Loss To Canadiens Drops Bruins To Last Place In Eastern Conference

I promise in this post or in subsequent Bruins posts this season to avoid referring to a Stanley Cup hangover or general malaise.

With that out of the way, can we all agree that Boston's (3-6-0) forgettable start to the 2011-12 season has gone from unfortunate to disaster in less than ten games? Montreal's (3-5-2) first trip to TD Garden didn't serve as much more than another punch in the gut as the Canadiens came away with a 2-1 win tonight.

Somehow a team that played last night and on Monday looked fresher and more energized than one that hadn't played a game since Saturday night. Weird right?

The biggest issue by far right now for the B's is goal scoring (sound familiar?). Yes, Habs goaltender Carey Price (29 saves) can sometimes make cameo appearances as a top NHL goalie but this evening, the Bruins made him look like Patrick Roy in his prime. Next thing you know, Boston head coach Claude Julien will be introducing him for Price's Hockey Hall of Fame induction.

Boston had plenty of chances but they can't seem to do basic goal scoring things like putting a puck over a goalie's pads on the ice or shooting blocker side rather than glove side.

Two ugly streaks were nipped in the bud by the B's in the first period. Patrice Bergeron's (2nd of the season) power play goal at 14:05 served as the first time in seven contests that Boston scored first. I don't know the number (I'm assuming it was bad) but a power play strike for them is always huge and extremely unlikely.

Speaking of unlikely, the goal was a complete gift as Bergeron lost the face-off in Montreal's zone but it was hit right back at Price who wasn't ready for it (even though it wasn't coming too fast at all). The rare hockey own goal.

Montreal's Erik Cole-their key free agent signing over the summer-tied it at 10:27 in the second period with his second of the season. He tipped Jaroslav Spacek's pass with David Desharnais getting the second helper. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (33 saves) was great for most of the game and as is usually the case when he gives one up, it wasn't his fault.

The juicy subplot of the second period was Habs defenseman P.K. Subban and Bruins agitator Brad Marchand going off for matching holding penalties then matching delaying the game penalties. The third time proved to be the charm as they finally dropped the gloves and treated the fans to an entertaining (albeit crappy) fight.

B's defenseman Adam McQuaid returned to action tonight and while he played well in the first period, his mistake in the third period basically cost Boston two points. His pass for Bergeron was behind him in Boston's zone which led to a Montreal rush. Tomas Plekanec's (3rd of the season) first shot was blocked by McQuaid but he couldn't stop the second and neither could Thomas. Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges assisted on the game-winner at 10:46.

The teams will travel North of the border tomorrow for Saturday night's return bout in Montreal. Boston absolutely needs to win that one in any way possible after tonight's disappointment.

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The Canadiens Should Serve As A Nice Wake-Up Call To The Bruins

It could possibly snow a little bit in New England tonight and what better way to serve as a precursor to another long miserable winter than a visit from the Boston Bruins' most hated rival: the Montreal Canadiens.

When we last saw the Habs on the TD Garden ice, they were slinking off after Nathan Horton's overtime winner in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Tonight kicks off six meetings in the 2011-12 regular season between the Northeast Division foes. Additionally, it's the start of a home-and-home series which concludes on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

So far, neither team is exactly setting the NHL on fire as they are tied for last-place in the division with six points. Only Winnipeg (with 5 points) has been worse so far in the Eastern Conference. The obvious advantage tonight is that Boston (3-5-0) has only practiced since Saturday's frustrating loss to San Jose. For Montreal (2-5-2), this will be their third game in four nights and therefore they should be skating on empty after the initial jump of seeing an opponent that they despise.

B's defenseman Adam McQuaid is expected back tonight after missing two weeks worth of games with a neck/head injury. His return means that Steven Kampfer will be in a suit and tie in the press box with the other healthy scratch-Jordan Caron.

ESPNBoston's James Murphy says McQuaid will team with Andrew Ference on the third defensive pairing. Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk remains the top pair with Dennis Seidenberg and Joe Corvo the second line.

Murphy also surmises that Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Rich Peverley will be the top forward line, flipping with Milan Lucic, Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin. Benoit Pouliot, David Krejci and Nathan Horton remain on the third line while Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton are Claude Julien's fourth line aka Fribble Crew until the end of time.

Tim Thomas starts in goal for the host Bruins. Canadiens goaltender Carey Price played last night but didn't get the start on Monday so I'd expect him back in between the pipes this evening.

