Stuart does a double take
He's the unlikely hero with two goals in third
MONTREAL -- For 40 minutes at the Bell Centre, Brad Stuart had one of those forgettable nights.
Stuart was on the ice for all four Montreal goals, and by the end of the second period, the boards in front of the Boston bench felt his frustration.
As he came off the ice, Stuart whacked at the wall several times, peeved at how his club had thrown away a three-goal lead. In the dressing room, coach Dave Lewis made the Bruins aware of his displeasure.
"After the second period, we weren't too upbeat about the way things were going for us," Stuart said.
So in the third period, Stuart took over.
Just before an offensive-zone draw, Stuart raced over to Petr Tenkrat to change the play, instructing the winger to bust through to the net.
Like most things in last night's upside-down 6-5 win, the play didn't work. But Stuart still gained control of the puck off the faceoff, walked it to the middle of the ice, and cranked a slapper on goal that pinballed off several bodies ("Off four guys," guessed the defenseman), ultimately deflecting off a Canadien's skate and past goalie David Aebischer.
Then after the Canadiens scored the tying goal, Stuart struck again, gunning a shot that Wayne Primeau appeared to tip past Aebischer. But Stuart was credited with the goal, his second of the game and fourth of the year.
"He certainly stepped forward in this game," Lewis said. "He competes all the time and it's nice to see a guy rewarded with some goals."
Neil Abbott, Axelsson's agent, recalled yesterday that the left wing was walking with a heavy limp on Thanksgiving. Abbott urged his client to sit out the following day against Carolina, but Axelsson skated 19 shifts for 14:55 of playing time in a 5-1 loss.
Abbott fears that by playing too soon after the injury, which Axelsson sustained Nov. 20 while blocking a shot, he might have aggravated it.
The bruise is on the top of the foot, where Axelsson ties the laces on his skate. He has been wearing a cast off the ice and is scheduled to undergo an MRI today. If there is a break in the foot, he will be sidelined indefinitely.
Jeff Hoggan, recalled from Providence Sunday, replaced Axelsson in the lineup, recording one hit and two shots in 8:21.
"I've been on the power play and penalty kill, so I've played a lot more," said Hoggan, who recorded three assists in four games with the P-Bruins. "But I'm still bringing the same thing -- energy and hard work."
In 2004-05 with Jokerit Helsinki, Thomas played in 54 of 56 games. He recalled that he saw action in more than 50 straight matches that year.
"The NHL schedule is more condensed," Thomas said. "At the beginning, we didn't have a lot of games. Now we have a lot. I try and take care of my body as much as I can with rest on off days."
After yesterday's morning skate, all three coaches worked with Hannu Toivonen, as they had Saturday.
In one drill, Toivonen hugged the post, then shot out to the lip of the crease to stop assistant coach Doug Houda's slap shots from the right-side wall. Meanwhile, Lewis stood in the slot looking for rebounds. Whenever Toivonen failed to control a rebound, steering it instead to Lewis, he had to skate to the near blue line and back.
