Battle of the Undefeated, Avalanche Blank Bruins 2-0

In a battle of the undefeated, the Bruins played host to the Avalanche in their first game since going 2-0 on the season. The Avalanche skated into the Garden riding a 3-0 win streak and left riding 4. With many teams in the league skating a consistent game schedule, the Bruins were faced with four straight non-game days prior to hitting the ice. The game proved to be an exciting pace -perhaps unexpected for those unfamiliar with the west coast team.

That pace and talent may come as a surprise throughout the league as Colorado is already making an Avalanche early in the season. The team has allowed only three goals in their last four games, a statistic that is greatly accredited to their goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere. Giguere has been outstanding between the pipes, blanking Boston’s 39 shots on goal last night alone. Despite a stellar performance, nabbing him the second star of the game, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask faced 30 shots, allowing a power play goal at 19:20 of the first, R. O’Reilly (2) Tip-in – ASST: A. Benoit (1), M. Duchene (2). The second goal on the game came at 19:34 of the third on an open net, EN – M. Duchene (2) Wrist shot – ASST: NONE.

Despite continued effort from the black and gold, it was Colorado’s goaltender that lead his team to a 2-0 victory, making save after save to the frustrations of both Boston players and their fans.

“I think he’s a great goalie,” said Bruins Bergeron on Giguere. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him because he was out west. But I thought he was really good tonight.”

With Colorado scoring their first goal on a power play, the penalty summer on the night for both teams was a lengthy one. Which included a 10-minute game misconduct for Bruins Milan Lucic after a scuffle and shove with Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog.

After continually capitalizing on power play opportunities in their two prior games, the chances just didn’t come for Boston, however, that doesn’t mean that the team showcased a lack in effort though.

“I think it’s the same as what I just said; our power play was good again tonight,” lamented Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien. “We had some shots and the goaltender made some saves and there was some loose pucks around the net. Our guys were over there but couldn’t jump on those and capitalize. So I’m certainly not disappointed in our power play tonight either; we had our chances, we had shots and we had scoring chances on that so it’s just a matter, again, of not being able to score.”