<H2>Game #1-3: Bruins Dome</H2>

Apologies for not getting Game 2's version of this up until this morning. Visitors make finding time for blogging difficult over a weekend. I'm sure not many care, but here is the link to the Game 2 Bruins Dome. Now that they've won a game, looking at their players seems to make more sense...


Dome hockey team
They're going into the last minute with these 6 against the Montreal Canadiens (and they're attached to the ice, so they're not coming off)...

Forwards

Milan Lucic
– For a 19-year-old this guy is big. Big in his uniform and big in his own head too. His Game 1 dome was a consolation prize for being slightly better than terrible. This game, he was impressive. Though he may never score 500 goals in the NHL, you can see he will be an important player. Lucic plays a strong game away from the puck and is capable of setting the tempo for his team (heck, both teams). He can also score important goals on very good goalies. The Canadiens are capable of shutting him down, I think and must do in the next game. Enough's enough

Petteri Nokelainen
– After Lucic, the biggest change in the Bruins was the play of the Nokelainen line. Unsurprisingly, when Claude Julien gave Nokelainen the chance to unshackle himself from the skill-free duo of Thornton and Reich, he responded with a good display. Like his linemate Schaefer, who deserves mention too, he was relentless in the Canadiens end. Julien also showed a bit of strategic nous by deploying this line against the passengers Dandenault and Latendresse – to tip more battles his way

Peter Schaefer
– See above.

NOTE: Strangely, the NHL chose Marc Savard as the third star of the night in all games. I wonder if they even bother to watch at all. In a 2-1 game, Savard did not shine. Hi pass to Lucic was OK, but Reich could have managed that. His goal in OT was opportunistic. Thomas should submit a tape of the whole game. Carey Price, too.

Defencemen

Zdeno Chara
- Once again Mr. Dependable makes the cut. He played well. He also made Plekanec look ineffective – so much that Jacques "Hometown" Demers was cutting him down. He played half an hour and looked good for most.

I'd also like to say: Isn't the booing stupid? Why boo Chara? Now Kovalev is booed in Boston as a result. Somehow 10,000 drunk roadtrippers managed to awaken fans in a city that barely cared more about that game than the Red Sox (12th game) updates coming in on their iPhones. The Chara booing also led to a treat of a USA chant part way through the game for some reason as retaliatory noise. Stop booing Chara. Boo as if you watch the game. Boo all those borderline

Dennis Wideman
- A couple of times Wideman skated right into the Habs zone. Granted the Bruins weren't ready for one of the defenceman to actually make such a finesse play, but I was a bit impressed. Paired with Chara, he was effective in shutting down the main Habs threat and tipping that line match-up in the Bruins favour. A good game for his third ever in the playoffs, to be sure

Goaltender

Tim Thomas
- Didn't have too much to do until late, but earned his dome in overtime alone. A save on Latendresse was nice and on a couple of point shots even better. If he plays like this again, maybe Alain Crete will show him some more respect and stop questioning whether he can skate (what a buffoon)