Bruins Fail to End Series, Give Toronto Hope

                                                      (This is how we all felt)

The Bruins were looking to end this series series last night on home ice, while Toronto was on the verge of elimination. It looked like it was the other way around in the first period. The Bruins had many turnovers and lost puck battles, and they were lucky to get out of the first scoreless. They weren't as lucky in the second. Ference couldn't handle a pass, I will say it was a hard pass so he doesn't deserve all the blame, anyways it bounced over his stick to Tyler Bozak and he was able to get a partial breakaway. Even though there was pretty good back pressure, Bozak got it in underneath the arm of Tuukka Rask. Ok, it was a save you would have liked to see him have, but making 20 saves in the first period alone, it could have easily been 2-0 or 3-0 by then so it's really hard to blame him. In the third now, there was a pass off the boards that was going right to Nathan Horton, but he didn't get his stick down on the ice in time (another turnover). Clark MacArthur brought it into the zone and went forehand-backhand and into the back of the net. 2-0 Toronto. Now I don't know if the leafs wore themselves out or what, but they just disappeared in the second half of the third period. I mean the Bruins were just dominating, although not scoring. That was until Zdeno Chara finally got the Bruins on the board to make it 2-1. There was a late delay of game penalty on the Leafs, but the Bruins couldn't convert. They dominated play up until the buzzer with nothing to show for it. The Leafs had tons of blocked shots, and it was just that kind of night for Boston.

The first half of this game is what really hurt the Bruins, they just didn't show up. They were extremely slow coming out of their own end, turnovers, sloppy play, not a good effort. Like I said, they dominated much of the third, and really they started getting better in the final minutes of the second, but it's just too late. You need to come ready to play and Bruins didn't do that. Now I'm nervous because we gave Toronto hope, which is something they didn't have coming into this game the way we played in game 4. Now we are headed back to Toronto in a building that will be rocking. Here's an interesting fact: the Bruins are 6-11 in closeout games since Claude Julien became coach, which was 2007. We have seen a lot of game 7s over the years, haven't we.

~Anthony

P.S. I updated the Red Sox Record and last games and next game played since that hasn't been getting done lately. (Yes I'm talking to you Dj, it takes 20 seconds to do.)

P.S.S. Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan is undergoing season ending surgery. That's all I'm going to say about it because Dj will probably post. Ok, I'm done, I promise.

Krejci Gets Hat Trick, Bruins Win 4-3 In Instant Classic

(David Krejci scored the overtime winning goal and completed his hat trick as the B's take a 3-1 series lead.)

This was a great playoff hockey game. It was probably the closest game of the series so far against these two original 6 teams. The Bruins were looking to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the series and Toronto was looking to tie it up at 2.

Joffrey Lupul got the scoring started for the Leafs when he took advantage of a little bit of a Bruins defensive breakdown and shot it past Tuukka Rask about 2 and a half minutes into the game. They would then take a 2 goal lead when Franson would take a wrist shot from the blue line, it wasn't shot hard at all and he was probably just hoping for a rebound, but he ended up getting a goal. It appeared Chara got in the way of Rask's sight and by the time he saw it it was too late. By this point I was thinking, "Here we go..."  But the Bruins wouldn't sit back. Early in the second period, after a shot was fired at Reimer producing a big rebound (which happens a lot), Patrice Bergeron jumped on it and got his first goal of the playoffs. And by the way, it was a power play goal. They would then tie the score at 2 when Marchand got a shot on net and while Krejci was in front of the net it bounced off him and went in. Originally it looked like Marchand's goal, but it was given to Krejci, which turned out to be a good thing. The tie was short lived though, because less than 2 minutes later the Leafs would regain the lead 3-2 when MacArthur scored. Krejci would then tie it up again for his second of the game. After a scoreless third period , but not uneventful, as both teams had great chances and it was a lot of up and down the ice action, we would go to the first overtime of the series. Both teams had chances, and I think the Maple Leafs had better ones actually. But it was Krejci scoring the overtime winner on a 2 on 1, completing his hat trick and giving the Bruins a 3-1 series lead.

