We give Hal Gill a justifiable ration of shit for his lousy play most of the time, but fair's fair and he played a very good game last night. He looked more involved than I can remember him appearing over the last couple of seasons. If he played like that more consistently then fans wouldn't hate his guts so damn much.

An excellent game all around. It's amazing seeing Boyes play considering that Sullivan didn't consider him worthy of more than 8 minutes of ice time a game at the beginning of the season. He's a terrific player and getting him via trade was an underrated and overlooked good move for Mike O'Connell.

Let's hope Hannu isn't too badly injured, even though Razor played well in relief last night. There's no question that Hannu's the better goalie and if the Bruins have any shot at the playoffs Hannu's the guy to take them there.

Not any D shown, but its not like Raycroft was screened. Super start Andrew.

edit: 0-2 less than 5 mins in.

Another very bad goal allowed by Raycoft. Lecavalier didn't make a single move, just snapped it 5-hole. There was zero defense, but that was pathetic.

Too many stupid fucking passes on that power play. Shoot the goddamn puck fer crissakes.

Jurcina busting out big. 2nd goal of the game, tied 3-3.

And Patrice with a huge hustle diving goal for the 4-3 lead.

Keep the pressue on.

Only got to see the last 5 minutes.

SJH seems a lot harsher on Razor's play than Brickley was. Brickley seemed to think one was a pretty bad goal, but at least the first one was basically a no chance never saw the puck play.

Razor gets hut in the final minute I hope he is ok, but I must admit I am thrilled that Sigalet got 33 seconds in the game. No idea if he'll ever play in the NHL again given his condition so I am thrilled he gets the one game should the rest of his career not work out.

By the way the NHL has to do something to protect the goalies with these new rules. No idea when Razon got hurt, but the big doof from Tampa had both feet in the crease at one point in th elast scramble and took a full swing with both hand on the stick across Andrew's chest

Great comeback. Leach walks in with an empty net and still passes to Pat Leahy for the goal... nuff said about Leach.

I was at the game tonight. It was kind of a strange game, but an excellent effort for the Bruins, one of their better wins of the season.

First of all, Tampa Bay did one thing very very well in this game - maintain possession of the puck in Boston's end. All night long, once Tampa gained the Bruins' zone with control, the Bruins had a very hard time getting the puck out. At least two of their goals were scored after sustained pressure in the Bruins' end. They tend to space themselves very well in the offensive end, so there was always an open man to pass to. Often, their even strength play in Boston's end looked like a power play. On one power play, they held the puck in the zone for the entire two minutes without scoring. Other than that considerable edge, though, Tampa pretty much sucked.

Boston started the game stinking so badly I could smell it in the balcony. But 12 minutes into the first period it was as if someone flipped a switch. From that point on, the Bruins outhustled, outwirked, and outplayed the Lightning, and only had occasional problems when the Lightning would gain their zone.

I thought Raycroft started slowly, but he did well after going down 2-0. I disagree with SJH on the third goal - Vinny LeCavalier had all freaking day with the puck in the slot. I doubt any goalie is going to make the save under those circumstances unless the shooter fans. This was a real good opportunity for Rayzor to build on until he got hurt. (Not sure what the Bruins will do for goalies now - if they try to recall Tim Thomas, he'll almost certainly be claimed on waivers.)

The Bruins had several excellent chances, including two shots by a joining-the-rush Brad Stuart. The Sturm goal looked like a soft one on Grahame, but it came after sustained Boston pressure.

Milan Jurcina's first tying goal came after excellent individual effort by Brad Boyes. First, he took a pass along the board in the Bruins' end and was immediately hit and knocked down - but he maintained control of the puck, got up, and moved the puck to a teammates who started the breakout. Then the puck was dumped in ahead of the forechecking Boyes (lack of wheels is his only wekaness). Although the play look harmless, Boyes went in and hit the Tampa d-man behind the net, forcing the turnover that led to Milan's goal. Jurcina's second goal was again the result of a hard working Bruin forecheck as well as traffic in front.

Bergeron's hustle turned another harmless looking play into a goal. Sturm gained the zone and took a long harmless shot and Bergeron came flying down the slot to get to the rebound and score.

All in all, a great fun game to watch, and one that leads me to think the Bruins still have some life in them.

Alexei Zhamnov has a broken left ankle according to the AP.

FYI...NHL Center Ice is free this week. Watch Joe Thorton score 6 tonight against The Jacobian Bruins.

It appears that Tim Thomas has been recalled, cleared waivers, and will be on the bench tonight backing up Raycroft.

