Bruins Survive, Pick Up Win

It was beginning to look all too familiar for the B's tonight. After letting Atlanta crawl back from a 2-0 deficit, Michael Ryder put the Bruins back on top 3-2. Getting no help from the refs on the road, the Bruins were forced to kill five penalties in the final period alone--it was like Tim Donaghy laced up skates and bet on the Thrashers for this one. Up by one in the final minute, the Thrashers pulled their goalie for a 6 on 5 advantage. With 41 seconds left Maxim Afinogenov would net the equalizer to send the game to overtime.

With no goals scored in the extra session, the Bruins found themselves in another shootout. Patrice Bergeron netted the only goal of the shootout for the Bruins as he skated down, deeked the goalie left and netted the puck into a wide open right side. Rask would stop all three shots he faced from from Rich Peverley, Slava Kozlov, and their top player Ilya Kovalchuk.

• Tukka Rask got his second straight start in net and stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced. He really did a good job of keeping them in the game, acting as the back bone during many of the penalty kills.
• Patrice Bergeron continues to carry the team on the offensive end. He and Zdeno Chara have been the model of consistency on this inconsistent squad.
  
• Milan Lucic returned from a broken figure after missing a 14 games. He played a solid game in his return butit should take him a few contests to get back into top game speed.
• Ryder two goals on the night to bring his season total to six.
• Marc Savard (broken foot) made the trip with the team and is due back any day. His presence on the ice will surely be felt.
• The positive out of this tough stretch is that the B's have now picked up points in 6 of their last 7 games. They are a point behind the 8th place slot in the Eastern conference and have been able to maintain while their top players have been sidelined.
  

Quick turnaround for the B's as they head to Buffalo to take on the 12-5-1 Sabers who are atop the Northeast Division tomorrow night. The Bruins defeated them two weeks ago at home 4-2 and they are coming off of a big loss to the Panthers.