Game #1-3: Bruins Dome

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)

Game #1-2: Bruins Dome

Watching the Bruins and finding players to applaud has been a difficult change fro me, but in the interest of pretend journalism...


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

Marc Savard
– That pass, that pass. Savard played a much better game than Game 1, but if he hadn't done anything else, he earned his money and place in the lineup with his pass across the crease on the PP. Any other Bruin forward would have taken a shot from a decent angle on Price. Alas, that's why any other Bruin has point totals in the 30s or lower and Marc Savard is a consistent point-per-game player. Julien must thank his lucky stars that the Bruins GM sprung the funds to sign a centre with some real skill a couple of summers ago

Marco Sturm
– Like Game 1, Marco Sturm offered a legitimate scoring threat for the Bruins. It's easy to see why he, and not another Bruin, was the goalscoring leader this year. His greatest asset seems to be very quick acceleration teamed with good anticipation – it allowed him his second breakaway in as many games

David Krejci
– Considering it was his second ever playoff game, I thought David Krejci did an admirable job. His goal was nothing extra-special, since the pass was so perfect, but he nonetheless got himself into nice positions over the evening

Defencemen

Zdeno Chara
- Chara played a very solid game on the whole. His long reach and stick play a big part in taking the Canadiens forwards away from their rhythm. His ability to relaunch the attack also makes him a valuable part of the Bruins counterattack (probably the most valuable part)

Mark Stuart
- Mark Stuart epitomised the Bruins for me on this evening. He didn't play particularly well up front or at the back, it was more that he successfully tested the limits of the referees throughout the game. At the beginning of the game, he was checking a bit harder, holding a little bit more. By mid-game, he was crosschecking Habs in clear view of the referee. But don't blame Stuart for this transgression. it is his job to push his abilities to the limit of legal play. And legal play means legal play on that night. The fact that he was breaking the letter of the NHL rules is irrelevant from his point of view, if the whistle is not blown

Goaltender

Tim Thomas
- Let's face it, Vancouver wouldn't even start Auld when Cloutier was the alternative. Thomas has to be back in the dome. Tim played a decent game, he played to the level of an NHL goaltender, if not a star. he made all the straightforward stops and let in the complicated ones. You can hope for a goalie to save those complicated ones, but a team should not expect it. What's more, that Kovalev shot in OT was a pinpoint shot moving really fast. I'm not holding that against Tim