Scouting the Enemy: Boston Bruins

by FrankD on Dec 30, 2008 9:30 AM EST in News

Logo_boston_bruins_medium

Record: 27-5-4

Leading scorer: Marc Savard 11G, 32A, 43 pts, David Krejci (13G, 26A, 39pts)

Blogs: The Bruins Report | Boston Blueline

Don't look now but the Bruins have won eight in a row. To top that off, they've only lost once in regulation this month (11-1). Tim Thomas (15-3-3) and Manny Fernandez (12-2-1) make up for the league's best one-two combo between the pipes. Factor in Marc Savard and the recent surge of David Krejci and you have the formula for a first place team.

But hey, the Penguins beat them in a 2-1 shootout back on October 20. Dany Sabourin was in net, stopping 35 of 36 shots to carry the Pens to a shootout. Sykora and Malkin took it from there with a goal each to take the two points.

Tonight it looks like a different story. Marc-Andre Fleury will more than likely get the start, barring a sudden change of structure by Michel Therrien. Keep in mind though that Therrien chose to bench Fleury last time around, so maybe he'll stick with Sabu for this one. We'll see...

On a side note, I can't help but feel bad for the Bruins' Patrice Bergeron, scratched for the second time in 14 months with a concussion. You may remember last season when the Flyers' Randy Jones clocked Bergeron into the boards (video here in case you didn't). Well just last week Bergeron went down once again via a hit from Carolina's Dennis Seidenberg (video). Not surprisingly Bergeron is on the IR.

Additional Bruins injuries up after the jump.

Boston Bruins Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Petteri Nokelainen	right arm/hand	12.13.2008
Aaron Ward	leg/ankle	12.20.2008
Marco Sturm	knee	12.19.2008
Andrew Ference	right leg surgery	11.15.2008

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Comments

Boston is absolutley on a roll right now, but for some reason I don’t see them as a playoff threat. Even though Krejci and Kessel have blossomed and Thomas/Fernandez have been great, I still don’t trust them come playoff time.

But take nothing away from what they’re doing now, I think they’ve lost once in November and December in regulation. Unreal.

by Hooks Orpik on Dec 30, 2008 10:43 AM EST reply actions

I don’t know which goalie I’d rather see in net tonight – Thomas or Fernandez. Thomas is normally more consistent and on top of his game, while Fernandez can often slip up and let it a four or five goal night (although lately that’s not the case). Alls I know is that if Boston gets even a one goal lead it’s going to be hard to go up against them because their blue line really knows how to go into shutdown mode.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com

by FrankD on Dec 30, 2008 11:35 AM EST up reply actions

Patrice Bergeron is a heck of a player and I have a lot of respect for him, but he needs to learn to keep his head up. You won’t last long in this league if you don’t make personal safety your number one priority.

by PensFan024 on Dec 30, 2008 12:37 PM EST reply actions