You could kind have guessed that this game was going to turn out the way it was. This was the second game of a back-to-back. Boston was coming back from New Jersey. They have never played well in the second game of back-to-back games. They were now missing two key components to the forward lineup. Dougie Hamilton was scratched.
I'm not really jammed up over it, to be honest with you. The Islanders are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, going 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and surging up the standings. When you have a rested team in the city the night before and hanging out at Fenway Park while their opponent is playing a hockey game on the road, things aren't going to go the way you'd expect it. Or maybe they did.
I'm starting to wonder if Claude is suffering from some sort of mental disease. Is his brain rotting away or is there some sort of virus in there just eating his brain tissue like sushi? Who the fuck would put Jaromir Jagr and Milan Lucic together and center them with Greg Campbell? In what world would this ever make sense? None of these guys have speed on their side, NONE OF THEM.
I'll get more in depth as we look through the positives and negatives of the game, but there was nothing really redeeming from last night that's not named Tuukka Rask.
– Military Night in the Garden is one of my favorite things the Bruins do every year. I love the camo jerseys they wore during warm-ups last night (and I think it had more to do with the number kit than anything). I have military in my family and I'm blessed to have friends who has enlisted (and re-enlisted) in keeping morons like me safe. I always believe that we should honor our military whenever possible.
So thank you.
– Can Tuukka Rask catch a fucking break? The poor guy is playing out of his mind right now and can't get any offensive or defensive support to save his life. Last night was just another game in which Tuukka Rask did everything he could to keep his corpse of a team in the game. Here's a few of the stop Rask had to make to even keep this game close:
And his save of the night:
I could go on and on. He routinely made saves like this last night because the defense in front of him was fucking garbage and has been garbage since the season start. We've wrote about it numerous times, dedicated a post to it breaking down how bad the defense has been and there's nothing the Bruins can (or will) do to change it.
Rask has quieted the doubters (or at least he should have) and is basically the only reason this team is still fighting for a top 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
– The power play was 100% successful. Seriously, 1/1. I'm amazed at you are. What was even more shocking was how it looked. Gregory Campbell continues to defy logic and is making plays out there. You gotta give credit to Soupy and Seguin for that goal. Seguin sniped that thing when it looked like there wasn't any room.
– This banner from NHL.com, which makes it look like Adam McQuaid has a nose full of Josh Bailey's asshole.
– Claude's lines were a mess. Paille with Krejci and Horton? Lucic with Jagr and Campbell? Look, when Marchand goes down – you need to replace him with Seguin, not put Lucic's cement skates with two guys who are equally as slow. That line was a fucking disaster last night – as Milan Lucic as been this entire season. A demotion isn't bumping a guy from first line to second line.
If you want to send Lucic a message, scratch him. What's going to happen? He's going to get upset? Is he going to cry about it? No, he's not. Hopefully it will light a fire under his ass. It can't hurt taking him out of the lineup since he's not doing anything except for turning the puck over. He is, literally, not contributing at all. Last night he had 1 shot on goal and 2 hits.
Yeah, what a fucking stud right?
– I'm not even sure if that shop is accurate.
Where the fuck is Nathan Horton? Can someone point him out for me because I've been unable to find him lately. He had a quick run of like 4 goals in 5 games and is back to being a ghost. I don't think Claude will demote him because I think Claude is afraid of losing him mentally. With production like this, Horton is as good as gone unless he takes a massive discount.
– This tweet. Unreal.
– FUCK YOU SWEDEN!
– Are we sure Carl Söderberg is real and not just some made up thing by the media?
– Is this a loss we can chalk up to "karma"?
– If Milan Lucic crushes buffets like he's crushing opponents, how long until Hometown Buffet is out of business?
– Could the Boston economy survive such a thing?
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