Boston Bruins: Matt Fraser scores the game winning goal against Montreal in game four (Video)

Boston Bruins forward Matt Fraser was recalled yesterday, and this was only the fourth NHL goal of his career. His first in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. You have to love his quote though.

“I said earlier today that I have played for the Stanley Cup 100 times,” Fraser said. “On an outdoor rink – on my buddy’s outdoor rinks, but to do it on a place like this is pretty amazing.”

Fraser special night congrats it's a series lets gooooooooo
— marc savard (@MSavvy91) May 9, 2014

Jarome Iginla drills Max Pacioretty hard

Boston Bruins forward Jarome Iginla drills Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty with a clean, hard, legal check. Pacioretty looked like he was a bit woozy after the hit. Pacioretty would return to the game.

Is Milan Lucic playing with fire?

First, Milan Lucic will not be fined, suspended or even slapped by the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety for his latest stick transgression. That being said, the Montreal Canadiens, and their fans were up in arms with the Boston Bruins tough guy and his latest cup check of his favorite dance partner Hab's defenseman Alexei Emelin. Let's just say, those two have a history.

No hearing or fine for Milan Lucic after "spearing" Alexei Emelin in 3rd period last night. #canadiens #bruins #nhl #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) May 7, 2014

Another game, another Lucic cup check. We got quit a history starting to develop here. Emelin isn't going to fight Lucic or anyone else. There's a reason for that, and Taylor Shire from the Bleacher Report tells us why.

During a 2009 playoff game, while playing with Kazan AK-Bars in the Kontinental Hockey League, Emelin got into a fight with Alexander Svitov, who rearranged Emelin’s face. Emelin was left face down, bleeding profusely on the ice after taking a couple solid punches to the face.

Emelin had a concussion, a broken nose and needed facial reconstruction. Now he has several metal plates under his left eye. So, that’s a good enough reason not to fight Malone. Why risk more injury to your already-injured face? There could be long-term effects.

Last night,  at the 12:05 mark of the third period, Lucic again stuck his stick in Emelin's nether region. Like most of us watching, it was so subtle that we didn't see it. For the most part, the play went undetected, even by the television announcers. After the play in question, the two separated without incident and went their separate ways. After the whistle, Looch whispered sweet nothings in Emelin's ear. I am sure they weren't exchanging phone numbers.



I would say that Lucic is starting to develop a nasty reputation of having a way ward stick. This way ward stick, seems to keep connecting with his opponents' testicles. In my opinion, that's bush league, Lucic is better than that.

After reading the book "The Code" - one might say that Lucic has broken the hockey code by doing these types of bush league tactics. Let's not forget, that turnabout is also fair play. Someday, someone is going to catch him with a retaliation type hit. Lucic brought this on himself.



Lastly, I am a Boston Bruins fan, for that I make no apologies, but I must say that these incidents are starting to become a regular occurrence. This is disappointing. Again, Lucic is better than this, he doesn't need to resort to these types of dirty, cheap hits.

At what point does the NHL step in and sanction him a punishment that more teeth to it, it's not like he hasn't been warned. Before we go there, the Hab's aren't a bunch of saints and they don’t hold the moral high ground, either. Last night, Zdeno Chara was caught with a vicious slash by a Hab’s player as well.

Related articles

• (Video) Bruins Milan Lucic cup checks the Habs Alexei Emelin, again

(Video) Bruins Milan Lucic cup checks the Habs Alexei Emelin, again

Apparently, the Montreal Canadiens are unhappy with another cup checking incident involving Bruins forward Milan Lucic and Canadiens forward Alexei Emelin. (Click to read the link) No clue, if the National Hockey League is going to do anything about it. I guess they could fine him again.

#480363387 / gettyimages.com

So, where are the Boston Bruins?

#488495703 / gettyimages.com

Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe asks some really good questions in his article. So, where are the Boston Bruins? I think if they lose on Thursday night, this series is over. Some of the top players of the Bruins have been missing in action, so far during this series.

MONTREAL — The Bruins are the better team. This is what the hockey folks keep saying. This is what the regular-season record shows. The Bruins won the Presidents’ Trophy, earning home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Bruins are better than the Canadiens at the five-on-five game. The Bruins play a heavy game. They will overwhelm Montreal with Maximum Heaviosity.

Hmmm. This sounds like what folks in Detroit were saying last October when they played the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. The Tigers were clearly better. Just like the 2007 Patriots were clearly better than the New York Giants. Just like the ’84 Lakers were better than the Celtics.

So why did Montreal win, 4-2, Tuesday night? Why are the Bruins trailing this series, 2-1? In three playoff games, why have the Canadiens led for 107 minutes, while the Bruins have led for only 11½ minutes? When do the Hub’s Heavy Hitters take control of this series? Where is the Bruins first line? Where in the world is David Krejci?

Sorry for asking. I guess this is the time to have faith in the battle-tested Bruins. They trailed the Canadiens in the first round of the magical Cup run in 2011. They trailed Toronto by a couple of goals late in the third in Game 7 last year. They know how to handle this situation.

Still, there is something nagging about this series. If not for three goals in six minutes of the third period Saturday, the Bruins would be staring down the barrel of a 0-3 deficit going into Thursday night’s game at the Bell Centre.

#488494933 / gettyimages.com

There's plenty of blame to go around, too. Hockey is a team game and the players need to put them on the table, if they want to win this series.  Time to sack up, or go home. The Bruins have spent a lot of time fooling around with some of the Canadiens players instead of playing hockey. The Bruins have spent too much time jawing with P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher. They need to shut up and just play some hockey. 

(GIF) Travis Moen blows up Jarome Igninla

Watch this hit by the Montreal Canadiens forward Travis Moen as he blows up Jarome Iginla. Ouch!