As Michael Felger always points out, Montreal is typically a terrible matchup for Boston. Their combination of small, fast and skilled forwards that love to dive and embellish things is pretty much the Bruins' kryptonite. I would argue that of all the playoff series' last spring, the Canadiens were the hardest out (and yes I remember it took seven games to beat the Lightning too). Bottom line is that a win tonight in front of a fired up home crowd and then two points in Montreal on Saturday would be huge for the B's as they try to put last season behind them and begin their new journey.

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Local Guy Overshadows Joe Thornton's Return To Boston In 4-2 San Jose Win

Well the Boston Bruins are still looking for their first win streak in the 2011-12 season.

Tonight, former No. 1 pick and franchise center Joe Thornton returned with the San Jose Sharks and they beat the Bruins 4-2 at TD Garden.

It wasn't April or May but Thornton mostly disappeared like he's been known to do in the playoffs. Sure he assisted on Joe Pavelski's (4th of the season) goal 1:12 into the game but after that, Jumbo Joe was barely heard from save for a nice highlight package on the Jumbotron (no pun intended) from his days with the spoked B.

This game marked the sixth time in a row that the Bruins have allowed the first goal. They also fell to 2-4 at home and they never led in this one despite a valiant rally in the third period.

The real hero for the Sharks (3-3-0) was Essex, MA native and Boston College alum Benn Ferriero (1st of the season) who netted the game-winning goal at 8:48 of the third period.

In a very weird way, I felt like a proud parent when Ferriero's hustle to a rebound resulted in a diving goal. He was the only pro athlete from the coverage area of the newspaper I used to work for (the Gloucester Daily Times) and that motivated me enough to sponsor his page on hockeyreference.com (look it up) last spring. So while I never enjoy seeing the B's (3-5-0) lose, on this night it didn't feel quite as bad.

You wouldn't know that San Jose was the team that played back-to-back nights on the road. They had more jump than Boston from the start and that resulted in a 1-0 lead after the first which increased to 2-0 at 8:54 of the second when Logan Couture (1st of the season) scored on a nifty pass from Martin Havlat, Ryane Clowe had the second assist.

I don't usually recommend any athletes on Twitter but you have to follow Couture (@logancouture39), he's one of the funniest and most honest pro athletes I can think of.

Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves for the second straight game, this time against Jim Vandermeer, and as usual it served as a wake-up call to his teammates and the crowd.

The B's tied it up with a flurry of goals in 29 seconds early in the third. First Milan Lucic (2nd of the season) scored a classic Looch goal by stealing Antti Niemi's (37 saves) pass behind his own net then wheeling around and beating multiple defensemen and Niemi to shovel it in. Chris Kelly and Patrice Bergeron assisted on that goal.

Tyler Seguin started and finished the next one as he blocked a clearance attempt by a San Jose defenseman then started a 2-on-1 with Lucic. Seguin (3rd of the season) was the recipient of the final pass and he roofed it past Niemi who had no time to react. Kelly had the second assist.

As my friend said after the game, "Lucic and Seguin are going to make sweet music together this season." I couldn't say it any better myself, they appear to be a great match and I hope to see them on the same line for years to come.

Patrick Marleau (1st of the season) added an empty-netter with five seconds left. Boston wasted a serviceable but not great performance by goaltender Tim Thomas (26 saves).

I think I've found the clue to solving the Bruins' woes so far this season: It's all about scoring more than two goals. When they've scored 3+ they are 3-0 while they are 0-5 when they have scored two (twice), one (twice) or none(0-1). It's no secret that head coach Claude Julien's system makes Boston way more strong when playing with a lead since between Thomas and their defensive ability, it's hard to come back on them. Conversely, with their up and down scoring, it's much tougher to play from behind as we have already seen time and again.

The good news is that it should not be hard for the Bruins to focus on their final two games in October: a home and home series with Montreal. The team that everybody loves to hate comes to Boston on Thursday while the B's travel to the Bell Centre on Saturday. All would quickly be forgiven if the Bruins can beat the reeling Habs (1-4-2) twice in three nights.

UPDATE 10/23: Jordan Caron has been sent down to Providence where he'll get much more ice time. He didn't played bad for the Bruins to start this season but I guess they prefer Benoit Pouliot over him at the moment. Keep your head up Jordan!

UPDATE 10/24: Caron returned to B's practice today so he just went down to Providence for one game while Boston had a lengthy break (four days) between games. Expect him to be with the Bruins on Thursday as they host the Canadiens, although he'll most likely be in the press box as a healthy scratch.

