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Three Rangers are eyeing the Bruins’ Mark Recchi as he fights for the puck in the third period.
(Stephen Chernin/Associated Press)
Bruins Notebook
Chara, bugged, swats at pest
He gives agitator Avery talking-to, a stiff check
Three Rangers are eyeing the Bruins’ Mark Recchi as he fights for the puck in the third period.
(Stephen Chernin/Associated Press)
NEW YORK - Ranger winger Sean Avery, who has a penchant for such things, was shooting his mouth off at various Bruins during the pregame warm-ups yesterday at Madison Square Garden. The trash talk caught the keenly-tuned ear of Boston captain Zdeno Chara.
“Just him being himself,’’ said the 6-foot-9-inch Chara, following a 1-0 Rangers win. “I skated right up to him and told him, ‘Uh-uh, you’re not going to do that to our team.’ I tried to let him know. And I told him, every time I had a chance to hit him, I’d put him on his ass.’’
One of Chara’s five hits on the afternoon came in the first period and it dropped Avery in a heap, leaving him blinking as he made his way slowly back to the Blueshirt bench. Avery finished the day with decent numbers, including two shots on net and three hits, compiled over 18 shifts and 12 minutes 39 seconds of ice time. Overall, though, the notorious agitator was remarkably quiet.
Power shortage
As the game unfolded, and the Bruins worked toward their futile 0 for 5 on the power play, coach Claude Julien tinkered slightly with his alignments on the man-advantage.He split up his point pairing of Chara and Derek Morris, opting to put Dennis Wideman at the left point with Chara on the right. Morris switched from left point on the No. 1 unit, to right point on the No. 2 unit, partnering with Andrew Ference.
But little changed. The Rangers did an expert job of squeezing off shooting lanes (kudos to Chris Higgins for stellar PK work) and forcing pucks wide and along the wall. In the final minute, with Tim Thomas yanked from the Boston net, Julien moved Chara to a forward line, where he worked with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
The Bruins are now 0 for 13 on the power pay in their last four games. They are 1 for 19 over the last seven games and now 6 for 53 (11.3 percent) overall.
“It’s around the net . . . it’s about finishing,’’ said Julien, pinpointing the ineffectiveness of his forwards.
Chara believes slowing down a fraction might help.
“When we do have chances, we have to stay calm,’’ he said. “We have to take that extra half second instead of firing everything right away. I think our attitude around the net has improved. We are hungrier around the net. But sometimes we are so crowded down there it’s like we are battling each other.’’
Bit of a setback
Byron Bitz is the latest to catch the injury bug. Julien said Bitz sustained a groin injury in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Oilers, which will keep the big right winger sidelined on a day-to-day basis. Trent Whitfield filled Bitz’s spot on the Shawn Thornton-Steve Begin line and logged 8:07 of ice time. None of his three shots made their way to the net . . . Brad Marchand, left winger on the Bergeron-Michael Ryder line, led all Bruins with five shots on Henrik Lundqvist. Ryder and Bergeron combined for three . . . Ryder has gone 0-0 -0 in five of his last six games . . . Chara was blanked for the second time in three games. He remains without a goal (0-6 -6) after potting a career-high 19 last season . . . The Bruins chartered to Detroit immediately following the loss and will take on the Red Wings tomorrow night at Joe Louis Arena. They are back on Garden ice Thursday night for the first visit this season by the Canadiens.Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
