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The Columbus Blue Jackets came into the TD Garden and needed the help of a phantom 4 minute high sticking call to finally get over the hump against the Bruins. Late in the third period, Milan Lucic was called for a high sticking penalty that sent him to the penalty box for four minutes, but after a few replays, it was clear that the high stick in question came from Blue Jacket Anton Stralman. Stralman then used that same blue stick and drove it into the heart of the Bruins with a slapshot that RJ Umburger tipped past Tuukka Rask to give Columbus a 3-2 lead.
Other than that gaffe by the referees, the Bruins played a pretty solid hockey game, though they missed some opportunities to go up 3-1. Tuukka Rask looked okay in net and you have to ask yourself if all the time between starts has cooled off the sensational rookie. Rask stopped 22 of 25 shots while Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason stood on his head, stopping 32 of 34 Boston shots.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The Good
Seeing Milan Lucic Drop The Gloves. I was surprised to see Lucic drop the gloves last night against Jared Boll. Lucic spent time on the long term injury reserve list this season and to see him drop the gloves was a good sight. This is what the Bruins need to do. Although the fight wasn't great by any means and Lucic looked off a little bit in the scrum, the Bruins have to get physical if they want to win hockey games. This isn't the speedy team we saw last year, so they will have to smash bodies around to succeed.
Patrice Bergeron Looks Healthy. Bergeron was out for a few weeks with a broken thumb after taking a Dennis Wideman shot to the hand. This is Bergeron's second game back and he looked pretty good. Patrice was on the score sheet in the second period after beating Steve Mason with a quick wrister and put the Bruins up 2-1. Boston needs Bergeron healthy as he's their best two-way forward, a very good penalty killer and has been the stand out throughout the year. Seeing him on the ice and skating without (any) pain is a good sign.
The Bad
Denis Wideman. Holy shit, what a bad year this guy is having. First he is directly involved in three goals against Ottawa on Monday, then is blasted by his coach on Wednesday and last night he coughed up a pass that led to a goal. For those who didn't watch the game last night in any capacity, every time Wideman touched the puck, the crowd at the Garden booed him. I thought it was kind of classless, but like I said yesterday, if you have a ticket you can do what you want within limits. Booing is okay, I'm just starting to feel sorry for the guy.
The Ugly
"The Call". I don't know what the referees were looking at, but its clear that Milan Lucic has a black stick, not a blue one. Whatever the reason was for the call, it left Boston high and dry at the most important time during the game. Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do about it today but bitch and moan, but it is very disheartening to see a team playing well and lose the game on a shitty call.
Win of the Night
Seeing Lucic fight was definitely a good thing. Like I said, the Bruins need an emotional spark and that fight seemed to do it. It was also great to see Ghost Ryder light the lamp.
Stat of the Night
Trent Whitfield got his first point as a Boston Bruin when he assisted on Michael Ryder's goal.
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