Thursday's Bruins...

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BostonBruins.com Gameday - Pregame Notes
BOSTON BRUINS at
DETROIT RED WINGS
Thursday, November 7, 2002
Joe Louis Arena; Detroit, Michigan 8:00 pm (ET) - Gametime
7:30 pm (ET) - Boston Globe Pre-Game Report
NESN
Tonight's Game
The Bruins visit the Red Wings tonight in the first and only game between these clubs this season. The Bruins are 7-2-2-0 overall and are 5-1-1-0 on the road thus far this season. The Red Wings are 6-5-2-0 overall with a 3-2-2-0 record on home ice thus far this season. The Bruins are playing their first game tonight vs. a Central Division opponent and they are 3-2-1-0 overall vs. Western Conference foes. The Red Wings are 0-2-0-0 thus far this season vs. Northeast Division opponents and they are 1-2-0-0 overall vs. Eastern Conference foes as well.

Lifetime Series
The Bruins are 231-242-95-1 lifetime vs. the Red Wings with a 1721-1710 scoring advantage in those 569 games. On the road, the Bruins are 78-153-52-0 lifetime vs. Detroit with the Red Wings holding a 950-716 scoring edge in those 283 games. The Bruins won their last game vs. the Red Wings with a 2-1 victory in Boston on Mar. 16, 2002. The Bruins also won their last game vs. the Red Wings in Detroit with a 5-4 victory on Dec. 23, 2000.

Recent Bruins Games
The Bruins won their last game with a 3-2 victory over the NY Rangers on Nov. 2 as Bryan Berard netted the game-winning goal at 19:21 of the third period. They are 7-1-2-0 in their last ten games, including an eight-game unbeaten streak at 6-0-2-0 from Oct. 14-30. Their lone loss in that span was a 4-1 setback to Anaheim on Oct. 31.

Recent Red Wings Games
The Red Wings are winless in their last three games at 0-2-1-0 with a 5-2 loss in Ottawa on Nov. 2, a 3-3 tie with Dallas on Nov. 3 and a 2-0 loss to Chicago on Nov. 5. They are 1-3-1-0 in their last five games and are 4-4-2-0 in their last ten contests.

Upcoming Bruins Games
The Bruins will next return home to host the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 9 (7:00 p.m.; NESN & WBZ Radio) and the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 11 (1:00 p.m.; NESN & WBZ Radio).

Upcoming Red Wings Games
The Red Wings play game three of their current five-game home stand tonight. They will continue by hosting Nashville on Nov. 12 and Anaheim on Nov. 15 before facing a four-game road trip to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton.

Bruins Injuries
Martin Lapointe: Fractured foot suffered Oct. 17 in Calgary; out indefinitely.
Sergei Samsonov: Wrist sprain; day-to-day.

Bruins Recent Transactions
Oct. 31: Tim Thomas returned to Providence/AHL.
Nov. 1: Jarno Kultanen assigned to Providence/AHL on a conditioning assignment.
Nov. 3: Peter Hamerlik returned to his junior team in Kingston/OHL from Providence/AHL.
Nov. 5: Jarno Kultanen recalled from Providence/AHL.

 

[the mugs]

Injury REport

Injury REport

Boston Injuries
John Grahame G Shoulder Out 1-2 weeks
Sergei Samsonov RW Wrist Ques Thurs
Martin Lapointe LW Foot Out indefinitely
Kyle McLaren D Holdout Out indefinitely

Detroit Injuries
Brendan Shanahan LW Personal day-to-day
Dmitri Bykov D Shoulder Ques Thurs
Steve Yzerman C Knee Early Jan.

