What do you want for $15?

I think Monday night was one of the low points of the season. After coming off an absolutely crushing loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in which they had the game won until Patrice Bergeron's stick broke, which led to the Penguins ultimately tying the score and then winning the game in overtime, you would expect the Bruins to bounce back at home against the Islanders. That wasn't the case, however, as they dropped another frustrating loss 4-1. Before the game started, Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz dropped the ceremonial puck drop between Richard Park and Zdeno Chara. Ortiz was in town to promote his charity golf tournament that he's running this winter in the Dominican Republic. It was really funny and random to see Big Papi at a Bruins game. The Bruins came out and had an absolutely flat first period, and New York got on the board first as Jack Hillen rushed up the ice and around the net, centering a pass for Matt Moulson who tucked it by Tuukka Rask. The Bruins had a great chance to tie the game as they had a 5 on 3 powerplay for a minute and a half, but they could not convert. They did get some quality chances but there was too much puck movement, and unless Mark Recchi was out there, nobody stood out in front of the net, which is a really concerning matter. My favorite punching bag, Dennis Wideman, took two slapshots from the point and missed the net. I am really hoping that Claude Julien sits him for a few games in favor of Johnny Boychuk. I am a big Boychuk fan because he brings so much more to the table than Wideman does. I know Wideman carries a hefty $3.9 million contract, but it's getting really frustrating watching him out there knowing that Boychuk is sitting up on the 9th floor for no reason.

The Bruins were able to tie the game with under 5 minutes to go in the second period; David Krejci outmuscled Freddy Meyer along the leftwing boards and was able to slide a pass across to Daniel Paille who got two shots off and converted on his second one. The goal was reviewed because Islanders center John Tavares knocked the net off its mourings, but the goal stood because it was a defensive player who intentially knocked the net loose. It was a great effort put forth by David Krejci to set up that goal. I thought Krejci, along with linemates Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder, was really flying and generating quality scoring chances. It was encouraging to see; Krejci has really stepped up his game ever since Claude Julien unfairly called him out in front of everybody. With the score tied at 1 and just over a minute to play in the second period, in a play reminiscent of that of Thomas' against the Penguins, Tuukka Rask came out of his net to play the puck when he should have left it for his defensemen. The puck went right to Richard Park who centered the puck for Matt Moulson, and Moulson registered his second goal of the night. It was a real bonehead move on Rask's part by playing the puck and not being totally ready for the shot; he was back in the net, it was obvious he wasn't really ready. The Bruins went into the room only down a goal after 2 periods, but it was really frustrating because although I know the Islanders are an improved teaml, even with Marc Savard and Milan Lucic out of the lineup, the Bruins should have beaten them.

I was really expecting the Bruins to come out and tie the game right off the bat in the third, but that wasn't quite the case, and Dennis Wideman singlehandely gave the game away. Wideman failed to clear the puck AGAIN as he coughed it up to Richard Park who found John Tavares on the off wing, and Tavares slid a pass intended for Matt Moulson but which deflected off of Matt Hunwick's skate and into the net. That was pretty much curtains; I debated on leaving, but remembered that the Bruins were down to this same team a month ago by 3 goals with less then 10 minutes to play and pulled off a win. Trent Hunter sealed the deal with an open net goal to make it 4-1, and that is when I took off.

When leaving the game, I was definitely frustrated, but I feel better knowing that I pay only $15 a game to watch that crap. A number of my fellow Bruins season ticket holder friends took the night off and didn't go, but I can't do that. I went to all of the bad games during the Mike Sullivan and Dave Lewis era, so I was a champ and made the trek in. There's so much more to the experience than just the game when going to the Garden. I enjoy socializing with Bruins fans at the gates, getting my beer from Rob (and usually get a few great lines from him which I can't repeat in this blog, as I'm trying to keep it as G rated as possible), and then there's warmup with all my buddies. It's a fun and relaxing, stress-free night out for me. With any kind of luck, both Savard and Lucic will be returning tomorrow night in Atlanta, and hats off to Peter Chiarelli if the rumors are true about him giving Savard a 4-5 year extension next week at around $6.5 million per year. They miss him so much and can't afford to go forward without him if they want to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

My section was rather annoying Monday night. I had these four college kids directly in front of me, three guys and a girl, and one of the guys was "the cool kid." You know him, the one who wants to be the center of attention by showing off to all his friends and yelling something ridiculous every time the Bruins didn't score a goal or if they got called for a penalty. I was so tempted to throw him off the balcony. He was a total tool. He got up on the jumbotron a few times and thought he was the coolest thing in the world. I don't know if anything was said to him between the 2nd and 3rd periods because I was off meeting up with a few friends, but he didn't say a word during the 3rd period. I think he may have taken his ritalin or something. He is what I like to call "the prototypical 2009-2010 Boston Bruins fan," meaning that he probally didn't attend a game last season and he's now on the bandwagon. He didn't have a clue what he was yelling about. I also had this obnoxious 2 year old girl sitting on her fathers lap next to me screaming "LETS GO BRUINS! GET A SCORE!" throughout the entire game. I really wanted to say, "Shouldn't you have found a babysitter?" or "Isn't it past her bedtime?" but I held my tongue. 325 can't be fun every night, that's for sure.

The Line Combinations were as follows...

• Marco Sturm-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
• Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
• Shawn Thornton-Steve Begin-Brad Marchand
• Daniel Paille-Vladimir Sobotka-Brad Marchand

• Zdeno Chara-Derek Morris
• Dennis Wideman-Matt Hunwick
• Andrew Ference-Mark Stuart

Scoring summary...

• NYI: Matt Moulson assisted by Richard Park and Jack Hillen
• BOS: Daniel Paille assisted by David Krejci
• NYI: Matt Moulson assisted by Richard Park
• NYI: John Tavares assisted by Richard Park
• NYI: Trent Hunter assisted by Frans Nielsen

Bruins Goal Video...

• Paille: Three Stooges dancing

Warmup Music was as follows...

Nothing but rap again.

• Jay-Z feat Lil Wayne - "One Republic"
• Rihanna feat. Jay-Z and Kanye West - "Run This Town"
• 50 Cent - "21 Questions"

During the warmup, my buddy Ed asked me if this music was Leominster's anthem, hahaha!