SB Nation User Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder

Blackhawks down Bruins 5-4 in shootout

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 01:55:52 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

about 8 hours ago: Boston Bruins left wing Steve Begin, left, watches his shot on-goal get deflected by Chicago Blackhawks goalie Antti Niemi during the first period of their NHL Hockey game Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Patrick Kane scored the game-winner for the Chicago Blackhawks in the shootout on Friday night to beat the visiting Bruins 5-4. The B's tied up the game with 2:43 left in regulation on a goal from David Krejci, but the home team would ultimately prevail in the shootout.

David Krejci got the Bruins on the board 9:22 into the game, ending the Blackhawks' hopes of a third straight shutout. Krejci put a soft wrist shot on goal from the right half wall that Chicago goalie Antti Niemi deflected behind the net. Wheeler gained possession of the puck and found Krejci driving to the net in the slot for the game's first goal.

Andrew Ference handed Kris Versteeg a goal on silver platter when his unforced turnover gave Versteeg the puck right in front of the net. Versteeg was able to beat Tim Thomas to knot the score at 1-1 1:55 into the second period.

The Blackhawks made it 2-1 at 8:22 of the middle period on a goal from Patrick Sharp. Thomas got a piece of Brent Seabrook's shot but left the rebound out front and gift-wrapped for Sharp, who had an empty net to shoot at.

Daniel Paille evened the game up at 2-2 when he hammered home a shot from deep in the offensive zone at the right circle off a nice feed from Mark Recchi with 3:28 remaining in the second.

Chicago re-gained the lead just 3 minutes later when Troy Brouwer slid a nifty pass from the right wing boards to a wide open Jonathan Toews at the doorstep.

Johnny Boychuk tied the game at 3-3 with 14:00 left in the third period on a hard slapper.

The 'Hawks re-claimed their lead just 1:40 later when Andrew Ladd tipped in Brian Campbell's drive from the right point.

David Krejci got his second goal of the game when he put home a rebound in front with 2:43 left in regulation to tie the game at 4-4.

With the game tied after 60 minutes of hockey, the teams headed for overtime. The overtime session featured some frantic moments, good scoring opportunities, and scrum after the final whistle, but no goals.

Shootout

Patrice Bergeron skated inand Niemi kicked up his bid with a left pad save.

Jonathan Toews beat Thomas stick side. 1-0 Chicago

Blake Wheeler rang his shot off the post.

Patrick Kane beat Thomas with a nifty move and tucked the puck into the net through the 5 hole. 2-0 Chicago wins

Final - 12.18.2009	1	2	3	OT	SO	Total
Boston Bruins	1	1	2	0	0	4
Chicago Blackhawks	0	3	1	0	1	5

Complete Coverage >

Notes:

- The Bruins were out-shot 44-29

- Tonight was probably Johnny Boychuk's best game in a Boston Bruins uniform. Boychuk finished the night a +3 with a goal in 30:07 of ice time and made plays at both ends of the ice.

- The 4th line of Shawn Thornton, Steve Begin, and Vladimir Sobotka looked very good tonight. They showed a lot of energy all game long and were constantly putting strong forechecking pressure on the Blackhawks' puck carriers.

- If you are going to loss in the shootout, you might as well do it against a Western Conference team.

- Byron Bitz was a -3 in just 12:29 of ice time.

- The Bruins will be back in action tomorrow night when they travel to Toronto to play the Leafs.

Public Skate: Bruins @ Chicago Blackhawks

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:10:16 -0000

Boston Bruins @ Chicago Blackhawks

United Center

Chicago,IL

8:30

TV: NESN & NHL Network

Radio: 98.5 FM "The Sports Hub"

Blackhawks SBN Blog: Second City Hockey

Watch the game and discuss it with other B's fans. Remember to always skate in a counter-clockwise direction and no rough-housing. Have at it, Chowdah Heads, Puckheads, and Hockey Krishnas!

Bruins in Chi-Town to take on the Blackhawks

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:34:56 -0000

More photos » by Danny Moloshok - AP

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The Bruins are in Chicago to skate with the Blackhawks tonight at the United Center. The Bruins, who will be without the services of defensemen Mark Stuart (broken sternum) and Dennis Wideman (undisclosed injury), are looking to snap a 2 game skid. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have registered back-to-back shutout wins.

