Connelly’s Top Ten: Bruins Keep Rolling

Middlebrooks Delivers in 9th as Sox Rally in Dramatic Fashion

2013 NHL Playoffs Expert Picks: Second Round

Drew’s Grand Slam Leads Red Sox to Blowout Win Over Rays

Bruins Continue Slide; Lose to Thrashers 4-1

As winter looms, the Bruins remain cold. Sunday evening was another tough game for Boston, as they fell to the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1. With the loss, the Bruins are now 1-3-1 in their last five games. Blake Wheeler had the one lone goal for the Bruins, who finished off the month of November 6-6-2. The B’s started off the season 6-2-0 in October and are now 12-8-2 and are struggling.

Atlanta, on the other hand, kept pace with Boston with the win by improving it’s record to 12-9-3, good for 27 points.

Boston’s toughness against the penalty kill was one of the best in the league just a couple of weeks ago, but since then the team has struggled to defend the power play and score goals themselves. The Bruins have only scored five goals in the last four games (three losses) and have allowed four power-play goals in the past two games. There’s no need to throw any red flags up yet, but if the Bruins continue to play this way then it might be a long season.

Tuukka Rask started in goal for the Bruins and struggled. He stopped only 22-of-26 shots on goal as he saw his record fall to 1-6-1 on the year.

On the other side of the ice, Ondrej Pavelec started in goal for the Thrashers and had a solid game. The goalie stopped 40-of-41 shots-on-goal for his sixth win of the season. The 23 year-old is now 6-4-2 on the year.

First Period

• Evander Kane got things going for the Thrashers almost mid-way through the first with his ninth goal of the season. He was assisted by Anthony Stewart and Dustin Byfuglien. Atlanta up 1-0
• Four minutes later, Byfuglien added a goal himself. It was also his ninth of the season. He was assisted by Alexander Burmistrov and Johnny Oduya on the play. Atlanta up 2-0
• Two minutes later, Jim Slater picked up his third goal of the year, with the assist given to none other than Byfuglien himself. Atlanta up 3-0

Second Period

• With the Bruins frustrated with the way they were playing they did the only thing you can do….fight. Matt Hunwick got into a fight with Atlanta’s Kane, who got four punches in on Hunwick’s head.
• Five minutes after the first fight, Shawn Thornton got into his own fight with Eric Boulton with Thornton coming out on top.
• Two minutes after Thornton’s fight, Wheeler scored the first and only goal for the Bruins. It was his fifth of the season, and he was assisted by Milan Lucic and Michael Ryder on the play. Atlanta up 3-1
• With less than a minute left in the period, Niclas Bergfors scored his sixth goal of the season with the Thrashers on the power play. He was assisted by Tobias Enstrom and of course Byfuglien again. Atlanta up 4-1

Third Period

• No scoring

Up Next

The Bruins will have a couple of days to rest, as they aren’t in action until Wednesday night when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers on the road. The Flyers will be a tough match-up; they currently sit atop the Atlantic Division with a record of 15-6-4. Wednesday’s contest will be the first meeting between the two teams this season, but they will have a quick rematch ten days later. Boston will try and get their revenge on Philly; the Flyers were the team who eliminated the Bruins last season in the Conference Semifinals after the Bruins were up 3-0 in the series before dropping four straight.

Game Notes

• The Bruins struggled while on the power-play, as they went 0-for-4. The Thrashers went 1-for-3.
• Both teams were fairly even with penalty minutes, with Boston having 20 and Atlanta with 22.
• The Bruins out-hit the Thrashers 17-to-12.
• The two teams were also pretty even on face-offs; the Bruins won 29 and the Thrashers won 32.

Tags: Atlanta Thrashers, Blake Wheeler, Boston Bruins, Dustin Byfuglien, Evander Kane, Jim Slater, Niclas Bergfors, Tuukka Rask