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Bruins Rebound, Beat Toronto 6-2

David Krejci returned and the new look top line dominated as the Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs (their first regulation loss of the season) 6-2 at the Garden tonight. It was a game that the Bruins had to have, especially given their disappointing start.

After a few minutes of back and forth action, Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves with fellow heavyweight (and former Bruin) Colton Orr. Although it was a fairly even battle, Thornton did a great job setting the tone for the B's tonight.

The Leafs got on the board first when David Steckel scored his first goal of the year off of a great feed from Nazem Kadri (great name). After falling behind yet again, it was up to the B's to bounce back and answer, something that they have struggled with in this young season. Oddly enough, it was the power play that tied the game midway through the first. After Jonas Gustavsson (37 saves) stopped a Zdeno Chara blast, Nathan Horton (2nd of the season) was able to control the rebound and beat the Leafs netminder.

On their next power play opportunity, Chara got another chance to put a laser beam on net, this time taking a nice pass from Andrew Ference (3 assists) and blasting it past Gustavsson from the left faceoff dot for his first goal of the season. All of this was set up by a slick pass from Tyler Seguin (1 goal, 2 assists) to Ference, which took the defense out of position just enough to free up Chara.

Your new first line center Chris Kelly scored his second goal of the year shortly after, taking a centering pass from Milan Lucic and burying the loose puck in the crease. It certainly wasn't the prettiest goal but it's nice to see the Bruins start to get back to their grinding, rush the net style of play.

The second period scoreless but the highlights were a pair of saves by Tim Thomas (26 saves; 3-2-0). The first came on Mikhail Grabovski breakaway attempt, where Thomas made a sprawling glove save while on his stomach. He also stopped a Steckel shot right on the doorstep, preserving the lead for the Black and Gold.

The first line had another goal early in the third when Seguin centered a pass to Lucic, which the struggling winger tapped in for his first of the year. The Bruins added another goal halfway through the third when Patrice Bergeron took a feed from Horton at center ice and skated into the high slot before lifting a wrister that beat Gustavsson high glove side for his first of the season. Just two minutes later, Lucic returned the favor to Seguin by finding him in the slot to put the B's up 6-1, bringing out the "Thank You Kessel" chants that were created last season.

Game Notes

* Is it any coincidence that on the Bruins two power-play goals, the man who drew the penalties was none other than Benoit Pouliot? Clearly he still has some of that Montreal philosophy in him.

* This may be getting redundant at this point but Seguin is the Bruins best player right now. I was impressed with not only his scoring but also his playmaking ability. His feed to Ference that helped set up the Chara goal was a thing of beauty that helped get the defense out of position. It seems as if he is using his skill to not only put the puck on net but also set his teammates up for success. His unselfish play is the thing that first line centers are made of.

* Jack Edwards line of the night: "I'm Peter Pan with a microphone." I could give you this quote in context but it wouldn't be nearly as funny.

* Clearly Julien's new lines were productive to say the least. Each member of the new first line scored and Horton added a goal in his debut on the second line. Steve Kampfer had a hell of a game in his season debut and will look to bring his offensive style of play to the Bruins' blueline.

*Another game, another bubble on the score sheet for Kessel against the Bruins. The NHL's leading scorer was held to just one shot, although he did inspire the Thank You Kessel chant, which I'm starting to loathe.

* I don't know who the new girl is on NESN Daily, but oh my god, she is flawless. Almost makes me forgive NESN for letting Kathryn Tappen leave for the NHL Network.

* Although NESN is owned by the Red Sox, so maybe they actually fired Tappen and made her say that she quit.

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News & Notes Heading Into Tonight's Bruins Game vs. the Maple Leafs at TD Garden

Tonight marks the first Northeast Division game of the season for the Boston Bruins (2-4-0) as the Toronto Maple Leafs (4-0-1) visit TD Garden for the first of six matchups between the teams.

The Leafs are off to a great start, including their comeback 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets last night at home. Former Bruins whipping boy Phil Kessel (7 goals, 5 assists) is playing some of the best hockey of his life; he leads the NHL in goals and points plus he looks more confident than he's ever been (always an issue).

Bruins center David Krejci is 50-50 to return this evening after missing the last three contests with a mysterious core injury. Defenseman Adam McQuaid (neck) has already been ruled out and he'll miss his third straight game. Steven Kampfer will make his 2011-12 debut as Matt Bartkowski has rightfully been returned to Providence after a lukewarm start.

