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Bruins, 2-1

Email|Link|Comments (7) Posted by Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff September 26, 2008 10:32 PM

Tuukka Rask, making a last-minute start after Manny Fernandez suffered a bruised right thumb in warmups, stopped 24 shots, including a late point-blanker by Marian Hossa, to earn the victory.

Claude Julien said X-rays showed no break in Fernandez's thumb, but he will be re-evaluated tomorrow. Fernandez had his thumb and middle finger taped. Julien said there was major swelling in the thumb.

* Peter Schaefer sat out the third period with hip flexor stiffness, the same ailment that kept Phil Kessel out of the lineup tonight. Kessel was scheduled to play instead of Byron Bitz. Julien termed both of the injuries as very minor.

* Michael Ryder netted his first preseason goal, taking a pass from David Krejci and swiping a shot through Ty Conklin for the game-winning strike at 6:00 of the third period. "I feel a lot more comfortable on the ice, getting used to the system," Ryder said.

* The right wing said one of the biggest differences between Montreal and Boston is that the Canadiens' wingers are coached to support the play across the ice. In Boston, the wings are instructed to stay wide. "Sometimes I find myself coming across the ice when I should stay a little wider," Ryder said. "But I feel more and more comfortable now that I'm getting a little more used to it. It was going to take three or four games. I think the next games will be a lot easier."

* Yet another strong game from Jeremy Reich, who is battling for a job on the fourth line. "I think he's had a great camp," Julien said. "The competition here is pretty good. I'd rather have them fight for the spots. I think Jeremy is a pretty good mathematician. He's calculated what's here and how many guys can stay, and he's going to fight to maintain the spot he had here last year."

* Expect more line shuffling tomorrow against Washington. But Julien said that in the final three games, the lines will become more stabilized.

* Peter Chiarelli said between 27 and 30 players will go to Stowe, Vt., for team-building exercises next week. So expect between 14 and 17 cuts tomorrow.

STICK SALUTE: Jeff Penner. The first-year pro, playing in his third preseason game, had another solid outing. Penner has been used in all situations and has showcased his skating, passing, and decision-making. "There are always some young kids that step it up, young kids that are sometimes unknown," Julien said. "He's certainly one of them. We didn't know too much about him from the coaching staff part of it. But he's really impressed us. I think he's getting better and better every game. As long as he keeps playing like that, we're going to keep looking at him."

SIN BIN: Milan Lucic. The big left wing made a big-time impression in camp last year, but hasn't been as electric this time around. Lucic set up several scoring chances tonight, but his timing isn't up to his standards.

tags Jeff Penner, Manny Fernandez, Michael Ryder, Milan Lucic, Peter Schaefer, Phil Kessel, Tuukka Rask

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7 comments so far...

Oh boy. Here we go again. Now (not) playing goal for the Boston Bruins, J.D. Drew.

Lets hope Rask is ready to make the leap.

Posted by dave September 27, 08 08:20 AM

That's kind of a silly thing to say. Taking a shot off the hand is just a freak accident that could happen to anyone, not a recurrence of an existing problem. And it's not broken. Hockey players get bumps and bruises like this on a constant basis.

Fluto, could you expand a little on the difference between wingers staying wide and being coached to "support the play across the ice"? I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by that. Thanks.

Posted by duinne September 27, 08 09:22 AM

I was hoping Manny would step it up this year and return to the star form he used to have...
so far, very dissapointing

Posted by mattyw September 27, 08 10:16 AM

Let's not hope this is 'Manny being Manny'...

Posted by Pete H. September 27, 08 03:00 PM

Supporting play across the ice means to weave, cut, and generally get open. it creates odd man rushes, and gives the center and defensemen options. it makes the defenders think, move and make mistakes.
keeping the wingers wide only gives 2 options for a center or defenseman rushing up ice through the neutral zone: dump the puck or dish it to the wing on the boards. the wing has little to no space to do anything with the puck and the defense easily can pin them to the boards. basically the only option for the wing is to also dump the puck.
this is why you see teams like buffalo and montreal able to create and play with speed through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. and the b's can rarely create anything off the rush. a dump and chase, rough and tumble game is fine, but when you say that you want more scoring this is why it doesnt happen.

Posted by hockey September 27, 08 07:03 PM

Thanks, hockey, but I thought that was pretty much a given; I supposed there was something more to it than that. It's like saying a running back has to hit the holes.

But doesn't a competent coach use what talent he has to best effect? You wouldn't ask someone who's not a great skater to play a weaving/cutting game, nor would you require a gunner to muck in the corners. That's akin to hammering a square peg into a round hole.

Posted by duinne September 27, 08 07:21 PM

i agree 100% but instead of coaching individual players, the nhl (and most pro sports) try to fit into a system or formula. so the b's have clearly started to find players that fit into julien and chiarelli's plans, which is good for consistency. but that leaves a lot of talented guys, like kessel for example, out of the loop, ineffective, and useless scapegoats. they have to change their game or risk their careers and development.
nevermind the fact that in 2 years under chiarelli (3 offseasons) he has changed his mantra 3 times: 1 team with speed like buffalo, after drafting kessel and seeing how boyes bergeron and sturm could fly up and down the ice (then he changed the coach to lewis who played a trap and didnt play the three together, then traded boyes) 2 puck pursuit and tough to play against like anaheim (julien didnt pursue the puck much, a 1 man forecheck and his best pursuit man in bergeron was out the whole year), and now 3 big strong guys who can move the puck and play a puck possession game (they dont have the skill to move and possess the puck like detroit, but can dump, chase, and cycle pretty well). sure there's some overlap there, but what is it going to be next year? plus none of that really fits into juliens defensive system except for big guys banging around the offensive zone
anyways, yeah dont ask wingers to cut and move if they are big slow guys, but right now he has half and half, sounds like playing a couple different strategies might work in the b's favor to me... but im not an nhl coach...

Posted by hockey September 27, 08 11:03 PM