 

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Recent Meetings
Date Home Away Line ATS
3/16/2002 Bos. 2 Det. 1 0,130/5.5 Bos./U (01-02)

12/23/2000 Bos. 1 Det. 2 0,130/5.5 Det./U (00-01)
11/22/2000 Det. 4 Bos. 5 -1.5,-105/5.5 Bos./O

12/11/1999 Bos. 4 Det. 5 0,110/5.5 Det./O (99-00)

12/19/1998 Bos. 4 Det. 1 0.5,-105/5.5 Bos./U (98-99)
12/16/1998 Det. 5 Bos. 3 -0.5,-170/5.5 Det./O

3/10/1998 Det. 3 Bos. 6 -0.5,-130/5 Bos./O (97-98)
12/22/1997 Bos. 2 Det. 4 0.5,135/5 Det./O

3/19/1997 Det. 4 Bos. 1 -1.5,-160/6 Det./U (96-97)
10/26/1996 Bos. 1 Det. 2 0.5,100/5.5 Det./U

 

[the mugs]

Trends

Trends

Recent Trends
The Bruins are 6-1 ATS when on the road.
The over is 5-2 when BOS is away.
BOS is 29th at PP at 11.32%.
The last three meetings in DET played over.
The Red Wings have lost their last three ATS.
DET is third in PP at 23.43%.

 

[the mugs]

Boston Globe 11/5/02

Boston Globe 11/5/02

Bruins revved up for trip to Detroit

WILMINGTON - After what will have been a five-day break between games, the Bruins face a test Thursday when they take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings at Detroit.

''Detroit's very talented,'' said Bruins forward Brian Rolston. ''They've got speed through the neutral zone.''

Bruins captain Joe Thornton is equally impressed.

''They have a lot of veteran guys over there that know how to play hockey and are definitely very confident in their team,'' said Thornton. ''And, obviously, when you've got a lot of confidence like they do, it's tough to beat a team like that.

''It's going to be a good battle.''

An important factor for the Bruins is staying out of the penalty box.

''That's no different than playing against any other team,'' said coach Robbie Ftorek. ''You know that Detroit has tremendous talent, tremendous skill. You have to find some areas where you might be able to take advantage of them. You know you have to go to work. They may have a tendency to take some penalties on the defensive end.

''You don't prepare for them much differently than you prepare for any other team. It's just that you may isolate on certain things more than what you do on other things.''

The switch in head coaches for the Red Wings, from Scotty Bowman to Dave Lewis, should not make a huge difference. But goaltender Dominik Hasek has retired and Curtis Joseph has taken over.

''Lewis has been there since Scotty's been there, so there's no big difference for the players, they know what he's like,'' Thornton said. ''They pretty much have the same players back, bringing in a new goaltender, but they're not different at all.''

''They have a core of players there and a lot of veteran players so that team kind of runs on its own and they have a lot of leaders,'' Rolston said.

With the Bruins in first place in the Northeast Division, and coming off a win over the Rangers Saturday night, Thornton would just as soon play the Red Wings right away.

''It doesn't really matter to us,'' he said. ''We're on a hot streak right now. It doesn't matter when we play them. I don't have a hard time getting up for anybody.''

But Rolston thinks the team can benefit from a little break.

''We've been playing a few games,'' he said, ''so it's good to get a little bit of time off to rest a bit and get ready for a big team like that.''

 

[the mugs]

Globe today 11-7-02

Globe today 11-7-02

Special attention paid

Bruins concentrate on 'teams'

WILMINGTON - When the Bruins were rolling to the top spot in the Eastern Conference last season, one of their strengths was penalty killing.

Not only did the unit have an 87.1 percent success rate (allowing just 45 goals in 349 chances), but the Bruins scored 14 shorthanded goals - nine by center Brian Rolston, who set a team record.

Heading into tonight's contest in Detroit against the Stanley Cup-winning Red Wings, the Bruins' special teams have been a real disappointment. Their penalty killing is ranked 27th out of 30 teams, having allowed 13 goals in 64 opportunities. With mostly the same personnel, their struggles have been puzzling.

