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Bruins end spectacular November in style
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Doubters beware: The Boston Bruins showed Saturday night they can not only play with any team, but they can beat any team, as well.
The Bruins, now tied for first in the Eastern Conference with the New York Rangers, humbled the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings with a 4-1 victory in Boston.
For most of this season, goaltending has been the backbone for the Black and Gold. But more recently, the offense has been stealing the spotlight. In it’s last 13 games, Boston has tallied 51 goals, good for a 3.9 goals-per-game pace. Blake Wheeler and David Krejci both tallied a goal and an assist for Boston, helping the Bruins win their ninth straight home game, their longest streak in 25 years. Phil Kessel and Chuck Kobasew tallied Boston’s other goals.
Goalie Manny Fernandez, 14th in league with 2.32 GAA, was stellar again for the second straight game. He made 29 saves in Saturday’s victory, playing in back-to-back games for the first time this season while Tim Thomas sat out due to illness.
With the win, Boston ended its November slate at an impressive 11-1-1. And the end of November means another report card for the Black and Gold:
♦ GOALTENDING – A: Show me a better goaltending tandem than Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez. The last line of defense for the B’s have combined for a 2.12 GAA, tops in the league. Thomas stands second in save percentage (.940), while back Fernandez had jumped up to 15th (.918).
♦ DEFENSE – B+: This unit understands its role, and they have played it well. Hard hits, controlling the defensive zone and pushing the puck up to the forwards … they do it all well which has made scoring tough to come by for the opposition. The Bruins have showed discipline, ranking just 15th in the league in penalty minutes per game (14.2). Their penalty kill unit is also 15th in the league, stopping the opposition at 82.3 percent. Only Dennis Wideman is in the top 30 for defensive scoring leaders (13 points, 19th in the NHL).
♦ OFFENSE – B+: What was a concern has been a force of late. The Bruins are third in the league in goals per game at 3.33. They are tied for second in total goals with 80. And the power-play unit is third, converting 23 percent of the time. Center Marc Savard leads the team with 30 points, good enough for tied for fourth in the league. He is second in the league with 22 assists. Phil Kessel is the team’s top goal scorer with 13, which has him 10th in the NHL. He is the lone Bruin in the top 30, which shows you the depth this team has.
♦ ♦ ♦
WORD OF WARNING: When Bruins captain Zdeno Chara speaks, people listen. And when he’s on ice, opposing players need to keep an eye on him or risk the 6-foot-9 beast barreling into you. After Bruins victory Saturday night, Chara proudly proclaimed they are a team to be reckoned with. "We can beat anybody in this league and we can play against anybody, obviously," Chara said. "We've got to keep going and we've got to push forward. We can't be satisfied with the results we have."
During the game, he let his play do the talking, which resulted in a vicious hit on Pavel Datsyuk. Click below to view the footage:
♦ ♦ ♦
Here are the up-to-date leaders for the Bruins:
|
SKATERS:
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
+/-
|
Pts
|
|
24
|
8
|
22
|
13
|
30
|
|
|
24
|
13
|
7
|
8
|
20
|
|
|
24
|
7
|
12
|
12
|
19
|
|
|
24
|
6
|
9
|
10
|
15
|
|
|
24
|
5
|
10
|
7
|
15
|
|
|
24
|
4
|
11
|
2
|
15
|
|
|
24
|
6
|
7
|
13
|
13
|
|
|
12
|
5
|
8
|
10
|
13
|
|
|
24
|
8
|
4
|
12
|
12
|
|
|
18
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
12
|
|
GOALIES:
|
W
|
L
|
OT
|
Sv%
|
GAA
|
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
.940
|
1.88
|
|
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
.918
|
2.32
|
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