Friday, 20 May 2011

Playoffs Daily | ECF Game 3 | May 20th, 2011

I caught myself saying 'we got the series lead' this morning when I saw that the Bruins had won Game 3. We?! I am not a Bruins fan, I just like them lol ... my excuse is that I often get really caught up in the spirit of the moment. And sticking with it. No worries Leafies & Flyers, still love you most. And the Wings! ;)

[Bruins-Bolts] 2-0. Bruins lead series 2-1. After a crazy Game 2, it was nice to have a bit of normalcy. Not that the game was any less entertaining. Even knowing the outcome it was fun to watch. In my opinion both teams played very well, but the Bolts - despite home ice advantage - lacked the usual spark and energy.

♦ 'Just' two goals. Merely a minute into the first period, Krejci scored on a smart feed by Lucic. The Bolts had no quick reply, so the Bruins settled into a well-played first period. Lots of control in front of the opponents net, smart puck movement, complemented by an excellent defence. They kept this up for the next two periods as well. Not saying the Bolts were playing a bad game. Not at all, their defence was solid as well, but the Bruins were simply better at it. The Bolts definitely had a hard time getting the puck anywhere near Tim Thomas and the Boston D-guys thwarted many an attempt as soon as the Bolts crossed the blue line. Anyways, the second goal was scored eight minutes into the third period by my new hero Ference (will never forget his epic gesture during the series versus the Habs) and that gave Timmie a bit more breathing space for the remainder of the game. In total the Bruins had 25 shots on goal and the Bolts a bit more with 31.

♦ Yay! Bergeron was back. Glad the mild concussion really was mild. But his presence was highly impactful. Great on the face-off (won 18 out of 28) and great at reading the game and feeding pucks to teammates. In the post-game interview a reporter asked how he was feeling about being involved in hits and he said he was ready for any hits and that he felt confident he would be alright

♦ In the post-game interview Timmeh commented that the last game was just crazy with the constant rushes and that this game was much more normal. So he had more control, which meant we got to see a less floppy Timmeh ;) ... plus he had an awesome spinorama save!


♦ And can I just point out that the Bruins D-guys, especially Chara and Seidenberg, are awesome? Both clocked nearly 29 minutes of ice time. That is some serious effort and they got a few shots on goal as well adding extra firepower to the offence ... I checked the Bolts' stats and no one on that squad was on ice that long

♦ Biggest hit? The 'other' Bergeron hit Krejci pretty hard with his shoulder. I am not going to say Krejci was blindsided, but he certainly did not see him coming as he was focusing on receiving the puck. M.A. Bergeron got booed for quite some time, although not necessarily deserved. Lets face it, Krejci should have kept his head up

♦ Was keeping an eye on Seguin. No heroics this game, but good solid play. Excellent

♦ No big skirmishes. After Ben Eager's antics last night during the Nucks-Sharks game, it was good to watch a game without the dramatics ;)

♦ Steven Stamkos with a beard? I hope the playoffs will finish soon for the Bolts so he can get rid off that abomination ;)

Bring on the next game!

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