….He’s back.
Enforcer Shawn Thornton, a Bruin from 2007 to 2014, a staple of the community, and beloved fourth-liner of B’s fans everywhere, is back in town with the rest of the Florida Panthers.
Now, I don’t think you would be wrong if you said that Shawn Thornton would miss the Boston Bruins more than the Boston Bruins would miss Shawn Thornton. Despite Thornton’s status within the Boston locker room (he had been with the club since 2007) and his cult status among fans as a member of the Black and Gold, the fact of the matter was that Thornton, at 37, was at the tail end of his career, and played a style of hockey that doesn’t necessarily age well. And even though the Bruins have struggled (to a certain degree) out of the gate, winning just seven of their first 13 games of the year, the B’s don’t feel as if their locker room has been destroyed by No. 22’s departure for the sunnier winters that come with life in Sunrise, Fla.
“It hasn’t changed that much,… B’s coach Claude Julien said of the locker room dynamic post-Thornton. “I think it’s not the fact that it’s changed, I think it’s the matter of it coming together again. I think personalities in there are great and I can see it from week to week if you want. We’re getting closer and closer and I think you can see by our play it’s picking up a little bit. What you have to understand is it’s a normal thing when you lose a guy like [Thornton], you lose a guy that has a great presence—Johnny Boychuk, they name those guys that we lost that were veteran players, you don’t just turn the page and all of a sudden and everything’s ok again. It takes a little while to get that team to gel together and get comfortable again and I think we got those dimensions in the room and it’s happening as we speak.…
In seven games for Florida, the Oshawa, Ont. native has seven minutes in penalties and 11 shots.
His ‘Cats squad will go against a Boston club riding on the high of a two-goal night from an unexpected face, third-line plug-in, Matt Fraser. In just his fifth game of the year, Fraser struck with two (beautiful) goals, and will once again get the go for a B’s roster still without top-liner David Krejci.
In net, the Bruins give the start to Tuukka Rask. The 27-year-old has won 10 of 11 career games against the Panthers, posting a downright dominant .964 save percentage against Florida. The Panthers counter with old friend Roberto Luongo. He’s 12-12-0 with a .928 against the Bruins.
Still no Kevan Miller, Torey Krug, or Zdeno Chara for the B’s, either. Florida can match the Bruins' lengthy injury list, too, as Dave Bolland, Sean Bergenheim, Aleksander Barkov, and Jonathan Huberdeau are just a few of the players that'll sit out tonight's game with injuries.
First Period
20:00 - Soderberg line gets the start for Boston. Joe Morrow and Adam McQuaid pairing on the point. The Panthers counter with their fourth line featuring Tomas Kopecky, Derek MacKenzie, and yes, Shawn Thornton.
19:00 - Thornton's first shift ends with a nice body check on Loui Eriksson.
13:49 - TV timeout. The balcony has tried the Lu-ongo chants a few times. It's just not the same without Lu sporting the Johnny Canuck, you guys. Perhaps worth noting: This is just Luongo's second start in this building since Game 6 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. He stopped 29-of-32 shots thrown his way in a 3-1 loss to the B's here back on Feb. 4. That was one of the veteran netminder's final starts as a Canuck, too.
11:00 - Patrice Bergeron's banging on the door, but the referee loses sight of it, and it's blown dead. They're not happy about that, but that's an easy dead puck. No doubt.
6:47 - B's outshooting Panthers, 9-4. Keeping every Florida shot to the outside, too.
0.0 - Pretty uneventful first period, 0-0 through one.
Thoughts after one...
Nice video tribute for Thornton there. I can't help but root for a guy that started out as such a minor addition to the Bruins. He lasted here for seven years. That's really incredible to think about when you consider his role and how the league evolved over that time.
And a strong showing at the dot for Gregory Campbell, 4-for-5.
Second Period
15:56 - Brad Boyes dishes it to Jussi Jokinen and he rips it by Rask. That's a beautiful shot. It's 1-0, Panthers. That's the 150th goal of Jokinen's NHL career, his first as a Panther, and his seventh in 24 career games against the Bruins.
12:31 - Bergeron. 'Bout time for No. 37, too. That snaps an 11-game goalless drought. The assists will go to Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith.
8:48 - B's are bringing the heat to Luongo and the Florida defense now.
6:19 - Bruins will be shorthanded here. Horrible few minutes in their end. Just completely stuck in the mud, couldn't get possession. McQuaid ends nightmare with a hold.
3:52 - Marchand can't beat Luongo on a great 2-on-1 feed.
2:44 - Just complete chaos right now. 15-15 in shots. Probably 15 collisions into your own teammates for both sides, too.
0.0 - Tied 1-1 after 40...
Thoughts after two...
Nice pushback from both sides after the goals against. Luongo with two big 2-on-1 stops, too. This one's a coin flip at this point, and how often do you say that about the Panthers-Bruins?
Third Period
14:49 - Couple of nice attacking zone shifts for the Bergeron line and then the makeshift first line with Chris Kelly at center and Lucic and Griffith on the wings. Effectively using their defensemen, too. But Luongo is hanging tough right now. 16 saves on 17 shots.
14:21 - 'Cats bring it at the other end, Rask with a great sprawling save on a wraparound bid.
13:35 - Brian Campbell with a great full body extension effort to deny Brad Marchand a great scoring opportunity. This has been one of Marchand's stronger performances. He just can't get one by Bobby Lu right now.
9:13 - David Warsofsky takes an awkward tumble into the boards, goes down the tunnel, but he's quickly back. B's, with an already destroyed blue line, with a sigh of relief there.
5:56 - The Panthers are playing with more structure than I can honestly remember. Usually these games are complete laughers, but Florida's hanging around. I suppose that's what top-tier goaltending will do for you, though. Interesting note: Despite their place in the standings -- the 'Cats came into this one seventh in the Atlantic -- the Panthers are 2-0-3 on the road. Points in all five games. That'll make a difference after 82, you think.
2:06 - Refs miss a blatant high stick on Loui Eriksson. Woof. Claude Julien is one irate coach right now. That's a bad miss if you're the referee. Clear. As. Day.
0.0 - Overtime on the way.
Overtime
5:00 - Holy hell, dry scrapes take even longer in person. I think.
3:38 - Bergeron line with two great chances. Couldn't bury it. Grimaldi with one at other end.
1:33 - Marchand with a serious beauty, and the Bruins win, 2-1. Wow.