Regardless if Krejci plays tonight or not, B's head coach Claude Julien has chosen to shake up the top three forward lines. Chris Kelly moves up to the first line where he'll center Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin. Nathan Horton drops to the second line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand; finally, Rich Peverley will go to the third line with Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron. The Fribble Crew-aka the fourth line-of Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton remains intact.

With an NHL-low 11 goals (1.67 per game when you discount the shootout goal by Seguin), it was time for Claude to make some changes in hopes of injecting some energy into his lifeless and offensively-challenged team.

Tim Thomas is expected to start for Boston between the pipes while Toronto backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson gets his first action of the season. The B's catch a break there as Maple Leafs youngster James Reimer is one of the best up and coming goalies in the NHL.

UPDATE: Krejci is back, Caron sits in the press box (healthy scratch).

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Boston Shake Things Up For Tonight's Game vs. Toronto

With more than enough of a sample size and losers of three of their last four games, Bruins head coach Claude Julien has made a few moves in an attempt to spark the underachieving Bruins offense.

The Bruins inserted Tyler Seguin into the first line when center David Krejci went down with a core injury in practice and the results have been lukewarm. The second year playmaker has looked much more comfortable with the puck amd is also skating better without it. He is clearly progressing as an all-around player and his increased role has given Bruins fans a reason to be optimistic.

However, the problem lies with his linemates Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton. Both players have been struggling to put the puck in the net and have not been much of a factor early on in the season. Both have been frustrated with their play so far and that was apparent against the Hurricanes. Both players racked up the penalty minutes against Carolina and have been non-factors in most of their games so far.

Knowing this, Claude has made a switch, dropping Nathan Horton to the second line with presumably Bergeron and Marchand, while sending Chris Kelly up to the first line center position. Seguin will shift back to right wing for the time being.

Julien has been criticized in the past for being too stubborn with his lines in the past and clearly Krejci's injury forced his hand. However, this move should be a wake-up call for Horton, who has more than enough skill to be on the second line. With regards to Kelly, I'm not sure what to expect from him on the first line, as he has shown flashes at times. He's hardly the typical first line center. Still, the Bruins need a surge from their scoring, as they are currently dead last in the NHL in scoring with just 11 goals in six games. This has to improve.

The Bruins will unveil their new lines tonight against the resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs, who lead the division and feature the NHL's leading scorer-Phil Kessel.

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Hurricanes Take Second Straight Over Bruins, Boston Loses Control With 72 Penalty Minutes

The 2011-12 Boston Bruins are a team without an identity right now and one that is struggling desperately to find consistency.

Their four biggest issues at the moment are scoring, maintaining focus, playing well in front of backup goaltender Tuukka Rask and of course the power-play.

In tonight's 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (3-2-1) at TD Garden, the B's (2-4-0) were plagued by the first three of those said problems. The silver lining was that they snapped the horrid 0-for-22 stretch on the power-play.

Boston has yet to post back-to-back strong efforts let alone wins so it should come as no surprise that they also fell to 1-3 on home ice. Yes it would be easy to blame the referees for some shady calls against the Bruins (72 penalty minutes, 4 game misconducts), but if we're being objective it was mostly their own fault.

The B's outshot the Hurricanes 34-23 and hit two posts (by Joe Corvo and Jordan Caron) to one (Brett Sutter) for Carolina but that all doesn't matter.

Carolina knocked off Boston for the second time in six days and this time, goaltender Cam Ward (33 saves) was nearly flawless. Rich Peverley (3rd of the season) finally scored a goal in front of Tuukka (19 saves), the first he's received in two starts, notching a power-play strike at 10:59 of the third to cut it to 2-1. Dennis Seidenberg and Corvo (who survived a nasty hit/fall in the first period) had the assists.

Chris Kelly sparked the team with a fight against Sutter that occured only 29 seconds before Peverley's screened snapshot went by Ward. For a guy that's not known as a fighter at all, this was Kelly's first in a Bruins uniform, it was good to see that somebody cared enough to step up when the team is playing like garbage.

Just as the crowd finally got into it, Nathan Horton picked up a dumb penalty 31 seconds later trying to goad Hurricanes supposed toughguy Tim Gleason into a fight. It didn't work and Carolina got the last laugh as Horton plus Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic (not to mention Zdeno Chara in the second period) were all tagged with 10-minute misconducts.

The Hurricanes took advantage with a pair of 5-on-3 goals by Eric Staal (3rd of the season) at 13:26 and Tuomo Ruutu (1st of the season) at 14:58 to put it away.

