Projo Bruins Blog

Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. -- Martin St. Louis and Teddy Purcell each scored twice, resilient goalie Dwayne Roloson weathered a hat trick by Boston's David Krejci, and the Tampa Bay Lightning stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins in Game Six on Wednesday night.

Game Seven is Friday night in Boston. The Bruins are seeking their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 21 years, and the Lightning will try to clinch their first appearance on hockey's biggest stage since they won their only NHL championship in 2004.

The Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks await the winner in the finals.

JIMMY GOLEN
Associated Press

BOSTON -- Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots after allowing another early goal, and Brad Marchand scored the game-winner to lead Boston to a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night and put the Bruins one win away from the Stanley Cup finals.

The victory gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals, with a chance to clinch Wednesday night in Tampa Bay. The Lightning would need to win Game Six to force a seventh game in Boston on Friday.

Nathan Horton scored to tie it in the second period, 17 seconds after returning from the penalty box. Marchand scored with 4:04 left in the period to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
Boston managed just 19 shots on Mike Smith as he made his first career playoff start in place of Dwayne Roloson.

Tampa Bay finally managed to pull the goalie with 42 seconds left, but Rich Peverley scored an empty-netter with 12.1 seconds left to clinch it. The Lightning left the extra skater on the bench for the ensuing faceoff, but they couldn't come through with anything more than some shoving after the final whistle.

Thomas bounced back after allowing four straight goals in Game Four and may have saved the season when he stopped Steve Downie with about 11 minutes left, reaching out to put his stick in front of the open net and protect a 2-1 lead. The crowd cheered each time it was shown from a different angle on the scoreboard.

Associated Press

BOSTON -- Tyler Seguin had two goals and two assists and the Boston Bruins fed off the energy of the recently promoted rookie to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-5, and tie the Eastern Conference finals at one game each on Tuesday night.

Boston earned a split at home and snapped the Lightning's eight-game winning streak that began when they were down 3-1 to Pittsburgh in the first round. Game Three is at Tampa Bay on Thursday.

The shifty, 19-year-old Seguin, the second pick in last year's NHL draft, was benched for the first 11 playoff games because of perceived defensive shortcomings. He rejoined the lineup for the series opener, getting a goal and an assist, when Patrice Bergeron sat out because of a mild concussion.

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- David Krejci and Brad Marchand each scored two goals, and the Boston Bruins took out their frustration from one of the great collapses in postseason history with a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday in Game One of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Bruins chased goalie Brian Boucher by taking a 5-1 lead in the second period. New round, same problem for the Flyers. Philadelphia used two goalies in three of its seven first-round games against Buffalo.

For the second straight season, the Bruins lead the Flyers in the second round. The Bruins led 3-0 a year ago, then the Flyers became the third NHL team to rally with four straight victories to win a best-of-seven series.

Nathan Horton, Mark Recchi and Gregory Campbell also scored for Boston. Game Two is Monday in Philadelphia.

Associated Press

MONTREAL -- Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri scored during two separate two-man advantages and the Montreal Canadiens forced a decisive Game 7 in their first-round playoff series with a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

Game Seven is Wednesday night in Boston, with the Bruins looking to beat Montreal for only the ninth time in 33 postseason series.

Dennis Seidenberg scored for Boston, which played more than half the game without ejected winger Milan Lucic but still outshot the Canadiens 32-27.

Boston had taken the lead in the closely contested series with consecutive overtime wins, but couldn't get the equalizer behind a sharp Carey Price despite outshooting Montreal 11-6 in the third period. Price made 31 saves.

Associated Press

BOSTON -- Tim Thomas stopped 32 shots for his ninth shutout of the season, and Mark Recchi moved into 12th on the NHL's career points list on Tuesday night as the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0.

Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk scored 2 minutes, 20 seconds apart in the second period to break a scoreless tie, and Recchi assisted on the second goal to give him 1,532 points -- one more than Paul Coffey. Nathan Horton made it 3-0 in the third.
It was the 25th shutout of Thomas' career, and his second in three games. He has allowed just two goals in four games to drop his league-leading goals-against average to 1.96.

Corey Crawford made 31 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who had won three of four but remained three points ahead of idle Calgary for eighth place in the Western Conference.

The Bruins protected their lead over Montreal atop the Northeast Division and moved three points behind the Washington Capitals in the race for the No. 2 seed in the East.

Associated Press

BOSTON -- Zdeno Chara, a bete noire in Montreal since the hit that sent Max Pacioretty to the hospital, had three assists on Thursday night as the Boston Bruins turned a grudge match into a blowout and beat the Canadiens 7-0.

The win left Boston five points ahead of second-place Montreal in the Northeast Division.

Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell scored twice, and David Krejci and Milan Lucic also had three assists for the Bruins as they beat Montreal for just the second time in time in six games this season. Tim Thomas stopped 24 shots for his career-high eighth shutout of the season and the 25th of his career.

Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid and Tomas Kaberle also scored for Boston.