Know Your Enemy

Chicago Blackhawks (21-8-3)

Head Coach: Joel Quenneville

SB Nation's Blackhawks Blog: Second City Hockey

Leading Scorer

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Patrick Kane	10	23	33	11	12

4 players with 9 goals (Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Kris Versteeg, & Duston Byfuglien)

Goaltending

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Cristobal Huet	25	1465	15	7		51	2.09	587	536	.913	2

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Antti Niemi	8	480	6	1		12	1.50	191	179	.937	3

Injury Report

Boston
Milan Lucic (Out; Ankle)
Mark Stuart (Out; Broken Sternum)
Dennis Wideman (Doubtful; Undisclosed)

Chicago Blackhawks Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cam Barker	other-excused	12/17/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Dave Bolland	back	11/06/2009
Adam Burish	knee	09/22/2009

Projected Lines

Boston

Marco Sturm	Marc Savard	Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille	Patrice Bergeron	Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler	David Krejci	Byron Bitz
Steve Begin	Vladimir Sobotka	Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara	Derek Morris
Andy Wozniewski	Andrew Ference
Matt Hunwick	Johnny Boychuk/ Adam McQuaid

Chicago

Patrick Sharp	Jonathan Toews	Marian Hossa
Dustin Byfuglien	Kris Versteeg	Patrick Kane
Andrew Ladd	John Madden	Troy Brouwer
Ben Eager	Colin Fraser	Tomas Kopecky

Duncan Keith	Brent Seabrook
Niklas Hjalmarsson	Brian Campbell
Cam Barker/Jordan Hendry	Brent Sopel

Notes:

- Chicago is 14-3-1 at home

- Chicago has allowed just 2.00 goals per game this season

- The top three teams in face-off percentage are also the top three teams in killing penalties and in my opinion that is not a coincidence (Boston, San Jose, & Chicago).

- If you are in Chicago and you are heading to the game, be sure to pick up a copy of "The Committed Indian" game day program and check out my Q&A with Sam Fels from "The Committed Indian" and Second City Hockey (which I also recommend checking out).

- Patrick Kane celebrated his 21st birthday by begrudgingly agreeing to appear at a charity event to restore his image and spending the night listening to a drunk Vince Vaughn tell him how money he is: (no cabbies were harmed in the making of this video)

- This is the first of a 3 game road trip for the B's who will make stops in Chicago, Toronto, and Ottawa in the next 4 days.

- Game starts at 8:30 and can be seen on NESN and NHL Network. Open thread starts at 8:00.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Blackhawks Fan YouTube Video (Language NSFW)

Fenway Park starting to look like a hockey rink

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:41:06 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

1 day ago: Workers continue to prepare the hockey rink on the infield at Fenway Park in Boston Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009 in advance of the Winter Classic NHL hockey game between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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The ice is in place at Fenway Park and the Zambonis made their way to The Old Ballyard today in preparation for the NHL Winter Classic on New Year's Day.

See the anti-climatic video of the Zambonis arriving below:

At least things went smoother than last year's Zamboni delivery at Wrigley Park:

A ceremonial first skate on the Fenway ice will take place Friday morning at 9:30. Bruins alumni including Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Terry O'Reilly, Brad Park, Johnny "Pie" McKenzie, Don Sweeney and Milt Schmidt are scheduled to participate in the skate. Prior to the skate, there will be a caravan from TD Garden to Fenway Park to "represent the transition of Bruins hockey from the TD Garden to Fenway Park".

Mark Stuart on the shelf 4-6 weeks with broken sternum

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:33:15 -0000

Mark Stuart on the shelf 4-6 weeks with broken sternum

Defenseman Mark Stuart will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a broken sternum. Stuart suffered the injury late in the game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. Fellow defenseman Dennis Wideman is also nursing an undisclosed injury. Neither player traveled with the team to Chicago for Friday night's game.

....Maybe bringing back Aaron Ward isn't such a bad idea.

Bruins call up McQuaid and Wozniewski; Place Lucic on IR

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:30:08 -0000

Bruins call up McQuaid and Wozniewski; Place Lucic on IR

The Bruins have recalled defensemen Adam McQuaid and Andy Wozniewski from the Providence Bruins after Dennis Wideman left last night's game with an injury. The Bruins also placed Milan Lucic on the IR to make room for the call-ups.