Anthony Stewart (2nd of the season) got Carolina off to a quick start as he scored off a rebound just 2:47 into the first period. Joni Pitkanen (2nd of the season) doubled the lead at 10:19 in the second period on a blast from the slot.

This was a really strange game and nothing illustrates that more than the fact that Bruins head coach Claude Julien got ejected late in the third period since he'd seen enough of the one-sided calls. It was nice to see that kind of emotion out of Claude, it marked the first time he was ejected in Boston.

Would you believe me if I told you the B's have only scored a pitiful 11 goals in the first six games? Yuck. Their next game is Thursday as old friend (haha yeah right) Phil Kessel (the NHL's leading goal-scorer with 7 goals) and the Toronto Maple Leafs come to the Garden. Let's hope for a better performance from this team.

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Bruins Outlast the Blackhawks 3-2 in Shootout

Are there must win NHL games in October? After the Bruins' 1-3 stumble out of the gate, many looked towards Saturday's game in Chicago as an opportunity to test their mettle against one of the best teams in the league. I don't want to say that a loss would have been panic inducing but it certainly would be cause for concern.

In a battle of two Original Six teams, Saturday night did not disappoint. Tim Thomas made some insane saves and Tyler Seguin scored the game-winner in the shootout for the Bruins.

Bryan Bickell and Patrick Kane scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, while Nathan Horton and Chris Kelly scored for the Bruins.

Chicago set the tone early in the game, as their high energy style of play led to some quality scoring chances in the first. Kane walked in all alone and had a point blank opportunity. Thomas stayed at home and read Kane perfectly, gloving Kane's top shelf attempt. He wasn't done yet, as Kane carried the puck into the Bruins zone, before pulling off a ridiculous spin move on Joe Corvo before unleashing a nasty backhanded attempt, which Thomas turned away.

The Hawks got on the board first, taking advantage of a careless turnover by Andrew Ference that was intercepted by Bickell who walked in all alone, beating Thomas five-hole to give Chicago the early lead.

The Bruins got on the board early in the second while on the penalty kill. Ference blocked a shot from Brent Seabrook that bounced into the neutral zone, setting up a 2-on-1 that saw Chris Kelly take a perfect feed from Rich Peverley and lifted the puck (hope Looch was watching) to beat Chicago goalie Corey Crawford and tie the game.

Less than two minutes later, Kane got his revenge for getting stoned in the first by wristing a shot past Thomas to put the Hawks back on top.

Later in the third, Horton took a feed from Boychuk, who was stationed at the end boards and found the back of the net.

Overtime featured a pair of quality scoring chances from the Bruins. First it was Seidenberg who rang the post on a blast from the blue line and next was a breakaway attempt from Peverley that was unsuccessful.

In the shootout, Seguin beat Crawford five-hole while Thomas stopped Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. The B's improve to 2-3 while the Blackhawks suffered their first loss (2-1-1).

Game Notes

* My boy Jack Edwards is already in mid-season form, first making fun of the guys on Versus for mispronouncing "Caron" and then later unleashing a classic one liner, yelling "Catamount on Catamount crime!" when Thomas stopped Sharp in the third. Both were UVM alums. He's the best.

* It's always fun to see two Original Six teams play but I'm sure that I'm not alone in wanting more, especially from the Western Conference teams. There is no logical reason why we should not play Chicago and Detroit once, maybe twice a season. I'll give up a game against the Panthers to have an extra Western Conference team. For a sport on the upswing, there's no reason that fans cannot be treated to more marquee matchups.

* Boychuk had a hell of a game. Not only did he set up Horton on the game-tying goal, but he also was a monster in his own end, crushing Toews who was stick handling through the zone before getting put on his ass. He also had a crazy shift in the first, taking a hit from Carcillo before blocking a shot. He was clearly in pain on both instances but stayed on the ice like a champ.

* It won't show up on the scoresheet but Gregory Campbell demonstrated his value to the team once again last night. His fight in the first helped shake the cobwebs off of the team. Dude is game and will throw down with anyone. I love it.

* Kane is one of the best pure offensive talents in the game as displayed last night. He's great in open space but can also use his world class stickhandling to open up space for himself. His move on Corvo was something I'd pull off in NHL '12. You just don't see stuff like that everyday.

* Overall, this was a quality win for the Bruins. A great game against a great team where they relied equally on their superb goaltending as well as strong team play. All lines came to play, which is something they usually need in order to be successful.

