Tag: Noel Acciari

Bruins Force Game 7 for Winner Take All Stanley Cup Finale

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The two sweetest words in sports; Game. Seven. It all comes down to Wednesday night as this series flipped on its head for like the fourth time last night. I know its obvious that when a team wins they normally look different than when they lose, but the Bruins have looked like a completely different team in Games 1, 3, and 6. Last night the B’s were aggressive, but they weren’t chasing hits, they cleared the puck effectively, and they were able to consistently enter the Blues zone with the puck, which is something they’ve struggled with mightily in their losses.

Great moments are born from great opportunity

Apparently Patrice Bergeron delivered a Herb Brooks type speech before the game and I NEED to know what he said.

Bergeron has always been the quiet, classy, lead by example type of guy, but every Bruins fan knows that you don’t become the player Patrice Bergeron is without some fire. Bergeron has been on the Bruins since 2003, he played for a last place team in the disaster that was the 1-year long Dave Lewis era, he won a Stanley Cup in 2011 and he lost a Cup in 2013, so he has seen it all and he realizes this could be the last shot for this group.

Tuukka is on the verge of rewriting his legacy

For the past week people have been saying Tuukka needs to steal a game if the Bruins are going to win this series and he was A+ in net last night with 28 saves. Hell the one goal he allowed he technically made the save. So while its hard to say a goalie stole a game in a 5-1 win, Tuukka carried the B’s on his back early last night. If the Bruins win Wednesday night, Tuukka’s legacy is going to shift from a pretty good goalie who couldn’t win the big one to an absolute gamer who shined in the 2019 playoffs to lead the B’s to a Cup when their top 2 forward lines were non-existent.

Marchand and Pasta FINALLY get it going

Heading into Game 6 Marchand (100 pts in the regular season) had 1 goal in the series, which was an empty netter so it doesn’t really count, and Pastrnak (38 goals in the regular season) had ZERO. So for both of those guys to score last night was huuuge because the Bruins have got this far with next to no production from their two best offensive players. Its crazy they’re even alive at this point, which speaks to the excellent depth this team has. So you gotta feel good heading into Game 7 with Marchand, Pasta, and Tuukka all having their best game of the series last night.

The Blues have to be one of the dirtiest teams in the league

Throwing cross check cheapshots in Acciari’s face in the final seconds of the game just trying to incite a riot. I’m all for tough physical play, but these guys are dirtbags. Robert Bortuzzo got tossed with a 10 minute major for that, but that doesn’t carry over obviously so whats he care? And that goddamn wink…

I have to admit I did not know a ton about the Blues heading into this series, but I have very quickly developed a strong hatred of everyone on this team and their coach. I want blood, but I’ll settle for the Stanley Cup.

Bruce Cassidy does it again by pulling rookie Karson Kuhlman off the discount rack

I am a humble man and I will admit when I was wrong. I thought it was crazy to leave David Backes up on level 9 last night for an untested rookie who hasn’t played in a month. Sure Backes is older and slower, but the guy is playing against his former team (who seem to hate him now) in what is likely his last shot at a Cup. I’m pretty sure that guy would die for the Bruins in Game 6. But that doesn’t necessarily means he’d be effective, so Bruce went with Kuhlman and he rewarded the coach with an absolute SNIPE of a goal. Well played.

Jon Hamm spit in the hockey gods faces last night

I love me some Jon Hamm so don’t take this the wrong way, Don. Its one thing to wear wacky scarves, its an entirely different thing to shave your playoff beard before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. That is an absolute crazy person move. Remember when Tom Brady got a freaking haircut before the 2007 Super Bowl and we all groaned? Yea, you don’t worry about your hair or your beard during a playoff run. Insanity.

The officiating remains infuriatingly inconsistent.

Look I get why some of these calls are made. In a vacuum and because of his reputation, this Marchand sweep is almost always going to be a penalty, but why is this any different from the Acciari non-call in Game 5?

This is how these series get out of hand. I guarantee Marchand’s thinking well if they’re not going to call it I might as well do it. Same thing with every Blues player head hunting and boarding every Bruins player any chance they get. Granted they did actually call that dirty and dangerous boarding call early in the first period, but theres so much not getting called its hard as a player to know what the hell is going to be a penalty.