30 minutes to game time in the "Garden." San Jose's coming to town. I'm sure there's nothing big going on with this one...

Seriously, I'll be interested to see how the crowd reacts to both Joe AND their own team, especially if Joe helps with an early goal to put the Bruins down. Neither team is likely to be going to the playoffs, but for either team to have a chance, they need wins, and lots of them in a row.

Raycroft really whiffed on covering that puck. It was rolling right in front of him. 1-0 SJ.

Amazing how easy it is to score when the rebound sits in front of the net for about a week

Joe ejected!!!

Cheaphotted Gill!

5 minute intent to injure. Pretty bad boarding. Those two had a spar earlier in the game rubbing Joe out along the boards in the same spot.

5 Minute Intent to Injure Major, and a Game Misconduct. I think Joe was trying to do the B's a favor by taking Gill off the ice.

I'm sorry, I don't see how that's a game misconduct. Oh well, there goes the homecoming.

Maybe Hal is really hurt. That would be super.

[not really hurt, just not able to play for us again.]

I'm sure the attempt to injure carries an automatic Game misconduct along with the major penalty. Just like pass interference, it's a judgement thing.

Final word on Thornton's return to Boston: When will that be again?

I wonder if CHB will write a hockey column?

Poor girls with big hair and #19 jerseys who bought tickets for tonight's game must be WICKED PISSED

BS boarding call on Alberts and a PP goal 10 seconds later. I guess ti doesnt really matter because the B's are absolutely lifeless. If Thornton was playing it would probably be 9-1.

Let's see:

Bruins down 4-1
Celts down by 9 to Atlanta

This is depressing. The Pats are our hope for Boston sports into Feb

Fans booing Razor. Not all his fault--defense is terrible

Fuck all of the people who booed Raycroft tonight. Are they watching the game? Have they not seen the same 4 backdoor goals I have? Admittedly, that first goal was on a tee, but after that, Raycroft (or "Gaycroft" as he's being called on hfboards.com) has made some absolutely stellar saves.

Man, talk about a team that just doesn't give a flying fuck what happens to them right now. No fun, no fire, no hatred of the 20 guys in the other uniform...smells like a perfect Kill THE Core situation.

Sadly, since this team is probably going to look like this for about three more years, enjoy oblivion, Boston Bruins...not bad enough to improve, not good enough to make anyone care.

6-1 now. May still get there. This was a highly anticipated game and the B's laid an egg. Does Sullivan have a long life span??

Yes, just because the FO doesn't seem to be particularly concerned anymore. At the least, he survives the season.

Well, that was beyond disappointing. The defense takes the night off in memoriam of Hal Gill, Raycroft still doesn't know where his leg save rebounds are going, and no one really tries. 6-1 was a generous score for the Bruins considering just how badly they played. Any other organization, and I'd put the odds of major changes at even money. As it is, like I said earlier, enjoy oblivion, boys, 'cause if you aren't lucky enough to be traded, it's all downhill from here.

LA Kings, Dallas, and Anaheim in the next three games at home. They'll probably beat the Stars and Kings and get slaughtered by the Ducks.

If the sweep all three, they finish their 7 game homestand with 5 wins. That's got to be the goal.

Losing Gill hurt them more than one would think because it forced Brian Leetch into a lot of PK time and he was brutal. He still has the tremendous offensive instincts and can skate, but his in zone defensive play is just frightening.

If Sullivan would freaking get over the fact that he is Brian Leetch and keep him the hell off of the PK, the Bruins would be better for it.

Can one of you Bruins fans explain to me why Kevin Paul Dupont has such a hate on for Joe Thornton? He basically called him an overrated pussy in this Globe column today.

Then there was his column post-2004 playoffs where he said the Bruins should rip the C off his sweater for disappearing against Montreal -- even through Thornton played through broken ribs.

Why is it so personal for Dupont?

Because Joe did not speak with the media after Game 6 of the 2004 playoffs you mention. KPD took that as a PERSONAL insult and like many memebers of the media (coughcoughborgescoughcough) never forgave the subject for refusing to kiss the media's ring. So KPD went into full attack dog mode.

I'm not so sure it is completely personal w/ KPD. I think there's an element of being controversial for the sake of being controversial at work here. From what KPD posts over at HF boards, he occasionally throws out some feeler material to see what does and doesn't get people talking. He is, after all, a "columnist" and not necessarily a journalist.

He's also super thin skinned, so I can see where a guy that still carries a grudge against Blaine Lacher could have taken an incident w/ Joe and never forgotten.