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Welcome Back Hockey: Bruins Win Thrilling Shootout Over Blackhawks

There is rarely a game in October that can turn around an NHL season; similarly, you don't expect the fifth game of an 82-game slate to be a classic and yet here we are with a gift from the hockey Gods that we all received earlier tonight.

The Boston Bruins (2-3-0) went into the United Center and snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the host Chicago Blackhawks (2-1-1).

Nothing beats Original 6 matchups (just ask NESN which spotlighted my Tweet saying as much during the game), especially when it's Boston vs. Chicago since that juicy game usually occurs but once a regular season. Excuse me while I go start praying for a B's-Hawks Stanley Cup Finals next June.

After starting 2011-12 in a malaise, it was great to see this Bruins team respond just like they did in the playoffs last season. Taking on such a talented squad, they played physically but also stepped up in the clutch when it looked like they were going to take another loss and come back home 0-2 on their inaugural road trip.

Nathan Horton (1st goal of the season) made sure Boston would at least get to overtime as he tied it at two 7:56 into the third period. Johnny Boychuk basically made the play out of thin air as he chipped the puck in deep, won it and then found Horton out front for a high percentage shot. Tyler Seguin had the second assist, he leads the team with five points thus far.

The overtime was bananas as it was end to end action, complete with Rich Peverley getting sprung by Milan Lucic for a breakaway. Of course, Pevs went in on Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford (35 saves) and missed the net with his backhander. If missing the net equated to scoring goals, Pevs would be a 50-goal scorer every year, he does it so often.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (2-2-0; 27 saves) showed why he's still the best at his position in the game. He made numerous incredible stops during regulation and in overtime but topped that by stuffing Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp in succession to clinch the shootout. Seguin had the lone goal for the Bruins in the dreaded shootout.

Gregory Campbell squared off with the formidable Jamal Mayers (first Bruins fight of the season) then later Bryan Bickell gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 16:21 of the first as Andrew Ference turned it over in the neutral zone and handed it right to him.

Chris Kelly (1st goal of the season) answered with a shorthanded tally at 1:33 of the second from Peverley and Ference. It looked like the 2011 playoffs as Peverley and Kelly worked beautifully together to get the goal.

Kane quickly responded for the Blackhawks as he scored at 2:51 on an assist from former Bruins defenseman Sean O'Donnell and Sharp. Kane was left wide open in the slot, which is a deadly proposition and O'Donnell found him from behind the net.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a more star-studded (Kane, Toews, Duncan Keith) team than the Blackhawks (the 2009-10 Stanley Cup champions) but the Bruins didn't back down from the challenge as they outhit Chicago 40-34 and outshot them 37-29 in head coach Claude Julien's 300th win overall/181 with the Bruins.

I fully expect this win to springboard Boston on a nice run starting with their next game: Tuesday at home vs. Carolina. After losing to the Hurricanes 3-2 on Wednesday, you better believe that the B's will look like a different team this time around.

Hockey is officially back, that was a hell of a game and a win. It really got me pumped up for what should be another memorable season with the B's.

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Bruins Fall to 1-3, Lose in Raleigh

The Bruins continued their disappointing start to the 2011-12 season, dropping their third of four games last night to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2.

Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin scored for the Bruins, while Tim Thomas made 31 saves in the losing effort. The stars of the night for Carolina were Joni Pitkanen and Yuri Tulusty, whose strong effort all game long was rewarded with a goal in the third that turned out to be the game-winner.

The first period featured some great back and forth action including a great stop by Thomas on the Hurricanes first real scoring chance of the game. After a wide shot produced a weird carom behind the net, Tulusty found the puck at point blank range in the slot. Thomas came out of his net to challenge the shooter and absolutely stoned him one-on-one.

Carolina netminder Cam Ward also had a key stop early on in the first.Johnny Boychuck unleashed a blast from the right wing that was turned away by Ward, only to find the struggling Milan Lucic on the doorstep with a wide open net. Lucic couldn't bang home the rebound, thanks in large part to Eric Stall's defensive effort in the crease.

Carolina scored first on the power play, as Pitkanen set up with the puck on the half wall. Cradling the puck, he forced Zdeno Chara to make a decision. Rather than pursuing the puck, Chara retreated towards the crease in an attempt to cover Staal, who is always a threat to score down low. Taking advantage of the extra space, Pitkanen let off a shot that got by Thomas and gave the Canes a 1-0 lead.