Bruins fall to Flyers 3-1

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:20:00 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

4 days ago: Philadelphia Flyers right wing Ian Laperriere, rear, raises his arms as he celebrates a goal by teammate Kimmo Timonen in the third period of their NHL hockey game in Boston, Monday, Dec. 14, 2009. In foreground are Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, left, and defenseman Andrew Ference. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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The Bruins lost 3-1 on Monday night in a physical game against the Philadelphia Flyers that featured plenty of controversial calls (and non-calls).

The Bruins appeared to jump out to an early lead just over 2 minutes into the game when Vladimir Sobotka put the puck past Brain Boucher at the right post, but the goal was quickly waved off by the on-ice officials due to the net being off its moorings. The replay showed that the puck crossed the goalline before the whistle blew, but the call on the ice stood. According NESN color analyst Andy Brickley, who spoke with the league's review office in Toronto between periods, the play was not reviewable and the goal was waved off because Boucher did not have an opportunity to make a save since one of his players was pushed into him. Whatever the reason, the score remained 0-0.

Sobotka was able to find the back of the net for real when he set up at the top of the crease and deflected Shawn Thornton's shot past Brian Boucher for the game's first goal with 1:28 left in the second period.

UNH product James van Riemsdyk tied it up at 1-1 2:48 into the third period when he re-directed an Aaron Asham shot for his 7th goal of the season.

The Flyers broke the tie with 9:32 left in the third period on Kimo Timonen's shot from the blue line directly in front of Tim Thomas' net. The puck appeared to graze off of Blake Wheeler's glove and change direction enough to get past Thomas for the 2-1 Philadelphia lead.

The Bruins had an opportunity to tie the game up when Scott Hartnell took an ill-timed high-sticking penalty late in the third period. However, Kimo Timonen ended the Bruins hopes of winning and sealed the victory for the Flyers with an empty net goal with 40.3 seconds remaining in the game. Timomen cleared the puck the length of the ice from just in front of his own goal line all the way into the back of the Bruins net almost 200 feet away.

Final - 12.14.2009	1	2	3	Total
Philadelphia Flyers	0	0	3	3
Boston Bruins	0	1	0	1

Complete Coverage >

Notes:

- Dennis Wideman left the game with an undisclosed injury and did not return.

- I don't often complain about the officiating, but Chris Rooney and Rob Martell did not call a good game tonight: the early wash-out of Sobotka's goal, Chara getting tripped in the third, Briere being able to hold Krejci's stick and skate the length of the ice, etc, etc.

- Apparently, the "3 Minutes of Fame" youth hockey game during the first intermission got a little physical:

"Some heavy hitting during first intermission between the two youth hockey teams on the ice. More punches thrown during intermission than in the first period."

- Fluto Shinzawa, Boston.com

This prompted the following text exchange between Timmy and me:

Me: was there a fight during the youth hockey game during intermission

Timmy: yea it was f__ing awesome

Me: i wish i had video

Stanley Cup of Chowder, SB Nation, and it's sponsors do not advocate violence among children blah blah blah, but if you do have video of this please shoot me an email stanleycupofchowder@gmail.com

- The next time the Bruins and Flyers will meet is on January 1st at Fenway Park for the NHL Winter Classic.

- Daniel Carcillo returned to the lineup for the Flyers after serving his suspension for his actions during a fight with Washington's Matt Bradley. Carcillo's showed his presence throughout this game and recorded 8 hits.

- The Bruins were out-shoted 38-27.

- The Bruins did win 59% of the face-offs tonight, but as Bill Belichick would say "stats are for losers".

- I hope the Bruins goalies don't wear winter hats over their masks during the Winter Classic like they did in warm-ups tonight. That is a straight up goofy look.

- Bruins are off until Friday when they travel to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks.

- For more on tonight's game from a Flyers' fan perspective check out Broad Street Hockey

Public Skate: Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:12:22 -0000

Philadelphia Flyers @ Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Boston, MA

7:00

TV: NESN

Radio: 98.5 FM "The Sports Hub"

Flyers SBN Blog: Broad Street Hockey

Watch the game and discuss it with other B's fans. Remember to always skate in a counter-clockwise direction and no rough-housing. Have at it, Chowdah Heads, Puckheads, and Hockey Krishnas!

