Bruins Set Themselves Up For Thrilling Comeback…Or Immense Disappointment

Five years ago, before the NHL lockout, Claude Julien led his now-former team into Boston, where the the Montreal Canadiens took the decisive game seven to complete the comeback from down three games to one. Now the Boston Bruins head coach and a Jack Adams award nominee, Julien would like nothing better than to do the same with his current team, except on their home ice.

“I’d love to be able to return that favor,” Julien told the Associated Press Wednesday.

Julien will have a chance to do so Thursday night in Boston where the Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes will clash in game seven to decide who will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the conference finals.

Last Friday, Boston Bruins fans drowned their sorrows at the many landmarks and bars around the city after watching the Bruins’ season go down in flames- well, almost. Carolina had outplayed the Bruins in just about all aspects in game five of their conference semifinal series, out-shooting and out-working the black & gold and beating them to every loose puck.

Despite that, it was still a tight battle for two periods until Jussi Jokinen added to his recent playoff magic with the go-ahead powerplay goal. That’s where the Bruins totally unraveled, losing focus on defense and allowing two more late goals to ice the game and put the Bruins on the edge of elimination. The way the Bruins were outplayed in games two through four, it looked like the Hurricanes were an unstoppable force on an improbable run.

But now, the series has taken on a whole different look after the Bruins’ back-to-back victories in games five and six. The B’s took care of business on their home ice, thoroughly dominating game five on both ends. Boston took 40 shots while Carolina could only muster 19 on Tim Thomas, who recorded his first career postseason shutout.

Game six wasn’t so easy, but Thomas was even better than in game five, turning away 31 Carolina shots as the Bruins scored four while shooting only 19. Carolina did what they could to try to close out the series, out-shooting and out-hitting the Bruins, but looked helpless despite all their effort. Boston went up 4-1 by the end of the second period, making a very competitive game look like it was out of reach.

Now the Bruins are exactly where they aimed to be as soon as game four ended. Knowing they could not lose another game, the sense of urgency engulfed the Bruins and lit a fire under them. The important thing is that they did not just win game five, but won it very convincingly. They absolutely needed that kind of a momentum-changing win to have a chance to beat the Hurricanes in Raleigh, and it turns out that they had just enough to force the series back to Boston.

Home-ice advantage is something rarely discussed when projecting the outcomes of series, but Boston’s is one that has a chance to be the real momentum-swinger. The typically intense Bruins fans will be going all-out all night in hopes that their energy will transfer to their team. Boston’s Patrice Bergeron believes they will need them to diffuse the magical run that Carolina is on.

“Yes, we’re home, but they’re a good team on the road as well,” Bergeron said of the Hurricanes. “So we have to feed off the crowd.”

Like game six, the outcome of this game will likely rest on the shoulders of Thomas. It will be difficult for either team to gain an advantage in the energy and effort department. It can be expected that, for the most part, each team’s skaters will be ready to play. The most likely difference is which goalie is more ready to play, Thomas or Cam Ward.

The last two games have gone way in favor of Thomas, but Ward has played exceptionally well and the 2006 Conn Smythe trophy winner is the No.1 reason the Hurricanes are where they are right now. If he brings his A-game, Thomas will need to bring his A+ game.

What matters right now is that the Bruins were able to bring this series to a decisive game. Tomorrow, the story of the Bruins will either be of a captivating rally to send them rolling into the conference finals, or a catastrophic disappointment of a season. As the conference’s top seed, the Bruins’ expectations were limited to a Stanley Cup championship.

Can they continue their march toward recapturing the spirit of a city that hasn’t seen them win for almost four decades? Or will they succumb to another compelling playoff run by an unexpected contender?

Video of Jayson Werth’s Three Steals In The Same Inning

Baseball is such an intricate and stat-obsessed sport, “rare” feats are accomplished with decent frequency. The Phillies got one of the rarest earlier this week, thanks to their right fielder. Jayson Werth stole home in the seventh inning Tuesday night, but not before stealing second and third, making him just the ninth player since 1942 to steal all three bases in one inning. Werth ended up with four steals as the Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3. Video of Werth’s rare feat can be seen right here. Watch him time his run perfectly, from the moment the catcher lazily released the throw back to the pitcher.

Crosby The Unquestioned King of the Stanley Cup Playoffs…So Far

The Pittsburgh Penguins are officially in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season, awaiting the winner of the Boston-Carolina series (game seven is tonight at 8:00). After an intense, back-and-forth series that saw four road wins, the Penguins made game seven an entirely different game from the rest of the series in game seven, scoring quickly and early and never letting up. And that win, and most of Pittsburgh’s success, came on the shoulders of captain Sidney Crosby.

The rivalry between The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Crosby had almost already reached the boiling point even before they met each other in the postseason for the first time. Unlike the quiet, reserved Crosby, Ovechkin had his face plastered all over the national media, interviewed for ESPN and talked brashly of how he enjoys getting under Crosby’s skin. It almost became a pure media creation that Ovechkin held the advantage in the series over Crosby, although there was no clear favorite.

Ovechkin’s prodigious goal-scoring and all-around skills were certainly on display in the series, as well as his extravagant antics. But Crosby let his play on the ice do all the talking as the Penguins won 6-2, at one point scoring two goals in an eight-second span. The game was never close.

