After action report (early morning edition)

A win is a win is a win. And it's a good thing the only points on the line tonight (this morning?) were the 2 points in the standings. Because style points were hard to come by. Definitely a good news-bad news game, so I'll get the bad over with first. Defense? Ever heard of it? Yeah, the Bruins didn't either. Their team defense in their own end was awful. It got a little better as the night went on, but 40 shots against isn't going to get it done. It's only one game, so I'm far from pushing any panic buttons. But I was surprised at how poorly they played in their end. Ward and Hnidy especially seemed to struggle, but the were far from alone. And it wasn't just the D. Savard can take a good chucnk of as well. As a center in the NHL, you just have to be better than he was for long stretches tonight (on D). Timmy Thomas had an up & down night, but hard to fault him too much. He was under seige right from the opening face off.

But enough will the negativity. It's opening night, the good guys won, and it's after 1Am already. Time to think happy thoughts (for a change?). And all the good thoughts come from up front. Five goals to start the year, is a beautiful thing. Seeing Patrice involved is even better. Bergeron looked like his old self, albeit maybe a touch rusty. Blake Wheeler potted his first, in what could be a fantastic season for the kid. He needs to get a little more involved physically, but the kid just oozes skill out there. Granted, he looked totally lost when the pushing & shoving broke out, but he'll figure it out! Krecji getting off on the right foot is a HUGE plus as well. That line may have been Boston's best all night. Kobasew has picked up his hitting right where he left off, let's hope his scoring continues like last year as well. And that giant "WHOOSH" sound you heard with about 5 minutes left was the collective sigh of relief among B's fans, as Ryder got on the score sheet for the first time as a Bruin (100th career goal).

That's it for now, short & sweet. I'll be back later to babble on about the details of the game.....and I'll do my best Jack Edwards impression and complain about the Pepsi Center "Bull Gang". No way 2:47 of the 2nd gets played in the 3rd if that happened in Boston.
G'night puckheads. - Kynch