Bruins host Flyers in Winter Classic preview

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:39:35 -0000

More photos » by Michael Perez - AP

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The Philadelphia Flyers are in town tonight to take on the Bruins in what will be a preview of the 2010 NHL Winter Classic. The Bruins are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday. While the Flyers are looking to get their act together after losing 10 of their last 12 contests, a slump that partially lead to the firing of head coach John Stevens and the hiring of former Boston Bruins assistant and Providence Bruins head coach Peter Laviolette.

Know Your Enemy

Philadelphia Flyers (14-15-1; 29 points; 5th in Atlantic Division, 13th in East)

Head Coach: Peter Laviolette (1-4-0 since taking the Flyers job)

SB Nation's Flyers Blog: Broad Street Hockey

Leading Scorer:

	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
2009 - Mike Richards	13	12	25	5	40

Probable Starting Goaltenders:

Tim Thomas

#30 / Goalie / Boston Bruins

Height: 5-11

Weight: 201

Born: Apr 15, 1974

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Tim Thomas	18	1077	7	7		45	2.51	507	462	.911	3

Brian Boucher

#33 / Goalie / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 02, 1977

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Brian Boucher	11	592	3	7		25	2.53	259	234	.903	0

Injury Report

Boston Bruins Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Milan Lucic	ankle	11/26/2009

Philadelphia Flyers Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Dan Carcillo	other-excused	12/14/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Blair Betts	shoulder	11/22/2009
Darroll Powe	shoulder	11/21/2009
Simon Gagne	abdomen	10/27/2009
Ray Emery	abdomen	12/06/2009
Braydon Coburn	ankle	12/12/2009

Notes:

- Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice for the Bruins at the morning skate.

- Rhode Island native Brain Boucher will likely get the start in goal for the Flyers as Ray Emery is on the shelf after having abdominal surgery. The Flyers have called up Johan Backlund from the Adirondack Phantoms. The Flyers have also signed former Bruins goalie John Grahame to an AHL tryout contract to help solve the organization's goaltending woes.

- Members of the Bruins and Flyers got a special tour of Fenway Park yesterday and met with NHL ice guru Dan Craig (video below).

- The Bruins are 2-3-4 against the Atlantic Division this season

- The Flyers have been whistled for the most penalty minutes per game of any team in the NHL (17.8 minutes per game).

- These two teams last met on October 22nd with the Flyers beating the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout.

- Injured Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn will be replaced in the lineup by Ole-Kristian Tollefsen.

- The Bruins are giving away Winter Classic fleece helmet hats to the first 10,000 fans tonight. (H/T to Hub Hockey for the link)

- For more on tonight's game from a Flyers fan perspective, check out Broad Street Hockey

- Game starts at 7:00 and can be seen on NESN and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Public Skate open thread starts a half hour before puck drop at 6:30.

Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Flyers Fan YouTube Video

That's a classic right there. I like how the idiot that jumped in to the penalty box wasn't even the guy that got squirted with the water.

James Taylor and Daniel Powter scheduled to sing National Anthems at Winter Classic

Stanley Cup of Chowder — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:48:26 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

5 days ago: FILE - In this July 12, 2006 file photo, James Taylor poses during a rain delay of a benefit concert at Fenway Park in Boston. Taylor is scheduled to perform the U.S. national anthem before the NHL Winter Classic hockey game between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park on Jan. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

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Bruins fans will not hear the familiar sound of Rene Rancourt flexing his golden pipes before the Winter Classic on the New Year's Day at Fenway Park. The NHL has opted to have James Taylor sing the U.S. National Anthem, while Daniel Powter will sing the Canadian National Anthem.

Normally, "Oh Canada" is only performed when one or more of the teams are from a Canadian city. The NHL is probably viewing this as a league event so they chose to include the Canadian anthem to represent their Canadian teams. The only other explainations are that Philadelphia has been annexed by our neighbors to the north or they just want the players and fans to stand still in the freezing cold for a few extra minutes like Little Richard in "Mystery, Alaska".