of the Bruins, and could not break up the play.
The Bruins played better than Friday, but still lacked the physical presence needed to beat a team like the Red Wings. With teams like the Red Wings that have so many skilled players, to win you need to slow them down. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean fighting, It just means take the body and crushing your opponent at every chance you get. As long as when the Bruins make those crushing hits and are not taken out of the play by it they could have dominated that game.
After the game Zach Hamill was assigned to Providence. He is simply being sent back down because Daniel Paille is finished serving his four suspension. Jordan Caron appears to being staying with team for now, and it will be interesting to see which one of these three Paille, Caron, and Seguin will sit on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Or will Claude Julien surprise all of us and sit someone else to make a statement?
My 3 Stars:
- Todd Bertuzzi
- Pavel Datsyuk
- Michael Ryder
*Picture taken from Bruins.nhl.com
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