Carolina doubled their lead in the early stages of the third, when Anthony Stewart beat Gregory Campbell and then went low stick side on Timmy, a save he should've made.

The Bruins then quickly responded as Seguin scored on a bad angle wrist shot that beat Ward high gloveside. His partner in crime Marchand scored halfway through the third, one timing a redirected pass from Patrice Bergeron to cut the lead to one. That was all that the Bruins would get, as their attempt with the man advantage failed.

The B's have to rebound and quickly. They will face an extremely skilled Blackhawks team on Saturday night. It's still earl, but they can't afford to let this season get away from them early on.

Game Notes:

* Although the power play hasn't produced at all this year, they have certainly made strides in their strategies. Seguin has looked very comfortable on the man advantage, especially with open ice. He is starting to become more aggressive, especially without the puck, which is one of the reasons why Julien put him on the top line to replace the injured David Krejci.

* The best example of this was leading up to his goal in the third. He started off close to the Bruins bench, but curled to the opposite side of the ice, before taking a pass from Horton and simply skating around McBain before putting a shot on net. His movement without the puck is going to set him up to make plays in open ice, especially on the first line.

*Much has been made of Lucic and Horton's slumps throughout last season as well as the first few games of this season and for good reason. They have started out slow and haven't really been aggressive thus far but last night was a step in the right direction for both of them, putting up their highest shot totals of the season and generating several scoring chances, none better than Lucic's open net chance.

*Although I need to see Lucic finish better. He walked in all alone in the third and unleashed his patented ice level wrister that Ward kicked away. Lift the damn puck!

*Scary moment for the B's when Adam McQuaid knocked his own ass out when he caught an edge and slammed his head into the boards behind the net. He was clearly on dream street and eventually went into the dark room to get treated. I dont think that he will be playing on Saturday night. Look for Matt Bartkowski to get some more playing time in Darth Quaider's place.

*McQuaid could've just been looking for a KFC Double Down and a Bud Light in the locker room though.

*I love the new presentation on Versus. The ten-year deal with NBC has made the NHL a bigger player than ever in American sports. With the NBA out for the first few weeks, now is the best time for the league to grab all the attention they can. Hockey pretty much every night? Hell yeah!

*Doc Emerick is becoming insufferable. I like his goal calls but that's pretty much it, he screams on nearly every shot. However, I did learn that Tulusty means "fat" in his native Czech language. I wonder what "Beckett" translates to.

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Hurricanes Pick Up Their First Win Of Season, At The Bruins' Expense

It is less than a week into the 2011-12 NHL season so pardon me if I can't quite work up a lather yet about the Boston Bruins' lame beginning.

The defending Stanley Cup champs have gotten off to a slow start; their first road game of the season was tonight at the RBC Center in Raleigh Center and the host Hurricanes (1-2-1) picked up their first win with a 3-2 triumph over the B's (1-3-0).

With seven goals in four games, it's clear that putting the puck in the net has been Boston's biggest issue so far. Let's not forget that the power play is still a hot mess, off to a rousing 1 for 18 start (picking up where they left off in the playoffs).

David Krejci missed the game with a midsection injury so Tyler Seguin got the bump up to center on the first line with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton flanking him. Boston still needs Krejci but for one game at least, Seguin (1 goal, 4 shots, 7 of 9 on face-offs) was a more than suitable replacement.

B's goaltender Tim Thomas (1-2-0) got his third start and yet again, it wasn't his fault that his team failed to get two points. He made 31 saves but was the victim of some bad luck and a shaky defense in front of him.

Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward (26 saves) showed why he's one of the more underrated guys at his position with a strong showing.

After a scoreless first period, Carolina opened the scoring 42 seconds into the second frame with a power-play strike from defenseman Joni Pitkanen (1st of the season). Former Bruins great Tomas Kaberle and Jussi Jokinen assisted on the goal. Pitkanen was by the face-off dot and he took forever to fake a shot twenty times before finally unleashing a low one that found its way past Thomas. It appeared like Erik Staal screened Thomas on the play, regardless he should not have been able to park there so easily.

Boston bumbled through three straight scoreless power play chances and predictably, they didn't get a call the rest of the night (the B's had the last three penalties).

When Carolina's Anthony Stewart (1st of the season) scored 3:42 into the third (from Tim Brent and Tim Gleason) on a shot that trickled past Thomas at the post, I was firing off an angry Tweet but Seguin interrupted my venom with a sick top-shelf wrist shot just 25 seconds later. It was his first of many this season, from Horton and Adam McQuaid. It was a juicy glimpse of what Seguin can do when he has room to shoot.

