Posted in Recaps 3 Comments November 29th, 2008
Old chumps, meet new hunks
Joey MacDonald didn’t stand a chance. For the first two periods against the Bruins today, he looked like Tim Thomas, circa 2006-07. Then for the third period, the Islanders goaltender looked like Joey MacDonald, circa 2006-07. You remember Joey MacDonald…he was the backup goaltender late in the 06-07 season when the Bruins lost faith in Hannu Toivonen and the guy who used to wear the clashing Red Wings goalie mask. Actually, MacDonald really wasn’t all that bad that year for the B’s…in only 7 games, he had a 2.68 GAA and a .918 SV%…better than either Thomas OR Toivonen that year (although he DID sport a 3.46 GAA and .872 SV% in 8 games with Detroit that same year). Still, the man’s a journeyman goaltender, and it showed today late in the game when the Islanders needed him most.
The other Ex-B’s on the other side of the ice who were victimized: Bill Guerin and Andy Hilbert (who did, at least, get an assist). Maybe I’m just evil, but for once it’s nice to see ex-B’s floundering on bad teams as opposed to having to field a bad team with other teams’ castoffs.
Kudos to Michael Ryder for potting two goals. If the young guns keep producing and the veterans like Ryder start turning their mediocre game around, this team can go far.
Interesting stat: as of this writing, the Bruins have scored 78 goals in this young season, putting them behind only San Jose (89) and Detroit (81) in offensive production. And to think only a couple of years ago, us fans were trying to dream up trade scenarios that would give this team some offensive punch…ditto for management (Kris Versteeg for Brandon Bochenski, anyone?)
Speaking of the Red Wings, tonight’s game against Detroit is a huge test for the young Bruins. If they beat the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Bruins are going to really start turning heads.