Washington had the higher seed, but that appeared to be the only real advantage they had. Even after winning the first two games of the series, Crosby had established his dominance while Evgeni Malkin lay dormant. Once Malkin woke up from the doldrums with his outstanding game three performance, the Penguins took off, winning four of the final five games in the series. But make no mistake, their surge is due overwhelmingly to the performance of Crosby.

The 21-year-old Penguins captain has scored 21 points in 13 postseason games with a +6 rating, and is leaving his peers in awe of his acumen as a player and presence at such a young age.

“He’s unbelievable,” Craig Adams told Adam Kimelman of NHL.com. “I’ve had the opportunity to play with some pretty good players, and the one thing they all share in common is they’re ultra, ultra competitive. Sid’s a pretty soft-spoken guy and he’s not going to come out and make this series about him and Ovechkin, but he’s a competitive guy. You know he wants to win. I thought he was just unbelievable every game.”

Primarily known for his elite play-making ability, Crosby took scoring matters into his own hands, scoring eight goals in the seven-game series. He had a hat trick in the game two defeat and four goals on the powerplay. He shot an incredible 25 percent, and seemed to always be in the right place at the right time when the puck was around the net.

In four games at Washington, Crosby scored the game’s first goal. He opened the scoring in game seven with a rebound of a Sergei Gonchar shot which he kicked to his stick and fired point-blank past Simeon Varlamov, who was pulled in the second period after allowing his fourth goal.

“He goes into the dirty areas to score goals; he scores big goals,” Penguins play-by-play commentator Bob Errey told NHL.com. We didn’t know what he’d do in a Game 7, but we’re not surprised by what he’s doing here. I’m not surprised.”

The Bruins and Hurricanes both now know who they will have to worry about the most if and when the winner of their series moves on. Guys like Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury are no one to ignore, but for either team there will be a definite Plan A: contain Crosby. I say “contain,” because it looks like Sid the Kid can’t be stopped. Though he has yet to win a Cup and has two more rounds to get through this season, he is quickly establishing himself as the league’s most dominant player.

“He’s the leader of the hockey club,” Errey said. “If there’s one player I want, if you give me that vote today, I’ll take Sidney Crosby.”

Red Sox Get Pedroia Back For Thursday Afternoon Game Against Los Angeles Angels

It’s only been since Sunday that Dustin Pedroia last saw playing time for the Red Sox, but to fans it felt like an eternity. Pedroia slightly strained his groin on an awkward swing, and momentarily frightened Red Sox Nation into believing the Red Sox may be without their All-Star right side of the infield for an extended time.

But now, after getting an additional night of rest following reports that he was able to play Wednesday, Pedroia is back to 100 percent and ready to go Thursday afternoon as the Red Sox take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the rubber match of their three-game series.

After Kevin Youkilis suffered a set-back in his recovery from a sore side, the Red Sox placed him on the disabled list retroactive to May 5. The last thing the Red Sox wanted was for the same to happen to the reigning American League MVP. Manager Terry Francona sat Pedroia for Tuesday’s game as a precautionary measure to keep him fresh and healthy for today’s afternoon game, even though he was ready to play Wednesday.

“I don’t want to do anything stupid where I’m out a long time,” Pedroia told Ian Browne of RedSox.com. “The smartest thing to do would be to take a couple of days and let this thing heal.”

The Red Sox took the first game of the series on the strength of a late-inning rally, led by J.D. Drew’s game-tying home run in the eighth inning and followed by Jason Varitek’s RBI double in the ninth. The win spoiled a strong start for the Angels’ Jered Weaver, who allowed just one earned run in seven innings.

The Angels won the second game, 8-4, after handing Tim Wakefield his worst start of the season thus far. After being staked to a 4-0 lead, Wakefield allowed seven runs in four-and-two-thirds innings, just his second non-quality start of the season. Despite Wakefield’s overall success, the Red Sox would like to get more of a spark from the rotation, writes Browne.

Thursday will mark the season debut for the Angels’ Ervin Santana, who is recovering from a sprained MCL in his throwing elbow. After struggling with control issues and inconsistency on the road in his first three major league seasons, Santana broke out in 2008, recording an ERA under 4.00 (3.49) and over 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career.

The key to Santana’s success in 2008 was his career-high 4.55:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But against the Red Sox, he faces about as tough a test as one can get in the first start back from an elbow injury, even without having to deal with Youkilis.

The Red Sox will counter with Brad Penny, who so far has posted a 6.90 ERA, mixing two horrendous outings in between four quality starts. Penny won his last start at Fenway against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing three earned runs in six-and-one-third innings and striking out eight, throwing just 91 pitches.

Penny allowed three runs in six innings against the Angels on April 11 in his first start of 2009 and first career start against them. On paper, this game bodes well for the Red Sox, with Penny pitching well and Santana tough to predict in his first outing since last October in the postseason, in which he also faced Boston.

While the Red Sox patiently await the return of their first baseman and cleanup hitter, they can at least take solace in the fact that other bats are stepping up, and they get their second baseman back today. And knowing Pedroia is not injured is better than almost any individual win.