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.

Follow @RichSlate


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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.

Follow @RyanBurns88


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