Good job good effort

Even though the Bruins mopped the floor with the Blues, the St. Louis fans were still chanting like they’d won the damn game. If you guys want to be Seattle and hang your hat on being “the loudest fans” then you do that. I’m going to worry about adding another championship to my resume.

The Bruins Got Hosed Last Night and Are Now On the Brink of Elimination

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I hate to blame the refs for a loss, but here we are.

Even if you’re not a big time hockey fan you can watch that play and immediately realize something illegal probably just happened. To make matters worse, Acciari was hurt on the play and was slow to get up as play continued and the Blues were able to score the pivotal, game deciding goal.

Even the Bruins official Twitter account couldn’t believe the non-call.

I’ve had Blues fans chirping me on Twitter all night long saying plenty of calls were missed the other way, Bruins fans need to stop complaining, all the way up to the insanity of saying Acciari embellished getting slewfooted and smacking his head on the ice. These people are outside of their minds like any serious sports fan is so I don’t fault them, but I for sure will dust them on Twitter all the same.

St. Louis:

Me:

Well now the disinformation campaign begins as the NHL released a statement last night saying: “We don’t make comments on judgment calls within games.” Then the league actually  tweeted out a video of the neato goal, yet clipped the start of the sequence (the trip) which is kind of an important part of the play.

To make matters worse, the officiating seems to have a clear line of demarcation from when it started shifting in the Blues’ favor; Craig Berube’s bitching to the media. Well even Bruce Cassidy has had enough as he went scorched earth policy on the refs and the league  last night.

Berube was predictably a lot more calm and deferential considering the refs have embarrassingly played into his comments.

Alright well now that I got that off my chest I can move on, but it had to be said; the Bruins got screwed. Now we move onto a do or die Game 6 that I did not see coming after the way the B’s handled St. Louis in Games 1 and 3. The Blues have played hard (bordering on dirty at times), they’ve dominated 5-on-5, and have seemed like the team willing to fight and die for that inch, which is what you need to win the Stanley Cup.

Granted the Bruins have guys like Zdeno Chara playing with broken fucking jaws so they’re not exactly slacking either, but we need more. We need more from the top 2 lines. Brad Marchand scored 100 points this season and he’s been a ghost in this series. Marchand has just 3 points and 1 goal, which came on an empty netter in Game 1. What makes that even more infuriating is how good he had been before the Finals; he is the leading scored in these playoffs with 21 points. Some people have speculated he injured his hand during that goddamn scrimmage the B’s had during their 11 day layoff. God help me if thats true. The guy we absolutely hands down need more from though is David Pastrnak, who has been a complete no show in the Finals. He has 2 points in this series and 0 goals. That is unacceptable for a guy who had 38 goals in the regular season.

So luckily for the Bruins they’ve been losing these games without the “best line in hockey” doing a damn thing. If those guys can wake up and pop a couple goals then the B’s are right back in this thing, but with Game 6 on Sunday night we’re running out of time for that to happen.

The Bruins Just Dropped the Best Team in the NHL and Now Have a 15 Game Points Streak

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I’m in. This team is legit, I am convinced.

Bruins v Lightning is always a heavyweight bout, especially with the Lightning already over 100 points on the year and its not even March. Thats insane! The Bruins were literally 19 points behind the Lightning in the standings heading into Thursday night. It was the first time two teams with point streaks of at least 14 games had faced off in NHL history. And the Bruins took Tampa Bay behind the shed and beat them with a garden hose, 4-1.

Granted, Tampa was coming off of 3 straight OT games and was playing back to backs, but hey a win is a win and that was a statement win.

“If it wasn’t for Louis Domingue I think this game could have been 9 or 10-1,” Jeremy Roenick said on the NBC Sports postgame.

They’ve been rolling lately, but after Wednesday nights W filled with clutch goals, hard hits, and Zdeno Chara ass beatings

and Thursday’s dismantling of the best team in the NHL

I am all in.

The Bruins showed up in a big moment once again and looked excellent all night, yet only lead 1-0 after the first 2 and a half periods. Domingue was standing on his damn head once again, but after a Noel Acciari goal the flood gates opened. The Bruins scored 3 goals in 1:28 seconds to open up a 4-0 lead and Domingue proceeded to lose his shit on national TV.

It’s only one game, but the Bruins showed Thursday night that they absolutely can play with the best of the best.