Bruins Start Year Off On Right Foot, Edge Flyers 2-1 On Kelly's Late Goal
The Bruins kicked off a very busy October schedule in winning fashion last night in their season opener, knocking off the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 before the obligatory sold-out barn. Chris Kelly knocked the rebound of an Adam McQuaid shot past Steve Mason with 1:51 left in the well-paced game to break the tie and send the enthusiastic crowd home happy.
Thanks to, what else?, a dopey Zac Rinaldo penalty, the Bs got a power play halfway through the first. Reilly Smith made the Flyers pay when he converted yet another sweet Carl Soderberg feed on what is becoming their patented back-door play for the team’s first goal of the year. While there was no scoring in the second period, there was certainly a highlight as Bobby Robins introduced himself to the Garden faithful via a nice scrap with Luke Schenn. After Robins and Craig Cunningham delivered a perfect Malachi Crunch on Rinaldo, Schenn took exception and went right at Robins. In addition to the five for fighting, Robins got an extra two for charging and Schenn for roughing.
After the Bruins held the early edge in play, the Flyers started giving the Bs some pushback in the second and tied the game 4:19 into the third when Sean Couturier got a piece of Jakub Voracek’s net-front feed. The Bs were getting plenty of chances thanks to Mason, whose got more rebounds than Jennifer Aniston, but couldn’t solve him again. That is until McQuaid’s broken stick-altered shot fluttered in from the point, hit Mason’s waffle, and dropped into the crease for a ready-made goal for Kelly. Kelly actually started the play in his own zone then the Bs had some nice puck movement as four of them touched the puck in the seconds just before the goal. So instead of starting the year with an OT game, the Bs grabbed two points and headed off for Motown for tonight’s tilt with the Red Wings.
A few more buds for your bowl…
*Adam McQuaid led all Bruins in ice time, logging 21:47. He looked pretty good in his first game back after a long layoff.
*Rough night for Dougie Hamilton but nothing to be alarmed about. I’d rather see him trying to make something happen than play tentative. He’s primed for a big year so this shouldn’t affect his confidence. Forget it and move on.
*Patrice Bergeron, who assisted on the first goal, owned Claude Giroux, going 12-2 against him at the dot and keeping him pointless. He was 18-5 overall on faceoffs. Just Bergy being Bergy.
*The Big Swede had helpers on both goals. His line with Kelly and Loui Eriksson was flying all night.
*Pretty uneventful game for Milan Lucic, who is still not back to 100% after wrist surgery.
*After their scrap, Robins and Schenn could be seen talking to each other from their respective penalty boxes. Some post-fight chirping, perhaps? “He was asking if it was my first NHL game. So, I said, `Yeah.’ He just said, `Good fight’ — the normal stuff guys say after a fight,” said Robins.
*The defense had 16 of their 33 shots on net with Torey Krug registering a game-high five shots on goal. Kevan Miller, Lucic, and Robins were the only three Bruins not to register a shot. The Flyers managed 20 shots on Rask.
*Non-Bruins Blog Item of the Week. I actually went 2-for-2 on movie rentals last weekend, which is tough to do given the plethora of shit that oozes out of Hollywood nowadays. First up was “Obvious Child”, starring former SNL cast member Jenny Slate in this comedy about a stand-up comedian who gets knocked up courtesy of a one-night stand. Known as the ‘abortion comedy’, this flick is certainly not for everyone. But Slate’s wackiness and nonchalance about a normally taboo topic give the movie its charm. The pivotal scene towards the ends it’s equal parts cringe-worthy, funny, and poignant because Slate pulls it off. Probably want to choose your viewing partner carefully on this one. Next was John Favreau’s “Chef”, about a professional, um, chef who loses his high-profile gig at a trendy restaurant then decides to start a food truck. Yeah, I know it doesn’t sound like much. But with a great cast, sharp script (with witty use of Twitter), lots of laughs, and tons of heart, “Chef” entertained the hell out of me. The scenes with Favreau and his sort-of-estranged son carried unexpected emotional heft. Warning: much the same way watching porn will make you horny, watching “Chef” will make you hungry. Favreau is able to seamlessly weave between genres and produce quality films at the same time—that’s a rare gift in Hollywood and I’m really looking forward to see what he does in the next, oh, 30 years. Both get a B+.
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