Something called Jiri Tlusty (1st of the season) iced it with his game-winner at 13:32 from Brandon Sutter and Patrick Dwyer. He was unmarked in the slot and made Thomas and Co. pay for that.

Boston was about to go on another ill-fated power play but Patrice Bergeron hit Brad Marchand with a nice cross-ice feed for a one-timer and the Bruins' second goal (Marchmont's second of the season). Former Hurricane Joe Corvo had the second assist at 16:35.

I'm not going to say time ran out on the Bruins since it never really felt like they'd ever tie it before regulation ended.

McQuaid ran head first into the boards (how many times has he done that in the last year?) in the third and didn't return. Don't be surprised to see him held out of the next game with Matt Bartkowski getting another shot after being a healthy scratch for the last three contests.

It won't get any easier as the B's will remain on the road the next few days before meeting the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. After failing to really show up against two subpar teams (Carolina and Colorado), expect Boston to at least make a game of it in Theo Epstein's new home.

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Rich Peverley Receives A Three-Year Extension From The Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has been extremely proactive recently, as he has signed and extended many core members of the B's in order to create a palpable chemistry.

It looks like he is going to continue down that path, as the Bruins have announced a three-year contract extension for versatile forward Rich Peverley. There is a $3.25 million dollar cap hit.

Peverley came to the Bruins from the Thrashers last season at the trade deadline (for Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart) and was a key player for Boston, joining the third line with Michael Ryder and Chris Kelly, the latter another trade deadline acquisition from Ottawa.

In 23 games last season, Pevs had four goals and three assists. Like most of his teammates, he stepped up his production in the playoffs with four goals and eight assists. Statistically, his best season was 2009-10 with the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets) when he put up 22 goals and 33 assists.

This year, Peverley has been promoted to the second line, taking the retired Mark Recchi's spot alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. So far this year, Peverley has two goals (both against Tampa Bay) and is a plus-2 in three games.

Peverley may end up bouncing back and forth between the two lines but the Bruins will continue to utilize his speed and skill on both the power play and the penalty kill.

For an undrafted player out of St. Lawrence University, Peverley is proof that some guys take longer to develop than others. After three stops in his NHL career (Nashville, Atlanta, Boston), Peverley has found a home and a bright future in the Hub of Hockey.

Two other Bruins notes: David Krejci left practice today with an unspecified leg injury. He didn't travel with the team to Carolina today so I doubt that he'll play tomorrow night. Look for possibly Tyler Seguin to get the call up to first line duty with the underachieving Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

Also, Versus will air a special called "Raising the Cup" about the Bruins tomorrow at 6:00 p.m on their show NBC SportsTalk. It's about the ceremony that just happened last week at TD Garden before the season-opener vs. the Flyers.

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Tuukka Rask Deserves Better This Season

One of the more underrated storylines from last season for the Boston Bruins was the struggles of backup goaltender Tuukka Rask. It's not like he was awful by any means but it seemed like every time he got a start, his teammates sleepwalked in front of him.

Unfortunately, Rask's (0-1-1) 2011-12 season got off to a similar note as he stopped 35 shots this afternoon and yet still lost 1-0 as the Colorado Avalanche (1-1-0) knocked off the lethargic Bruins (1-2-0) at TD Garden on Columbus Day.

Milan Hejduk scored the only goal, at 7:57 of the third period from Jan Hejda and Matt Duchene. It was a strange play as a linesman blocked B's defenseman Johnny Boychuk out of the play and then Hejduk's shot went off Zdeno Chara's leg. No doubt Rask would like that one back since he normally makes that save but still, can Boston please give him some goals?

It wasn't Patrick Roy in net for the Avs but Semyon Varlamov had 30 saves for the shutout. Colorado was 0 for 3 on the power play (including a brief 5 on 3 advantage) while Boston checked in at 0 for 2 on the power play.

You don't have to be a genius like Lightning head coach Guy Boucher to figure out why the Bruins lost two of their first three games at home; they only scored five goals and four of them were in one tilt.

Hitting the road will likely be a good thing for the B's chemistry plus they can finally put last season's Stanley Cup to bed. They have two challenging games away from home before they head back to Boston.

First up they play in Carolina on Wednesday, always a tough place to get two points before meeting the Blackhawks in Chitown on Saturday night in what should be a filthy game.

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