The Boston Bruins welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the TD Garden and it couldn't have been a better time. The Bruins are currently in 7th place in the East and a win would leap frog them into 5th place over the Senators (if the Senators lose tonight to St. Louis). The Bruins are 4-5-1 in their last ten games and coming off of a disastrous game against Ottawa in which they lost 5-1. Columbus hasn't fared any better this season, currently sitting in the Western Conference basement with 47 points. Columbus is 4-6-0 in their last ten games and coming off of a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia.
Tuukka Rask will start in net for Boston as Tim Thomas wasn't particularly sharp in his game against Ottawa. I would like to note that this probably wasn't due to Thomas' start on Monday since the Bruins have been giving Thomas two to three starts a week and Rask one. Rask's last start was in Anaheim.
Bruins' 3 Keys To Winning
1. Play The Damn Game! The Bruins have lacked consistency all year. On their West Coast road trip last week, Boston gave up the lead the third period, and eventually lost, two out of the three games. TO top it all off, Boston came home and didn't show up against Ottawa as Alfredsson and the Sens crushed the Bruins. Their play was sluggish, torpid, painful, etc and every phase of their game was lost. Tim Thomas was dreadful (he stopped 6 of 9 shots) and received sarcastic cheers from the crowd, the defense was out of position, slow and a turnover machine and the offense was lost under bad passing, poor shot selection and more turnovers!
I firmly believe that a ticket holder has the right to act how they want to act at an event within reason. The crowd booed Tim Thomas and the rest of the team Monday afternoon and I feel that their actions are warranted. I know people are against booing the team they love, but part of me wants to tell the team "Hey, you guys suck right now and need to play better." If I paid to go to the Garden on Monday and watch that abomination, I'd boo too.
2. Execute The Power Play. Shockingly, the Bruins power play has been terrible all year. I say shockingly because last season the Bruins ended the season ranked 4th and they haven't been ranked in the top fifteen all season. Currently the Bruins are ranked 19th on the power play, successfully scoring on the power play 17.5% of the time. Boston's struggles on the power play is due to poor shot selection and to much passing. Boston misses out on opportunities to score (whether straight on net or via rebound) because they are always looking for the extra pass. It is frustrating as hell to watch this power play fizzle out time after time.
3. Show Emotion. I guess you could tie this in with "Play The Damn Game!" but this team is virtually emotionless on the ice. In Anaheim, Zdeno Chara whiffed on a sure goal and ended up smashing his stick as the team walked into the locker room for the first intermission. I sent a BBM to my brother saying "Seeing Chara like that is awesome, it'll give the team the emotional wake-up they've needed for awhile". Sadly, this was not meant to be. Monday the only emotion that was strewn about the black and gold was frustration. I don't want to see frustration because a team is kick your ass, I want to see anger at the start of the game. Where are the Big Bad Bruins and how do we get them to come back? Was last year an aberration? Does this team actually belong in the 6-7-8 seeds of the Eastern Conference like many predicted a year ago? Show some god damn passion like the people who come to see you do day in and day out.
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Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 