Boston Bruins on the Verge of a series win.

What a beautiful goal by former Buffalo Sabre Miroslav Satan to beat the Sabres. I must say that I am very happy because it's been 18 years since the Boston Bruins have beaten the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup playoffs, (1991-1992 season Bruins win series 4-3). The Boston Bruins are on the verge of winning the series against their heated rival.

A couple of Bruins things.

Stanley Cup of Chowder has Boxing Day Poll who is the best Bruins fighting of the Decade. In my opinion it's Milan Lucic. Why because he can fight but he can also play the game. Most of the other Bruins goon's were one dimensional. One NHL GM once refered to Lucic 'as a whole lot of nasty.'

There is also some good news on the Milan Lucic front, looks like Lucic is close to returning to the Bruins line up. We can only hope, because the Bruins could use Lucic's toughness in the lineup, especially with Mark Stuart out of the lineup with a broken sternum.

Milan Lucic is with the team on the road trip. But Lucic has yet to be activated from injured reserve, indicating that he will not dress in either game. This is the first time Lucic has traveled with his teammates since spraining his ankle against Minnesota last month. [Bruins blog]

NHL checks Marc Savard deal

The NHL is investigating Marc Savard's newly signed contract. Peter Chiarelli is a smart guy so I don't think Bruins fans have to worry about this too much. Looks like the NHL brass isn't all that impressed with contracts that are front end loaded.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli confirmed yesterday that the NHL is investigating Marc Savard’s heavily front-loaded, seven-year contract signed last week.

The league, which reportedly also is looking into similar deals signed by Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa, Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger, is concerned that clubs are violating the spirit of the collective bargaining agreement with so-called retirement deals, in which the player would get most of his money in the early years and then, as the salary decreases, he could choose to call it a career. Meanwhile, the club enjoys a palatable salary cap hit during the life of the deal.

Chiarelli was not concerned that the NHL, which has hired an outside law firm to investigate, would find anything wrong with the Savard pact.

“They’re looking at a number of contracts. It’s a matter of course,” said Chiarelli, confirming an ESPN.com story that was published during the weekend. “I’m confident we did everything by the CBA.”

According to terms of the deal, Savard will make $7 million the first two years of the deal, $6.5 million the third and $5 million the fourth. The money then drops precipitously, as he’s scheduled to make $1.5 million the fifth and just $525,000 in the sixth and seventh. That works out to an annual cap hit of $4.2 million. [Boston Herald]

Lucic a game time decision on Thursday.

This is some really good news for the Boston Bruins. The Bruins forward Milan Lucic has been out of the line up since missed in the line up since the 17th of October and the Boston Bruins have missed his presence and toughness in th eline up. Lucic will definitely be a welcome addition to the Bruins line that is struggling to score goals.

Lucic, who was placed on long-term injured reserve last month with a broken right index finger, skated alongside Byron Bitz and Steve Begin on the fourth line during the 75-minute session.

“As we did more and more of those rush drills, as it went on, you get more comfortable and play without thinking about it, so that was good,’’ Lucic said. “It was a good day for progress, and everything went well today, and hopefully it’ll feel good again tomorrow.’’

As for the finger?

“I got some mobility back in there,’’ said Lucic. “It’s still not 100 percent, but it’s close to 100 percent. I’m just working right now to get 100 percent strength back in there.

“It feels great. Not too much soreness going on anymore. Hopefully, I can make a return back to the lineup soon.’’

Coach Claude Julien said Lucic is “a game-time decision’’ for tomorrow night’s game at Atlanta. But considering the Bruins’ recent scoring slump, don’t be surprised if the left wing suits up. After putting up a plethora of shots against the Panthers (40, to no avail) and Penguins (33, in a 6-5 overtime loss), the Bruins struggled to create open looks in front of the net in a 4-1 loss to the Islanders Monday.
[Boston Globe]