Huge Win

Forget about the Caps having lost 8 in a row. Forget about how they were playing for nothing, long since out of the playoff race. This was a team that smelled blood on the Bruins and they wanted the kill and they wanted it bad. It seems a silly thing to say, but this game had playoff intensity. The B's came out hitting and the Caps hit right back. The B's took it to them in the offensive zone and the Caps took it right back.

And the puck kept going into the Bruin's net.

I was downright angry at the end of the first. Not at the players or the coaches, but at the Hockey gods who seemed to take some perverse pleasure in putting the Bruins behind the eight ball. With every missed pass, missed shot, and bounced puck I became angrier. Kolzig was standing on his head and looked unstoppable. I kept thinking, is this how the season ends?

It was the end of the second and the Bruins were on the power play, down 2 goals. The crowd was roaring as they set up in the zone. I thought, "Here it is. This is when they will score and get back into the game." And no sooner had I thought that when the Caps broke free and scored a shorty! It's all over right?

Wrong!

If there were a Stanley Cup for shootouts, the Bruins would be a contender. With the feisty goaltending of Thomas and the Rally-Cap inspired goal scoring of Sturm and Bergeron they are a force to be reckoned with. Add their secret weapon Phil Kessel and they are almost unbeatable!

That's one game down, twelve to go; 2 of 20 points likely required for the playoff drive. As with all the big wins this season, this game stands by itself in my mind. No matter what the next game or the rest of the season brings, right now, tonight, the Bruins are winners.