Bear Tracks: Bruins / Rangers tonight

Boston Bruins 10-3-3 (23 pts) @ New York Rangers 12-5-2 (26 pts)

Everyone who hasn’t had the chance to get to North Station better do so soon. The Bruin Bandwagon is leaving and you want to make sure you’re on board before there’s no room left. In case you haven’t noticed, last springs seven game brawl with the Montreal Canadians has been a springboard to this year’s respectability. The only real “losses” from that squad was the buyout of Glen Murray’s contrat and Glen Metropolit’s free agent move to Philadelphia. The team replaced Muz & Metro with Michael Ryder & Stephane Yelle.

The season started slow and after the first two weeks, the boys were sitting with a 2-3-3 record after their lone stinker against division rival Maple Leafs. Since rebounding from that loss, the Bruins are the hottest team in the NHL with an 8-1-0 record.  Coach Julien’s got his stamp on the team. He was solid in his previous jobs in Montreal & New Jersey and in my opinion was fired from both teams way too soon. Now, he’s got this team rolling 4 lines every night mixing youth like rookie Blake Wheeler, David Krejci, Matt Hunwick with core veterans Chara, Marc Savard, Marco Sturm (who is streaking right now) and Aaron Ward.

In net, the Bruins have a solid 1-2 punch capable of winning every night. Anyone who remotely follows pucks knows Tim Thomas has been like a 4′ x 6′ sheet of plywood. His 1.76 GAA (2nd in the NHL) and insane .946 save percentage (1st NHL) should garner him a couple of write in votes for this years All Star Game in Montreal. Overall, his record is 6-2-2. As of right now, you’d have to consider him the #1 netmminder. “Backing Thomas up” is Manny Fernandez. Going into this season, you’d almost consider the trade for him last year as a bust. Funny what happens when you finally get healthy. Manny’s numbers are very good and probably good enough to be a #1 goalie on a lot of teams. His numbers (4-1-1,  2.31 GAA & .919 save pct) stack up with guys like Luongo, Cam Ward, Ryan Miller and Henrik Lunqvist. I will admit - all those guys play much more than Manny has this year.

Tonight the B’s play their 3rd game in four nights against an Original Six team. Having travelled to and disposed of Chicago in a shootout and coming home to blast Montreal at home, it’s back on the road again for the B’s.

If I were Claude Julien, I’d play Manny again tonight. Based on what I’ve seen this year since alternating goalies the every other night, you play well, you go again. Thomas was great in Chicago but with the short turnaround, Manny went against Montreal. He deserves to go again tonight. I’d expect Lundqvist to go for the Rangers since he’s played in 16 of 19 Ranger games this year.

Andrew Ference didn’t make the trip after taking a slapshot off the ankle Thursday so look for Matt Hunwick to step in on defense.

Leading the way offensively for the Rangers is Chris Drury and Nikolai Zherdev with 7 goals each. Zherdev leads the team with 7G & 9A for 16 points. Look out for old Bruin farmhand Colton Orr with 42 PIM’s. Scott Gomes is day to day with a leg injury.

It’s been a rough stretch for the B’s with a ton of early season travel but they’ve more than held their own. Playing in the #1 seed in the conference (#2 overall) in their barn, I wouldn’t be surprised if they lost tonight. The Rangers are 7-3-1 at home this year. It should be a good one.

Don’t forget, that bandwagon is starting to gain momentum.

If you have any questions or just want to talk Boston sports, I can be reached at  jimmulligan@sportstalkbuzz.com

Go B’s

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