Lightning Crashes

Ohh, now feel it comiin' baack again
like a rollin' thuunder chasing the wind
forces pullliin' from the center of the earth again
I can feeeel iit.

Wow does that song bring us back or what? It reminds me of all those summers spent in Chatham, Cape Cod. The nights my brother, sister and I stayed at our rented house with that babysitter, who I recall being very friendly and even a little innapropriate with us young kids. And for some reason, this song always brings me back to those times in the Cape.

OK. Enough of that. I have some extra time to shoot the breeze while my Spanish tutor continues to try to make it here. Our 11:00 a.m. appointment has already been delayed until now and now it looks like it's not going to be until 1 or 2. So much for my day! But you know as well as I that I will spend this time eating (done) and blogging about another big day of hockey.

Back to that song and its current relevance. Well as we know, the Bruins buried the Lightning last night, 6-2. That came after a 6-3 win in Philly and a more convincing 3-0 shutout at Toronto, thus giving the team three-straight three-plus goal wins, the first such streak since April of 1999, as ESPN so kindly informed us.

Perhaps what is most impressive about this 4-1 road trip (5-1 tonight?) is that it has come while the Bruins have been riddled by injuries. Alberts, Bergeron and Murray are three of our top five or six players and the trio has been absent for all or part of this trip. I don't think anyone would have predicted this level of success with the starting personel.

But as is the case with any injury-plagued team that finds success, the Bruins have found other ways to win. Tim Thomas is playing some of his best hockey of the season. The aquisition of Brandon Bochenski. for Kris Versteeg and a draft pick has proved to be even more important than I had hinted. He has posted six goals and five assists since joining the Bruins. I'm not sure, but my gut tells me he's probably our leading scorer during that period. Exception Marc Savard.

Phil Kessel has continued to impress me. The guy skates hard, and I do mean on both ends of the ice. We knew about his talent, so it comes as no surprise (although quite welcoming) that we see his skill set rise to a new level night in and night out. But look again at the Bruins first goal last night. Nothing pretty about that. Phil broke through the neutral zone, crashed down on the Lightning D-men, creating a mistake by Denis that led to Sturm's ugly opening goal.

But most importantly has been the much improved play of key guys like Brad Boyes, Marco Sturm. A few weeks ago, the Bruins don't get that kind of break. When you skate hard, the puck bounces your way. And as long as the Bruins continue to skate hard, I have faith in our postseason chances.

Northeastern dropped another game, a 2-0 stinker at UMass Amherst last night, so we're going to stick to the Pro game for now.

Despite all the positives we have to talk about right now, the Bruins could use another piece to add to their puzzle. Carolina, yet again a winner in the Rent-A-Player sweepstakes, aquired Anson Carter (last year a 33-goal man) for a fifth round pisser. And that's after rumors that any team looking for a piece of Carter's caliber would have to give up a piece of their future. So much for that rumor.

I have heard nothing of this, but how about Melrose, Mass. native Keith Tkachuk coming to his former stomping grounds and joining the Bruins. I think he would look damn good in the Black and Gold. The Bruins could definately use a guy of his size and skill set down low. Of course, there's Chara, but with Tkachuk, we would never Need to send Big Z down low on the PP. Although the havok created by both of them would be fun to watch. I would have no problem with the Bruins giving up a first round and a fifth round pick, or maybe a second and a third. Even Toivonen could be used as baite at this point with Tuuku Rask on the horizon. Keith has put up pretty good numbers this year (20-23-43, +3) and has scored five times in the last 10 games (5-3-8). We could even sign him for the next two or three seasons.

This recipe has the right ingredients, but it's up to Chiarelli to measure, mix and serve it up. And he's got about three days to do it.

Until then, we have some scoreboard watching to do, and some Panthers to chase tonight. A win and a 5-1 record on this road trip before heading home would do wonders for this team. And we owe the Panthers a pounding after coming out on the losing end five straight times.