Bruins Overtime is a postgame feature providing extra news, notes and analysis from each game. Boston fell to the New York Rangers, 3-0, on Tuesday night in Boston, MA.
Last night's 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers marked the fifth time this season that the Bruins were shutout by any team. Of those five times, this is the second time in three games they have put up the ol' goose egg--both against Conference rivals--and third time in just six games.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 42 shots against the Bruins to preserve the shutout, and on Wednesday night, Ryan Miller put a stop to 36 shots to get the 6-0 win over Boston. Just a week prior to that, Cam Ward made a statement, shutting the Bruins down in a 47-save, 3-0 shutout win.
So, if my math serves me correctly, the Bruins put up 125 shots in three games, without scoring a single goal. That's averaging nearly 42 shots per game with nothing to show for it.
"We certainly could have done more, but I think, you look at our team right now, and it’s certainly not the team we’re used to seeing, identity-wise and everything else," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. "You can shoot 42 shots on net, and it may look good on paper versus 20, but the mistakes, the identity, the battles. I think they won more battles than we did tonight, especially in their own end, so certainly not good enough for the Boston Bruins."
BOYCHUK SIGNS THREE-YEAR EXTENSION
With the trade deadline just around the corner (Feb. 27), Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has been looking at his free agents come the end of the season and has been making some moves.
His latest is signing the 6'2 defenseman to three years, ($3.1, $3.4 and $3.6 million) with a limited no-trade clause.
"Johnny really wanted to stay here, I think that’s the overriding theme," Chairelli said in a press conference before Tuesday night's game. "He has obviously been a good performer for us. He’s a big, strong, physical D, and I’ve had some discussions with all our free agents, I think, over the last month or so, and this is a deal that has come out of it so far. He’s a Bruin type of player – physical, and yet he can score the shot, and he’s a punishing player. He chose not to test the market, which was nice for us, and we have him under contract for three more years."
Boychuk finished last night's game with a -1, second in icetime (22:20) and two shots on net. After the game, he told the press he was excited to be coming back to Boston and it was the only place he wanted to play.
"Oh Boston as a city is probably the best place to play I think, even though I haven’t really played anywhere else," Boychuk said. "The fans are just so into it, they’re always cheering – sold out every night. Why wouldn’t you want to stay here."
NEXT UP:
The Bruins won't have much time to think about last night as they play again tonight against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
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