A Day of Hockey Roundup

The Boston Bruins played what might have been their most complete game of the season Saturday. The Carolina Hurricanes were no match for the stout offense offered up by the Bruins Michael Ryder and David Krejci. Ryder scored 2 goals and David Krejci netted his 16th goal and 44th and 45th assists of the season to power the Bruins past the Hurricanes 5 - 1.

Providence Bruins callup Byron Bitz slid right into the Bruins schemes, impressing Claude Julian. “I really liked his game. I thought in his first real NHL game he came in there and wasn’t intimidated by anything that surrounded him” Julien said. Bitz got plenty of work, netting almost 10 minutes of ice time on 15 shifts. He also got his first NHL point, assisting on Mark Stuart's goal at 3:27 of the 2nd period. Julien summed up Bitz's day “(Bitz) made some great plays. He was in front of the net, got his nose dirty. He’s a physical player and he uses his size to his advantage. "

Zedano Chara also uses size to his advantage, blasting many unsuspecting Hurricanes along the way, including shutting down Carolina's main gun Eric Staal. Staal was unable to make anything happen all game long with Chara's physical play, Stall ended up a -2 for the day.

Chara's physical play rubbed off on the other Bruins, as Matt Hunwick got into his 1st NHL tussle. Hunwick's open ice blast on the the Canes Justin Williams eventually sparked the fight in which Hunwick put Williams on the ice with a huge overhand right.

Other Game Notes:

-Martins Karsums was also called up from Providence, and also got his 1st NHL point, assisting on Stephane Yelle's 1st period goal.

- Former Bruin Sergei Samsonov played in his 700th NHL game

- Carolina Goaltenter Cam Ward was pulled at the 3:27 mark of the 2nd Period, marking the 8th time this season the Bruins have faced 2 Goaltenders in a game. The Bruins are 8 - 0 in those games.



The University of Maine didn't fare quite so well as the Boston Bruins earlier in the day. The #2 ranked Boston University Terriers, coming off their holiday Denver Cup Championship, seemed to toy with the Black Bears all game long.

The main toy maker was BU forward Chris Connolly. Connolly scored 2 goals and had a game high 5 shots, all the while making Maine look bad on all ends of the ice. Maine got a 5 minute power play on BU winger Joe Pereira's 2nd game misconduct of the seasonin which Maine had to waste about 1:30 in their defensive zone due to the 1 - 4 forecheck by Connolly. Connolly, a freshman, played a very strong game.

Maine's lone highlight was a late 1st period goal by robbie Dee to tie the score at the time. Maine loses to BU 4 - 1. They fall to 10-8-2 on the season and 5-6-1 in Hockey East.