Jets Embarrass Bruins, Defense In 6-2 Season Opener Thrashing
Yikes. That was even worse than I think anyone imagined. After a spirited first period where they missed several chances to double their 1-0 lead, the Bruins absolutely fell apart in the final two periods. They produced more homely turnovers than a blind baker. Of the five goals poor Tuukka Rask surrendered, I don’t think you can fault him on even one. Just a beastly night all around.
Onto to the much-need buds for your bowl…
*Matt Irwin handling the puck had about as much luck as Steve Irwin handling a stingray. (Too soon?) Just a nightmare debut. Gotta think Claude replaces him with Colin Miller for tomorrow’s tilt vs…Montreal.
*David Pastrnak’s absolute laser that cut the deficit to one for a few minutes in the third makes me ask: Why the fuck is he not on the power play? Unless Claude in already in Peter Gibbons mode, get him the fuck out there. I’m trying real hard to be the shepherd here, Claude, but you’re making it real difficult.
*Speaking of Pasta, he got jobbed out of an assist on David Krejci’s first goal. Yeah, it hit a Jet before it got to Krejci but that shit’s been a helper even since the Gretzky days.
*Scary moment for the Bs when Alexander Burmistrov hit Patrice Bergeron in the jaw with a chicken wing elbow to send him flying. An irate Bergeron got right up and cross-checked him a couple of times before it was quelled, resulting in a rare roughing penalty for the team’s heart-and-soul. Stupid fucking play that has no place in the game.
*Jets fans in the crowd could be heard doing their “True North!” thing during the Canadian anthem to appease their corporate gods. It’s like if the words “Delaware North” appeared in the U.S. anthem and Bruins fans chanted it in unison during the song.
*And now, Paul Newman and Robert Redford do their imitation of Bruins fans last night (spoiler alert):
*Two oversights in yesterday’s blog: Seth Griffith is currently on the Bs roster as well but is injured. Dan Paille was also on last year’s team but has not signed with a team for 2015-16 (thanks to commenter kilgoretrout for heads-up).
*There was a bit of a full-circle aspect to Jimmy Hayes’s Bruins debut last night. Much of the crowd that was there to cheer him on was there to cheer on his relative, Keith Tkachuk, at the real Garden years ago. Tkachuk’s team at the time? The Winnipeg Jets (albeit a different franchise). The last time this Jets franchise (then the Thrashers) won in Boston? 3/31/07. The game-winning goal was scored by…Keith Tkachuk.
*It’s one game so I’m not gonna overreact yet, despite the ugliness. But the Bruins certainly have their work cut our for them with the Habs and Lightning both in town within 48 hours. The potential for ugliness is real.
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