May 2012 M T W T F S S « Apr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 -
Recent Posts
Archives
Meta
Tag Archives: Boston Bruins
Saturday Clash Between San Jose Sharks And Boston Bruins
NHL fans will be treated to contents of two of the better teams in the entire league when the San Jose Sharks travel to Boston to take on the Bruins Saturday night with the NHL getting back into high gear after the All-Star game.
For this matchup hockey odds are not yet available.
The Sharks still figure to be one of the favorites to win the Western Conference come playoff time, but San Jose is struggling in the standings right now.
Boston leads Montreal by only four points in the standings as they are currently third in the Eastern Conference. Boston continues to rely on one of the best goal tending tandems in the league to win games on a nightly basis in spite of a mediocre power play that currently sits at 16th in the league. As the Bruins average 3.0 goals per game, the offense is doing pretty well also.
The San Jose Sharks have been a bit of a disappointment so far this season after making it to the Western Conference finals last year. In the first half of the season, Struggling to find any consistency on offense and defense has really slowed the down the Sharks. San Jose will need to get things going in a hurry especially since they are tied for 8th place in the West with two other teams if they want to make another deep playoff run.
Tagged Boston Bruins, hockey odds, NHL getting, San Jose Sharks
In Original Six Matchup, Boston Bruins Meet Montreal Canadians
On Thursday night, this week, one of the better NHL hockey games will take place in Boston, when the Montreal Canadians come to town to take on the Boston Bruins. In this young NHL season, both the Canadians and Bruins are off to a good start and currently sit 1st and 2nd respectively in their division.
By relying on their excellent defense, and surprisingly efficient offense, Boston to get off to a 7-3-1 start. Overall the Bruins rank 2nd in Goals Against at 1.7 goals per game and have the best penalty kill in the NHL at 92.9%.This season, Boston’s offense, which was considered to be the weak spot on their team, ranks 7th in the league in goals per game with an average of 3.0 and the 9th best power play at 21.4%.
To help them win games and get off to an 8-5-1 start, Montreal on the other hand has been relying solely on their defense. While their power plays has been a dismal 6.4% good enough for 30th in the NHL, the Canadians rank 25th in the league in scoring averaging just 2.4 goals per contest. While Montreal used a 6-1 stretch in the middle of October to take an early division lead, the Canadians rank 7th in goals against with 2.4 per game and have the league’s 5th best penalty kill at 87.9% even though the Canadians have struggled a bit as of late winning only once in their last 4 attempts.
Thursday night match up should be a good one between two original six teams. The Boston Bruins are looking for a little payback in the first meeting of the 2010-2011 seasons as Montreal won last year’s season series 5 games to 1.
Tagged Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadians, NHL
Season Preview – NHL – Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins
On Thursday, NHL Hockey action features an Original Six matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
In recent seasons, Toronto is off to one of its best starts, going 5-2-1 SU in its first eight games. Boston are out of the gate with a 4-2-0 SU record, despite being hit with a rash of injuries early in the season.
Forward Colby Armstrong, who is out indefinitely with a hand injury in included in the Maple Leafs’ injuries. Marco Sturm (knee surgery), defenseman Johnny Boychuk is out indefinitely with an arm injury, and forwards Marc Savard (concussion) and Trent Whitfield (achilles surgery), are also all out indefinitely for the Bruins.
In recent head-to-head matchups, Boston has dominated, going 8-1-0-1. On April 3 last season, the teams last met, when the Bruins edged the Maple Leafs 2-1. A +105 home underdog had been Toronto.
The Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Tuesday, in their last game, cashing as a -160-moneyline favorite. After the club had won its first four games of the season, the win ended the Leaf’s 3-game losing streak.
Since Saturday, Boston hasn’t played, when it was upset 3-2 by the New York Rangers, losing as a -180-moneyline favorite in NHL betting.
NHL 2010-11 Preview: Boston Bruins
After last season’s meltdown against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals (in which they led three games to zero and game seven 3-0), the Boston Bruins return youth and firepower that should lead the club to hoisting the Stanley Cup at the end of the year.
Despite the loss of Marc Savard due to injury (post-concussion syndrome), Boston has the right blend of experience (Recchi, 42 years old) and youth (Sanguin, 18) to get it done at the next level.
