Bruins Holding on Against Sabres

Bruins Use Force to Take Game Two

It is a play that happens many times throughout the course of a hockey game; two man go into the corner to battle for the puck, but on this occasion, Mark Recchi of the Boston Bruins turned it into anything but ordinary.

When the 42 year old veteran went into the corner against the Buffalo Sabres' Tim Kennedy, he knew he was going to dig it out, "I knew it was going to be a battle," Recchi said, "we were kind of even going in and I was just trying to get position and I was fortunate that I caught him proper and wa able to win the battle."

Recchi turned a proper play into a grat and series changing play. After depositing Kennedy onto the ice, he slipped a beautiful pass to the slot for Patrice Bergeron who was able to beat stellar netminder Ryan Miller on the glove side. The play gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead, and eventually, with the help of Tuukka Rask in net, a 2-1 series lead.

The Bruins played from behind for most of the first two games, falling behind 1-0 in each of the first two games, so it should not have been a surprise the Bruins continued that trend when Mike Grier flicked a wrister past the right shoulder of Rask early in the first period.

But the Bruins were able to tie the game in the first period and simply outplayed the visiting Buffalo Sabres, on the offensive side, on the defensive side, and most importantly with their tenacity.

Whether it was Zdeno Chara planting a charging Sabre while flat-footed or Johnny Boychuk absolutely trucking Matt Ellis, the Bruins brought the game to the Sabres and it was apparent the entire game. Even though the Sabres notched the first goal of the game it always seemed like they were playing from behind and simply trying to pull even with the Bruins.

Without Miller in net for the Sabres this game could have easily been a 4-1 or 5-1 game, but Miller, who made 27 saves, almost all of them difficult, kept the Sabres in the game and provided them with an opportunity to tie the game in the waning seconds.

But it was not to be as the upstart Finnish rookie Rask made 32 saves in net and was a wall in front of the cage after allowing his first period goal. If the Bruins are to make it out of the first round they are going to have to play like they did last night: faster, smarter and tougher than their opponents.