''I don't really know,'' said Rolston, when asked what's been ailing the team. ''I think sometimes maybe we get running around a little too much. We try to keep it unsettled but if a team gets full control and we keep chasing in our end, we get kind of mixed up and then things go wrong. We have to settle it down and go to passive and as soon as we can jump on a loose puck, that's when we have to do it. We can't allow them to carry the puck into the zone. I don't think we've been doing a great job through the neutral zone as forwards to give them a hard time getting into the zone.''

Defenseman Hal Gill said they're just not being as smart as they've been in the past.

''We had high expectations coming off of last year,'' said Gill. ''Myself, I've just been too overanxious. I have to simplify and the whole system has to work together. We've been going out and working as hard as we can but working separately rather than together. We have to be a little more patient and a little more controlled. ''

None of the Bruins believe a full-scale change is in order; it's a matter of fine-tuning. The Bruins will have their hands full tonight since the Red Wings have the third-best power play in the NHL.

''Obviously, we were the No. 1 PK last year so people know what we're going to do and that's OK,'' Gill said. ''But we have to make sure we execute it right. If they make a good play, it's five on four and sometimes goals are going to happen. But we can't give them opportunities that come out of nothing. ''

The Bruins' power play is even worse, ranked 28th out of 30 clubs. They've scored on just 11.3 percent of their chances (6 goals in 53 man advantages).

''We've got to make it happen on our power play,'' said Rolston. ''That was awful the first two periods against the Rangers [last Saturday]. For us to be successful, we have to get that going. It's something we've been working on in practice. We're playing winning hockey, which is a good thing. We have that winning feeling in here. We know we can go out and win games and come back from 2-0 deficits and things like that. That's all good. But I think we can play better as a team. Special teams is going to be huge and we have to get better at it.''

Rolston believes they have to vary their approach.

''[Defenseman Bryan Berard] and I carry the puck up a lot and we're very hesitant to dump the puck in,'' said Rolston. ''We're trying to make the plays to get into the zone because we have the personnel to carry the puck in, we shouldn't have to dump it. But I think if we do dump it a couple of times and get the other team thinking that, then we carry it in. You have to throw different things at them.''

The Red Wings are 10th in penalty killing, which will pose a challenge, but Rolston said he believes the Bruins are up to it.

''The reason I'm not concerned is because I know we have the personnel to do it,'' he said.

As expected, left wing Sergei Samsonov (wrist) didn't make the trip to Detroit. He went through the entire workout yesterday and said he's still hoping to return to the lineup Saturday against Ottawa at the FleetCenter. ''I took a few more shots,'' said Samsonov, who will have missed eight games after tonight's. ''They weren't like snapshots or anything like that, but it's getting better. I feel comfortable with stickhandling and passing, so that's a good sign. It's not big steps but every day it feels a little better. We're shooting for Saturday.''

===

Records: Boston is 7-2-2, first in the Northeast Division; Detroit is 6-5-2, second in the Central Division.

Goals: Sergei Fedorov 8, Nicklas Lidstrom 6, seven tied with 3.

Assists: Brendan Shanahan 7, Luc Robitaille 7, Igor Larionov 7.

Goaltenders: Curtis Joseph (4-4-2, 2.77 GAA), Manny Legace (2-1-0, 2.35 GAA).

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Head to head

This is the first meeting this season. Last season, the Bruins won the lone encounter, 2-1, at the FleetCenter March 16.

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Miscellany

Cujo is a Bruin killer: he allowed one goal in three games against the Bruins last season while with the Maple Leafs ... The Red Wings lead the league with six shorthanded goals.

 

[ND2002HORNS]

mugs,
check your e-mail. I am still waiting on word from Peter Schaefer.

HORNS

 

[Evilhomer]

Do you think Boston can get around 28-30 shots against Det?

I like the Over 23.5 -130 on Total Saves Recorded By Curtis Joseph @Carib.

 

[the mugs]

I heard on the news that Cujo was out with the flu tonight. Also, it looks like Grahame will start for Boston