The offense is a balanced, if pedestrian, attack that was 30th last year in goals scored while converting only 7.47% of shot opportunities. With the loss of Savard, Patrice Bergeron moves up to the first line at center to lead a balanced attack that also includes David Krejci and Mark Recchi. Bergeron (19 goals, 33 assists, 52 points), Krejci (17,35,52), and Recchi (18,25,43) numbers should go up with the addition of Nathan Horton at RW from Florida, listed first line on the current depth chart.
The defense is the cornerstone of the Bruin attack and is led by team captain Zdeno Chara. The unit was second in the league in goals allowed and third in the penalty kill and with Tuukka Rask listed as lead goalie (1.97 GAA and .931 save pct.) defense will again shine for Boston.
“Offense wins games, defense wins championships”. Boston appears “loaded for bear” as management has put together a young club that should improve on last year’s playoff surge.
Bruins Still Seeking a Deal with Marc Savard: NHL
As sources are saying that the team is actively looking to deal him with several teams showing interest, the rumors that the Boston Bruins were looking to deal center Marc Savard have come back to life. Savard is poplular in the online sportsbook odds.
The Bruins are looking to get under the salary cap and Savard brings along a $4 million dollar price tag, according to sources close to the Savard situation. As the deciding point on other teams’ chances of getting him as well, the salary cap has also been a factor.
You are going to get controversy is the thing with Savard. The NHL is saying that its wording may be in breach of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, therefore they are investigating Savard’s contract.
The same scrutinizing is going on as that of the monster deal that was given to Ilya Kovalchuk by the New Jersey Devils. As far as the Bruins wanting to trade Savard, the contract dispute by the league has also been a hindrance.
‘Teams have been turned off by the investigation by the league office and this has caused teams to back off interest in Savard but the Bruins are still actively looking for a deal to trade him’, said the source.
NHL Playoffs – Philadelphia vs. Boston – Game 3 – Preview
In this heated match, penalty killing was a definite factor. Against Boston’s 8, penalty time for Philadelphia totaled 10 minutes. Both teams were able to turn away 9 power plays, totaling 17:56 of power play time. Even strength goals proved to be the difference. In the first two periods, each team scored a goal, with the Bruins scoring the winning goal in the 3rd. For the first two periods, the advantage went to the Flyers with a 22-16 shots on goal edge. The Bruins gained the lead with 11 shots on goal to the Flyers 5, in the third period. Final score was 3-2 in favor of Boston.
In the success, both games 1 and 2 were played in Boston which may have been a factor. The Philadelphia Flyers have the home arena advantage for Game 3; but, that may not be enough. The Boston Bruins have momentum and a higher goal to shots on goal percentage. More aggression has been their focus. The Boston Bruins have limited penalty time giving less power play time to their opponents. Into game 3, their focus limiting penalty time is likely to continue. The Philadelphia Flyers, in turn, do not have this focus which has limited their scoring opportunities. In the playoffs, Boston has been carrying through under pressure.
Game 3 – Preview – NHL Playoffs – Philadelphia vs. Boston
In this heated match, penalty killing was a definite factor. Against Boston’s 8, penalty time for Philadelphia Flyers totaled 10 minutes. Both teams were able to turn away 9 power plays, totaling 17:56 of power play time. Even strength goals proved to be the difference. In the first two periods, each team scored a goal, with the Boston Bruins scoring the winning goal in the 3rd. For the first two periods, the advantage went to the Flyers with a 22-16 shots on goal edge. The Bruins gained the lead with 11 shots on goal to the Flyers 5, in the third period. Final score was 3-2 in favor of Boston.
In the success, both games 1 and 2 were played in Boston which may have been a factor. The Flyers have the home arena advantage for Game 3; but, that may not be enough. The Bruins have momentum and a higher goal to shots on goal percentage. More aggression has been their focus. The Boston Bruins have limited penalty time giving less power play time to their opponents. Into game 3, their focus limiting penalty time is likely to continue. The Philadelphia Flyers, in turn, do not have this focus which has limited their scoring opportunities. In the playoffs, Boston has been carrying through under pressure