The first line was once again on fire today, producing 7 points and 3 goals, all from Krejci but I would say that's still good. They Bruins will look to close out the series Friday at the Garden.

~Anthony

Sox Lose 6-1 In Mess Of A Game

The Red Sox lost 6-1 to the Twins Tuesday night, and man it was a wild game... Well mostly all in one inning. And that was the 8th, when the Sox gave up 4 runs on poor defense and just sloppy plays. Dempster did pretty good, only giving up 2 EARNED runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched. Ortiz extended his hitting streak to 27 games going 1 for 4. Also Salty got a 9th inning home run to break up the shutout. In total, the Sox produced 4 hits and 1 run... I don't know what to say.

Middlebrooks and Ross left the game due to colliding after Middlebrooks made a great sliding catch in foul territory and hanging on to the ball. Anyways, the Sox will take on the Twins again on Wednesday.

- DJ

Drew's Walkoff Leads Sox To Win Over Twins 6-5

The Red Sox beat the Twins Monday night 6-5. The Twins led up until the 7th inning when Stephen Drew hit a home run to tie the game at 4. Then, it came till the 8th inning when Dustin Pedroia would hit a towering momentum home run to the green monster that would give us the 5-4 lead. Sadly, the Sox could not enjoy the moment because Joel Hanrahan would give up a game tying home run in the 9th inning, evening it at 5. It went all the way until the 11th where Drew would hit a walk off double giving us the 6-5 win. The Sox totaled 17 hits and Stephen Drew had 4 of them going 4 for 5 with 3 RBI's and showing us great improvement at the bat. Also, Victorino went 3 for 5 with an RBI, and Pedroia also went 3 for 5 with an RBI. Buchholz did average, decent, giving up 7 hits and 4 runs, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts through 6 innings pitched. Since we tied the game and got the win, Buchholz avoided the loss, and got the no decision, remaining 6-0 this year. Hanrahan left the game in the 9th inning, after feeling something wrong with his arm again, and went on the 15 day DL after. And now it appears he has a inflammation in his right arm.

Allen Webster was called up in place of Hanrahan and will be in the rotation for now. He is scheduled to make his second major league start this season for tomorrow's game. Doubrant was orginally scheduled but he will now be in the bullpen for a small time period until Hanrahan is back. Anyways, hopefully, Hanrahan and Bailey will be ready to go and alright once they come off the 15 day DL in a couple weeks.

- DJ

Everybody Contributing as B's Take 2-1 Lead in Series

(We weren't sure if Nathan Horton's 3rd playoff goal went in at first, but we found out it got stuck on top of the inside post.)

The Bruins last night looked like they did in game 1, and that was dominant. Everybody was doing well tonight. Adam Mcquaid got the scoring started for the Bruins in the First Period when he slapped in a shot from the point. Peverly would get the next one when Jagr stole the puck behind the net and was able to pass it to Peverly who was out in front. That was only one of many scoring chances from the third line, who Claude Julien was looking to get more production out of. They were involved all night and it was a good game for them. The Leafs would make it 2-1 on a power play goal from Gardiner. Chris Kelly tried to clear the puck down the ice, but he didn't get a lot of the shot, and it went right to Gardiner and he was able to put it by Rask. Horton made it 3-1 on that goal I was talking about, Lucic passed it cross ice to him and he went top shelf over Reimer. His team leading 3rd goal of the playoffs. Paille would then hurt the Leafs chances of coming back even more when he stole the puck and had a partial breakaway and scored to make it 4-1. Unfortunately, Phil Kessel would then score on the power play to make it 4-2. But Krejci would add an empty netter and the Bruins won 5-2 and took a 2-1 lead in the series.

Toronto's attack wasn't consistent in this game, and that hurt them. There were times when they actually  outplayed the Bruins, sometimes even badly outplayed them. But it wouldn't last, and the Bruins would just control the game. The first and third lines were very good tonight, they either scored or were on the ice for every one of the Bruins goals. Tuukka Rask was once again outstanding making 47 saves. Even though you would like to see way less shots given up, Rask kept us in the game as has been the case many times. The Bruins will look to get a 3-1 series lead on Wednesday.

