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Eight days ago, the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres took to the ice of the TD Garden and squared off in what's become perhaps most emblematic of what a divisional rivalry should be and mean to the opposition. Two teams similar in the style of play they take to the ice, led by fierce combatants in between the pipes, and years of some good ole' fashioned Adams Division hatred mixed in.
While the scene shifted from Boston to Buffalo tonight, it was nothing new between the B's and Blades in their third meeting of the season.
As the night began for Boston with a successful penalty-kill after an Andrew Ference roughing call against (who else but) Sabres' irritant Patrick Kaleta, the B's would strike the back of the net when David Krejci redirected a Dennis Seidenberg shot to give Boston a 1-0 lead. However, the lead would fail to last as a soft boarding call against Milan Lucic led to a Buffalo power-play.
Appearing more shoulder-to-shoulder than anything else, with Lucic in the box, the Sabres would strike when Derek Roy's backhander rang off the post but fell onto the stick of Drew Stafford, who shoveled in his sixth of the season.
With the second period playing out with both Miller and Rask refusing to let either offense take a lead, Rask stopping nine shots compared to Miller's 12 saves in the period, the third period would provide yet another period of classic Boston versus Buffalo play.
After Shawn Thornton drew a tripping call much to the chagrin of the guilty Mike Weber, B's winger Michael Ryder charing up ice on a dish from Bruins rookie Steve Kampfer broke through three Sabres and beat Miller to give the Bruins a 2-1 edge.
Needing just 32 seconds to respond, it was the big-bodied Stafford who struck again, this time with a nearly uncontested one-timer in the slot to knot the game up at two a side with 13 minutes to play.
Taking the puck into the Buffalo zone, it was Boston's energy line to appeared to give the B's a 3-2 lead with Brad Marchand looked to pop home the go-ahead goal, but as indicated furiously by the officials, there was goaltending interference on the play.
Barreling towards the net, it was the Bruins' Thornton, who made contact with Miller, sending the Team USA hero falling to the ice, ultimately drawing him out towards the face-off dot.
Whistled dead and called back, the 30-year-old Miller was undoubtedly interfered with--but here's where the dilemma comes into play.
Miller was a good five-to-seven feet out of his crease, thus putting himself into the action more than anything else. I mean, just how many times have we seen goaltenders barreled over when they're attempting to play the puck, or get a little anxious--prompting them to challenge the opposition's offense.
And while I certainly understand the call, the officials lost me (nothing too shocking in this one) when they slapped the B's with a two-minute minor for goaltender interference.
Did Thornton collide with Miller? Yes. Did Miller leave his home in the crease to play the puck? Yes. But did Thornton control himself from colliding with Miller? Extremely debatable.
Either way, the B's were on the penalty-kill, and oh look--Stafford scored..again.
Setting the red light off and bringing the HSBC Arena crowd to their collective feet, Stafford's tally came just 12 seconds into the Buffalo power-play and put Boston down by one with under ten minutes to play.
Attempting yet another comeback in shades of last week, the Bruins' chances were undoubtedly smashed when Lucic picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the Boston bench after allegedly calling the referee a 'joke' and an 'embarrassment'.
Putting Boston on the penalty-kill for the final moments of their attempted comeback, the Sabres would go on to lock down their first victory of the season against the B's with some extra festitivties following a Miller shove to the Bruins' captain.
As the melee broke out in front of the Buffalo net with Paul Gaustad taking an extra swipe at Zdeno Chara to finish the game along with Cody McCormick tackling Marc Savard down to the ice in a brave scene, for the B's, this outburst of frustration and emotion was simply too little too late.
WHO LEARNS FROM SEGUIN BENCHING?
This has undoubtedly been an issue that I've kept mum about since the beginning of the season, but when is this joke being played on Tyler Seguin going to end?
First, the B's tell him that "No, no you're staying here. No World Juniors for you. Your development is here."
Thank the heavens in the great sky above because, exactly, the best place for the 18-year-old to be is in the National Hockey League, where he'll have the chance to practice his skills against the best in the world on a nightly basis.
Except, well, the B's aren't going to let him have that opportunity for now.
Sitting out tonight's contest as a healthy scratch, Claude Julien sat the speedy teen in favor of Daniel Paille. Playing in just 10 games for the Bruins coming into the night, the 26-year-old Paille took Seguin's spot on the right-wing playing next to playmaking extraordinaire Marc Savard.
Makes sense, right? I mean after all, Paille's hands made of brick would surely provide the support needed just days after Savard praised the speed of Seguin, yes?
Just over a week removed from Savard drawing the comparison of Seguin's speed to that of old friend Phil Kessel (irony has its way of working these things out, huh?) and just when a connection between the two seemed to be in the makings, the B's benchboss pulls the plug and sits #19.
Fact of the matter is, we're not going to learn anything from the benching of Seguin, and if anything, we're going to see how the loss of his speed from the line-up truly makes the Bruins look similar to that lumbering and lethargic team that fans wanted nothing to do with last season.
But deep down, isn't the real crux of the issue coming from the fact that we're at the 30-game marker of the season and still the B's have not found a spot to plug Seguin into?
Fourth-line center didn't work. Fourth-line winger didn't work. And I'll tell you right now, Seguin becoming a healthy scratch isn't going to work.
TY'S TAKE
I hate to whine about the referees, because that's a sore losers mentality, but in the third period of a close contest--that Thornton penalty shouldn't be called. On either side, in fact. If McCormick bumps Rask when the Finnish goaltender gets out of his crease, I'd be the first one to say 'Well, you know Rask did leave his crease and put himself into the traffic alleyways,' and while you can't swallow the whistle entirely either, that penalty against Lucic truly exposed what's best described as a thin-skinned referee on the ice.
If you're going to dish anything out on that incident of chattering from the bench, just send Lucic back to the dressing room on a game misconduct.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Bruins are heading to Montreal for a battle against the Canadiens with first place on the line. With both teams coming off some frustrating losses, the Habs falling to the Flyers by a 5-3 final, these two Original Six rivals should combine for some exciting viewing as a Carey Price versus Tim Thomas showdown could present itself in what seems like an early preview of what might be the race for the Vezina.
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