Gregory Campbell

Bruins’ Fourth Line Shines in Win Over Islanders

There were several reasons why Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli re-signed Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton to new contracts before his fourth-line trio hit free agency this past season. On Friday night, it seemed like almost each of those reasons were on full display.

The Bruins skated to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night at the TD Garden, largely in part to the effort put forward by the team’s Merlot line.

Boston Bruins: Ranking Their 2013 Projected Roster

We love our hockey.

We love our hockey so much that on the first Sunday of 2013, we’re able to forget about almost everything else in our lives and welcome the NHL, and all that comes with it, back into our lives. The NHL lockout is over and while many of us have had our team’s goal song on repeat for most of the morning, others have been carefully plotting their teams’ odds for a Stanley Cup in what will be a shortened season of 48 games or so.

Could a Shortened NHL Season Benefit the Boston Bruins?

On Thursday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman explained that the league and its owners would be prepared to lockout its players if a new Collective Bargaining Agreement wasn’t settled upon by September 15. Considering just how far apart the two sides are currently, it seems likely that a lockout—yes, another one—is looming. While it may not have the same implications or length as the last NHL lockout during the 2004-05 season, the effects could still be devastating…at least for the most part.

It’s not farfetched to believe that teams will suffer if there is a shortened NHL season, but could there be some teams that would benefit from one? Possibly—and the Boston Bruins might be one of those teams.

Five free agent forwards that the Boston Bruins should target

The Boston Bruins’ breakup day came approximately six weeks earlier than it did the season before. During the day’s interviews and meetings, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli indicated that while he didn’t foresee any major changes, he would like to “add some pieces.” The Bruins will need bottom-six players with one or two to have the potential to move into the top-six group, if necessary. With the current situation as is for the Bruins, here’s a look at five free agent forwards that the Bruins should target.

History Won’t Be Made: Bruins’ 3-0 series lead is different this year

By Mike Miccoli, Boston Bruins correspondent

As I type this, the Boston Bruins are about to take a 3-0 series lead against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Again.

For the next two days leading up to game 4 in Boston, I’ll ignore pretty much all sports radio, television programs and fair-weathered friends who’ll no doubt text me something that includes the words “just like last season” based on the reasoning that really, this is not last season.

The Bruins have now officially beaten the Flyers 5-1 in game 3, displaying what could almost be determined as a damn near-perfect game, all topped off with a power-play goal, their first in 30 attempts this postseason. Thomas was brilliant, yet again, as all four lines played effectively, developing chances in the offensive zone and dominating the puck through center ice. Boston was remarkable on the face-off dot winning 43 of 55 draws and landing 24 hits in what seemed like one of their most physical games of the postseason.

This is not last season.

The Curious Case of Nathan Horton

When Boston sent Dennis Wideman and a pair of draft picks to Florida in exchange for Nathan Horton and grinder Gregory Campbell, they were hoping to get a power forward with a well’s worth of untapped potential. The thinking was that the move from a non-traditional hockey market to a contending hockey town would be all that was needed to bring consistency to Horton’s game.

For a while there, it looked like they were right as the 25-year old winger put up 6 goals and 5 assists in his first 10 games with the black and gold. However, in the subsequent 36 games, Horton posted just 6 goals and 10 assists.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.