~Anthony

Celtics Regular Season Wrap Up/Future

(what does the future hold for these 2 future Hall of Famers?)

The Celtics began there season against a team that ended there season against the Heat it was there first game against ex Celtic Ray Allen and the Heat won 120-107. They got there first win against the Wizards. The Celtics were struggling heading into a game against the Heat they were 20-23 and out of the playoff picture following the game they learned that there star player Rajon Rondo was out for the year and everyone was counting out the Celtics... again and again they were wrong as they went on a impressive 7 game winning streak before it being snapped by the talented(chuckle) Bobcats. A few more games after rookie Jared Sullinger who was having a great season went down with a season ending injury. The Celtics at the deadline would trade an injured Barbosa and a now well recognised Jason Collins for Jordan Crawford. Fast Foward a few more months and the Celtics would face the Heat in a chance to end there historic streak but ultimately falling short. The Celtics limped into the playoffs with a 41-40 record(a game against the Pacers got cancelled due to the marathon bombings.) Games 1 and 2 the Celtics had there chance at winning but terrible second halfs cost them. They got embarassed at home in game 3 and were down 0-3 and everyone was counting them out and again everyone was wrong as they won games 4 and 5 and forced a game 6 where they eventually lost.


Whew that was a workload ANYWAY the Celtics are done now and now its time to see what Danny Ainge will do. Will he get rid of KG and Pierce and start the rebuilding process? Will Rondo be gone also? Will Doc leave the Celtics and move on? Who knows whats in Ainge's mind all I hope though is that he keeps everyone together. We have a good enough team to compete if they stay healthy. Heres how the lineup would look like.

Point Gaurd: Rajon Rondo
Shooting Gaurd: Avery Bradley
Small Foward: Paul Pierce
Foward: Jeff Green
Center: Kevin Garnett
6th Man: Jason Terry

Whats not to like about that lineup? Terry should be better than last year limit KG's minutes and put in Sullinger here and there. We got a good enough squad to challenge for the division and maybe even the Heat.

Well anyway sadly this will be my last post for a while, I will post if the Celtics do any offseason moves but that won't be until probably July. Anyway before I go i'd like to share my opinions on the Red Sox and Bruins. For the Bruins well this is a series they should take against the Leafs but I do see a second round exit for them, and as for the Red Sox its still early and that sweep against the Rangers pretty much tells me there not ready to compete with the big boys....yet. Anyway good luck to the Red Sox and Bruins and good luck to Anthony and Dj and with that i'm gone.


-Abudi ;-)

Red Sox Get Swept, Lose 4-3

The Red lost and got swept by the Texas Rangers Sunday 4-3 by a walkoff from the Rangers. The Sox had a 3-1 up until the 6th inning when the Rangers put 2 on the board to even the score at 3-3. Lester would be pulled and it all came into the 9th, when Clayton Mortenson was trusted to keep this game tied. Well, he'd get the first two batters to strike out but Elvis Andrus hit a single to center field and then he fell apart. He threw a wild pitch which would let Andrus advance to second, and then he was pretty much forced to intentionally walk Lance Berkman, after throwing 2 straight balls. Adrian Beltre would step up to the plate and he would hit a single that would send home Andrus and the Rangers would walk off for the win and sweep, sadly... Our offense was not there much this series getting 4 total runs the whole series and only getting 5 hits today, and the pitching was also not the best, referring back to the 2 first games. Today was a tough game, Yu Darvish struck out 14 Red Sox. The only bright side of the offense was Ortiz and Ross each hitting a home run today, and helping Ortiz extend his hit streak to 25 games, techinically, dating back from last season. I don't even want to talk about this series anymore...

ANYWAYS, the Sox will return back to Fenway to take on the Twins, who have been a struggling team. Hopefully the Red Sox can get back on track after getting swept by the Rangers and now being tied with the best record in American League, at 20-11, of course, with the Rangers.

- DJ