12:03 AM (Game Over) - Scott Walker put home the game winning goal on the rebound after a save on Ryan Whitney. Claude Julien said he would not comment on the fact that it was Walker who had the series winner. He gave a ton of credit to the 'Canes for winning back to back seven game series but also acknowledged the fact that the team had 9 days off might have been a reason for the lack of consistency.
Most of the players were pretty subdued in the locker room. Marc Savard admitted the team had a hard time getting going. Byron Bitz thought the turning point might have been the Lucic goal and recognized the opportunities the team had during both the 3rd period and OT that just did not pan out. I will have some final thoughts on the B's season tomorrow and of course a complete breakdown tomorrow night. For the final time in this Bruins season...goodnight from Causeway Street! Final score: Carolina 3, Boston 2, Hurricanes win series 4 games to 3.
11:23 PM (1:14 OT) - Canes win 3-2...season over.
11:07 PM (9:40 OT) - "WE WANT IT!" chants rocking the building. Both Ward and Thomas have saved their team's seasons a few times here in OT.
10:57 PM (15:12 OT) - I love and hate OT hockey. Thomas stoned Scott Walker's slapper on a breakaway that would have ended the season. Out in open ice, Ward blasted Ruutu with a huge hit. Some physical play out there and a couple tripping calls that could have been but the refs are letting the boys play. Ward has made 2 huge saves.
10:49 PM: Ovvvverrrrrrrrrtime here at the Garden. The Bruins clawed out of a 3-1 hole in the series and 2-1 hole in this game. You can feel the energy here as the B's and 'Canes take the ice. Patrice Bergeron really stepped up his play in the 3rd, including a "stick with it" escape whilst hemmed in by a couple Carolina skaters. The B's have found their energy in the 3rd, but in OT with the next goal being the winner, anything can happen. Two seasons hanging in the balance and Pittsburgh waiting in the wings...should be fun...
10:24 PM (3:39 3rd) - Haven't been blogging because I've been pretty fixed on this period. The Bruins have put the foot on the accelerator. Lucic has a few big hits, his shift after the goal he pretty much became a one-man wrecking crew. I thought he might hit Montador just for the heck of it. Tim Thomas just made a save from the left side door and then basically sat on the puck to keep it out. The biggest concern for the B's continues to be gaining their own blue line.
10:04 PM (13:41 3rd) - Luuuuuuuuuuucccccchhh! Milan Lucic puts one home in the upper left 90 off a feed from Marc Savard. Give Phil Kessel a helper as well. The crowd and the team are definitely re-energized. 2-2 tie.
9:58 PM (17:39 3rd) - Aaron Ward just saved the game for now. Thomas had one tipped past him in the latter seconds of the 'Cane's power play. The puck went under the right pad of the goalie, tricked towards the net, and hung ever so tantalizingly on the edge of the red line before Wardo stepped in and swept it out of harms way. The B's seem to have a little more energy this period, but are still playing flat out sloppy hockey. The blue-liners, Montador and Hnidy in particular, are struggling tonight.
9:53 PM (Start of the 3rd) - Well, 20 minutes left in the Bruins season unless they can erase this 2-1 deficit. I don't feel overly confident given the way Ward has played and the limited chances the B's have given themselves. Already have the Sox and Celtics going down tonight...a chance for the trifecta...but not the way you'd hope...
9:26 PM (6:56 2nd) - Three fairly uninspiring power play chances so far for the Bruins. On the latest, Chara got the puck in his own zone with about 0:15 left and kind of ambled about rather than turning it back up ice which seemed to get the natives a bit restless. Even though it's only a one goal game, you can feel how tense the atmosphere is here with the Bruins trailing. Many thought, myself included, Boston would roll in this game, but Ward has 15 saves and has been a rock in net while the B's have been sloppy at times. 2-1 'Canes.
9:17 PM (12:15 2nd) - I am really starting to dislike Sergei Samsonov. The former Bruin pit a right side wrister past the out-stretched pad of Thomas. Give the helpers to Pitkanen and Frantisek Kaberle. It's Samsonov's 4th of the play-offs, though it seems like he has seven against the B's alone. Remember when this guy was, along with Joe Thornton, the future of the Bruins? 2-1 Carolina.
9:04 PM (Start of 2nd period) - SOG were 11-10 B's in the first, testament to how even things were out there...well, as is the 1-1 score. The cute girl who passes out the notes between periods seemed to like my Facebook picture and really, who could blame her. Also, the bear who roars and swipes at the ground on the jumbo tron is pretty scary, though not as intimidating as new B's good luck charm Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake who I saw hanging around just a few minutes ago looking all big and badass.
Changes both ways on the goal scoring. For the Bruins, it's Bitz from Krejci and Ryder, rather than from Krejci and Wideman. For the Cane's, give Brind'Amour the goal on a point-blank redirect on helpers from Seidenberg and Pitkanen.
8:57 PM (1st Intermission) - Fairly underwhelming 1st period for both teams. I thought the Bruins might have a chance to open this thing up big time after the Bitz goal but the game things seem to be doing them in: weak forecheck, inability to clear the zone, blue line turnovers...oh and big Cam Ward saves. Still can't feel too badly about playing even, literally and figuratively, in the 1st period.
I do enjoy, and have enjoyed all week, the hockey "experts" that have come out of the woodwork over the past couple of weeks and called into sports talk radio. Either a number of bandwagon jumpers or just a lot of die hard hockey fans finally having something to get truly fired up about. I personally believe it to be a little of both. A number of sports radio and TV shows are also now filled with some hockey talk, which is great. I do, however, want to make note of the fact that we here on the Young Guns have talked hockey big time all season long for one reason and one reason only: chicks really dig this team.
8:45 PM (2:12 1st) - They just clarified the Seidenberg goal came at even strength, rather than in the waning seconds of the power play. B's with an extra skater at the moment thanks to Toumo Ruutu slash. Ward made a couple big saves on a one timer and a rebound to keep the score tied.
8:38 PM (6:01 1st) - Dennis Seidenberg ties it with a big one timer on the power play. The Bruins should had the puck out of the zone on that possession, but turned it over at the blue line after sending it to the other side of the sheet twice. Give Jussi Jokenin and Joni Pitkanen an all-Finnish assist combo. Thomas looked viably frustrated after surrendering the goal. He may have been screened a bit by Rod Brind'Amour in front of the net as the shot beat him five-hole. 1-1 tie.
8:35 PM (7:38 1st) - The bad news, PJ Axelsson just took a seemingly bogus hooking call, the good news...Carolina has the worst power play going among post-season teams. Let's get a gander at that PK, shall we?
8:27 PM (10:24 1st) - Catching up on some pre-game notes:
-The Bruins come into tonight's game 0-20 in series in which they have trailed 3 games to 1, with this season and last year's 1st round exit to the Habs being the only times they've forced this deciding game
-the crowd was (as expected) abnormally charged even by play-off standards, with Rene Rancourt providing a little extra oomph on the fist pump and even yelling out "one more!" after the closing notes of the anthem
-the B's are 9-8 all-time in game 7s, with only three of them in the past 15 years...all against Montreal
-Cam Ward is 3-0 all time in game 7s, posting a .927 save percentage
-Carolina and Boston come in tonight ranked 2nd and 3rd among play-off teams in the PK, respectively
8:24 PM (11:12 1st) - Coming to you just a bit late from the TD BankNorth Garden but bearing some good news, the B's are on top 1-0 after a Byron Bitz put back. Pace of play has been pretty even both ways with both teams looking just a bit sloppy around their respective blue lines. The goal for Bitz is the first of his post-season NHL career. 1-0 Bruins
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