(Video) P.K. Subban hits Reilly Smith and takes out Thomas Vanek

Montreal Candiens defenseman P.K. Subban hits Boston Bruins forward Reilly Smith in the chest and also takes out his teammate Thomas Vanek. Subban was given a two-minute minor for roughing.

12:38 MTL P.K. Subban Roughing - 2 min against Reilly Smith

Note to the NHL Officials, Cross-Checking is a Penalty

#becauseitsthecup ... Even thought it's the playoffs, cross-checking your opponent in the head is still a penalty, right? It should be. This should be called, this is a dirty hit and should be a five-minute major in my opinion. Thoughts?

Let me clear, I am not a dove by any stretch of the imagination, and this is coming from a guy that has the nickname Goon, but this could be classified a deliberate attempt to injure your opponent. This is why the NHL players are suffering from concussions in high numbers.

War of words in Boston

#485759575 / gettyimages.com

It only took two games for this to begin. Claude Julien has been known to be a "bit" hard on the officials.

Michael Hurley, BOSTON (CBS) —“It’s the same thing with Claude. He’s not happy with all that ‘crap,’” Therrien said, regarding Julien’s colorful reference to the officiating in Game 2. “They try to influence referees. That’s the way they are. That’s not going to change. That’s the way that they like to do their things. … But we all know what they try to do.”

With those comments, the gloves are officially off.

To be fair, Julien did say before the series began that he hated Boston when he coached Montreal, and now that he’s coaching Boston, he hates Montreal. Still, even during his mid-game tirade that drew a penalty, Julien never expressed any issue with the Canadiens or their organization.

“The referee — I kind of told him that I didn’t agree with his calls,” was all that a wryly smiling Julien told the media after the Game 2 win.

(Video) Montreal Meltdown - Bruins score 4 goals in 8 minutes

I thought it was over when the Montreal Canadiens pushed the lead to 3-1. Then a funny thing happened. The Bruins put it on the table and pushed back and scored four goals in eight minutes. The problem with the Bruins is they started responding to the Habs instead of just playing hockey.

0:56 BOS Dougie Hamilton (2) Snap shot - ASST: Brad Marchand (3), Patrice Bergeron (6) 3 - 2 MTL
14:17 BOS Patrice Bergeron (2) Wrist shot - ASST: Brad Marchand (4) 3 - 3 Tie
16:28 BOS Reilly Smith (3) Wrist shot - ASST: Torey Krug (5), Zdeno Chara (1) 4 - 3 BOS
18:54 BOS EN - Milan Lucic (4) Wrist shot - ASST: David Krejci (3), Kevan Miller (2) 5 - 3 BOS

Boston Bruins: Johnny Boychuk Celly (GIF)

This is a sweet Celly by Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk... Guns up... No wait, that's Texas Tech.

(NHL Video) Detroit-Boston Mic'd Up

This should get you into the mood for the second round. It was funny watching Zedno Chara tell Brendan Smith you had your chance.

This week's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Schedule

Clear your schedule, the second round of the NHL playoffs are set to begin.

(Vine) Bruins and Habs, Thursday

Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens game one Thursday night.

(Video) Bruins take a 3-1 series lead on Red Wings

I think at times it's better to be lucky than good. Boston Bruins forward Jarome Iginla gets his first goal of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins head back to Boston with a 3-1 series lead. I thought that the Red Wings came out with a lot of speed, but the B's took over the game in the second period and Tuuka Rask played very well.

FINAL (OT): @NHLBruins (3) - @DetroitRedWings (2) Recap: http://t.co/JB542MPje7 BOS leads 3-1 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/uXIBw2k3X0
— NHL (@NHL) April 25, 2014

Bruins vs. Red Wings game preempted by Meaningless Spring Football game

This isn't the first time this has happened, either. Not everyone is a fan of the Thundering Herd. In what world is a meaningless spring football game worthy of  preempting the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings? Seriously. This is the Stanley Cup Playoffs which actually means something. The Bison playing with/against themselves  is not important to NHL Hockey Fans.  I do wish that KVLY had two channels like ABC does (WDAZ and WDAY).

(Video) Almost Fight - Brendan Smith versus Zdeno Chara.

To quote Doc Emerick, "There are many in the NHL watching this and if I were Smith, I would hope that the linesmen arrive." This would have been the mismatch of the century.

Lucic will not be suspended

According to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.COM, Milan Lucic will not be suspended. Lucic was fined $5,000.00 for his spear.

Joe Haggerty ( @HackswithHaggs) tweeted at 12:12pm - 19 Apr 14: Milan Lucic: "I don't know what I was thinking. I pride myself on playing within the rules, and that's obviously something I can't be doing"

--------

Joe Haggerty ( @HackswithHaggs) tweeted at 12:09pm - 19 Apr 14: Milan lucic said there's no hearing on his spear of Danny DeKeyser, but he does have to call the league office about it.

Where’s the feigned outrage for Corey Perry cup check on Jamie Benn?

By now, you’ve probably seen the chop to the groin region of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser by Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic … Almost on cue, the Lucic haters have demanded a lengthy suspension of the Bruins forward.  

Ah, but there’s a catch, while everyone was drawing and quartering El Diablo Milan Lucic, the Ducks forward Corey Perry was also checking Jamie Benn’s cup region as well. Where was the feigned outrage for that stick incident? Both plays are equally objectionable, and if you suspend one player, you must suspend the other one, right?

Here's a prediction, neither player will receive any games off. However, they will be given a stern warning and put on double secret probation. Frankly, that's playoff hockey.

(Video) Milan Lucic cup checks Danny DeKeyser

That's going to leave a mark. Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic cup checks Detroit Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser There was no call on the play.