LOOOOOOOOOOOCH

Wow, what a fun night. My second Bonus Bruins game of the season rounded out the week where I was able to see all three of the Bruins' home games, and they did seem to run the gamut.

I went with my brother, who had a StubHub seat next to me in the second to last row of the balcony, just about as far away from the action as you can get. As we were ascending the escalators to the balcony, a random fan behind us asked us if we were together. When we answered that we were, he offered two tickets in the Loge section, probably 10 or 15 rows from the ice. He said he'd gotten them from work and had some extras, and wanted to know if we wanted them. Expecting some kind of scam, either bogus tickets or a demand for money, we said yes, and he gave them to us free of charge.

The seats ended up being in the corner of the ice, at the goal the Bruins were to shoot at only once (though, based on the face-off circles in one end being 4 feet further from the goal line than NHL regulations mandate, the teams split the ends with 1.5 periods at each). We ended up seeing every goal but 2 scored at our end, which was awesome. I'll never cease to be amazed by the kindness of random strangers. I mean, I would have done the same thing as our benefactor if I'd had extras, but I never expect things like that to happen to me.

Anyway, my brother and I ended up seeing one hell of an entertaining game, and the first Bruins home win of the season, 5-4. A nail-biter at times, the Bruins fell behind 2-0 to end the 1st and it looked like the Bizarro Bruins had come back from their outing against Toronto to play another lazy disinterested game. Julien must have torn them a collective new one during the period break, since they came out with their skates on fire, making plays and attacking the net. They entered the offensive zone confidently, and actually drove home some tough shots. Something I hadn't seen in the last 2 games, and MAN was it fun to watch.

But, without further ado, here's tonight's game's Three UP and Three DOWN

UP

1. Milan Lucic, of course. The kid with fists of concrete nets his first career hat trick, adds an assist, and seems to be everywhere at once. Add that to his "Checking a Maple Leaf Through the Glass Head First" thing, and it's been a pretty good week for Looch. Hopefully he can build off of this after his slow start, and really contribute something to this team this year. I was actually gunning for him to get a Gordie Howe Hat Trick after his first goal and his assist, but he never did end up dropping the gloves. Still, with the amount of games I hope to go to this year, he's gotta mess someone up eventually, right?

2. Marc Savard. I don't want to steal too much from who they gave the game stars to (Looch First Star, Savvy Second Star), but the man whose jersey I own gave the Bruins two more assists and more exciting breakouts than I can count. For the first time, the Bruins made me excited as they entered the offensive zone, as tonight they seemed to have a better than good chance to score each time they did. I like Marc.

3. Bruins Power Play. Finally, some finishing! Much like me being excited when the Bruins streaked across the neutral zone, this time, I had faith in them on the power play. Their passing was light years better than it was Thursday, and when you can get the puck around and control it on the power play, good things will happen. I hope to God they can build on it.

DOWN

1. Bruins Penalty Kill. Yeesh, another stinker. Thrashers converted 3-of-4 on the PP, and the Bruins need to either learn to spend less time in the Box, or to step it up when they're a man down. Though, when the going got rough, the Bs killed a monster penalty to start the 3rd, to take some momentum from their great 2nd period. Still, though. Lots of room for improvement here. Let's hope PJ can return to form and clamp it down.

2. Michael Ryder. I still haven't seen anything from this guy that makes me think he was worth the money. Yes, he's got some good chemistry with Savvy going in the early parts of the season, but I'd still like to see more goals from him. After all, the Bruins have allowed more goals than they've scored in the early going, and Ryder was brought in to fix that. Step it up, Mike.

3. Marco Sturn. Still haven't seen much of a spark from Marco, either. I want to like him, I really do. As the last piece of the Thornton trade, I want him to show that it wasn't a complete, franchise-killing waste. But he's not really giving me much to work with here. Stay tuned, we'll see if he gets bumped to another line to try and pick him in the ass.

All in all, satisfying win, especially given my unexpectedly awesome and unexpectedly cheap seat for the game. Something to build on as the Bs head off on a West Coast road trip, taking them out of Boston until a week from today. Sure, I wish they'd won all three games, but a 1-1-1 homestand isn't too terrible, especially considering how close they were in those games. The Bruins outworked another team, and positive results ensured. It's going to be a grind to get the points they need, but I still think this team is up to the task. Work to be done, sure, but I'd say we're moving forward.

M