Well continuing the theme from Monday, Boston has another 3 win day on our hands.
Granted, this day only had 2 teams involved, but still a good day all around for our hometown boys.
The Red Sox got things started with a rout of the Twins in Game 1 of a doubleheader; a game which Tim Wakefield was sharp. He surrendered only one run over 7 innings. Rookie catcher George Kottaras had a good game, too, as he didn’t have any passed balls. A wild pitch on a Wakefield curveball was the only thing that made it to the backstop.
The Sox offense was more than enough as they pounded two-run home runs in each of the first three innings.
The bottom of the 7th saw 4 more men reach home before the tarp was called on the field with one out and men on 2nd and 3rd. This proved to be the way the game ended.
10-1, final.
The second game I didn’t see much of, other than Papelbon getting a good outing in at the end of the game.
David Ortiz had a good day between the two games. He went 2-for-4 with a double in the first game, and went 1-for-4 with a double in the second game. His batting average is now .220.
Brad Penny went 6 innings surrendering 3 runs, while the bullpen has continued to be a real strength giving up 0 runs the rest of the way.
The Red Sox continue to roll; they have an off day tomorrow before they take on the Yankees this weekend.
As for the day’s only playoff game, the Bruins, and American’s as a whole, were delighted to hear the crowd relatively quiet during the national anthems as they finally realized what ‘respect’ is all about.
Montreal scored quickly on the first shift of the game to grab the momentum quickly. Montreal fed off the energy of the crowd for the next couple of shifts before the Bruins managed to even out the momentum a little halfway through the period.
With under 3 minutes left a charging David Krecji stormed the net and forced Montreal to make a bad turnover right in front of Carey Price, and former Canadien Michael Ryder buried the shot over Price’s right shoulder to tie the game at 1.
With under a minute left in the period, the Krecji line again dazzled Montreal as Krecji won inside position on his defender against the wall just inside the offensive blue-line, to form an instant 2-on-1. He slid the puck over to Ryder, who hesitated, drew Price to his side, and fed the puck to a now wide-open Krecji who put the biscuit into the empty net to take a late 2-1 lead.
A mad scramble in the final seconds almost resulted in a Montreal goal as the Bruins were caught running around but Big-Z blocked a shot from the left point that was destined for a wide-open net as the horn sounded.
The 2nd period saw the Canadiens and their fans tense up a little. Phil Kessel took a penalty for slashing, which was subsequently expertly killed by the Bruins. Patrice Bergeron grabbed the puck just as Kessel stepped out of the box, and fed a beautiful pass off the boards to send in Kessel on a breakaway and he proceeded to pound the puck low to the right of Price to bring the Bruins up to a 3-1 lead.
With the momentum clearly in Boston’s favor, the next shift for the Krecji line saw yet another beautiful play that saw Ryder score off a beautiful pass by Krecji off the left circle only 45 seconds after the previous goal. This 4-1 lead was all they needed.
The third period saw the Bruins slow the game down at times, and handle Montreal’s pressure. Things got chippy as Mike Komisarek decided he was manly and went after Milan Lucic high with his stick, and was told to take a shower, as he was assessed a 5 minute major and a game misconduct.
The Bruins failed to score, but they managed to keep Montreal at bay as the nastiness wore out, resulting in the all-too-pretty handshake procession in the middle of the ice.
The Canadiens raised their sticks at the end of the game in thanks to their fans, but they were perhaps on the verge of getting run out of the building.
A good day. A very good day yet again.
Oh, and the Rangers won too. One more win for them and we will face the #7 team in the next round, and at the same time not have to worry about the Capitals. This night keeps getting better.