KPD, IIRC, never went after Joe all that hard until after that Game 6. Since that very moment he has had an awful grudge against Joe, one which is clearly personal.

The sports media in Boston have a disturbing tendency to make it all about them, to think that they are the real stars. KPD's grudge against Joe is just another example of this mentality.

Leetch with Tanabe is the 2006 version of the Berard-Girard pairing. Not quite so abysmal, but the same general philosophy that ends up in goals against.

Does anyone else find it highly ironic that the Sharks pasted the Bruins last night, even though the Bruins had the players that were traded from the Sharks while the Sharks played virtually the entire game without Thornton? Would the score have been 10-2 had Joltin' Joe played?

Can the Bruins trade their entire FO and ownership group?

I am never in favor of booing Boston/NE teams or players UNLESS I perceive a lack of effort, but after last night, I can understand why some fans are booing.

Last, I have not gone back and read this thread or any other thread related to the Thornton trade, but has there been a worse trade in Bruins history (defined as going back to 1970)? I like the players that came back, but Joe Thornton....

There have been plenty of worse trades. At least the players the Bruins got back are pretty good in and of themselves, particularly Stuart and Sturm. Hell, if looking for bad trades start with the McEachern/McCleary swap.

The Bruins have generally traded quite well. It's in the drafting area that they've failed in the past 15 years or so.

Yeah, can someone explain that one to me?
Even Gill was quoted, " Maybe it's a penalty, maybe it isn't, I think what he got was too much."

It was just one of those things. The Bruins played a crap game. It happens.

I don't mean to denigrate the guys they got back. They are good players.

But I thought and continue to think that Joe Thornton is a SPECIAL player. True, he never seemed to elevate his game in the playoffs, and you always got the sense that he could be better, but players like Joe don't come along often (shades of Manny Ramirez trade discussions).

And I agree, the Bruins have generally traded quite well, which makes this deal all the more disappointing.

Quite a bit really. Can't imagine anyone other than JJ's fave Harry Sinden surviving the summer if things continue in this regard. And maybe he would even retire rather than watch his product at this point.

The players seem uninspired and ready to golf. It doesn't look like they have any faith in their teammates, their coach, or their management.

I will say that the game last night saved me $109 for the remainder of the season NHL Center Ice

They played very well against Tampa and Ottawa, though.

Coach must have made some specific money incentive available for the game.

I think this is the main point from the Thornton trade. Sturm and Stuart are both very solid NHl players, but they are not "Special." Primeau is a roleplayer, a hard-nosed, hard-working roleplayer. To me, the Bruins didn't get the kind of value they should have for Joe (if they should have traded him at all). If you really wanted some value from SJ then why isn't Patrcik Marleau on this team?

You're correct of course. However, Ottawa was without its firepower (Spezza, Alf) and playing in its 2nd game in 2 nights. TB got a putrid performance from John Grahame and have been underachieving themselves.

Boston just hasn't put a streak together this season where they were playing like a playoff team. They don't seem too bothered about it either.

Was Grahame really that bad? After the first 10 minutes, the Bruins attacked and attacked and attacked in that game. They were relentless, and created a lot of good scoring chances. Before Sturm's goal (a fluke that bounced in off a TB defenseman), Grahame had two huge saves on Brad Stuart and another on Primeau. Both Jurcina goals were set up by the Bruin forecheck, and Axelsson's was a breakaway. I think TB played poorly, but I don't think Grahame was to blame.

Calling Stuart "very solid" is ridiculous. This guy is the best all around defenseman the bruins have had since Ray Bourque. Boston fans love to talk about how good Nick Boynton is, but Boynton isn't in Stuart's league. Stuart is the Bruins best offensive defenseman and their best defensive defenseman. If he had been playing on the east coast, there would have been a lot more buzz about him. Stuart is a tremendous and for now underrated player.

Stuart is indeed very good. And you are probably right that he is the best defensemen the Bs have had since Bourque left. Boynton isn't close to Stuart in my book either.

But I think he's a long way from Thornton and that all three of them, taken together, are a long way from Thornton.

There's a reason why the Sharks have taken off since the trade and why "Thanks Boston" signs will be seen in San Jose for years to come, and the reason is that you only trade a Joe Thornton if someone makes you an overwhelming offer. And that just didn't happen here in my book. Said differently, do you know anyone who wasn't puzzled by the trade or who said "yes, great trade" when they first heard about it?

Thank heavens for the Pats and the 12-month soap opera that is the Red Sox, because the Bs and Cs are downright depressing.