Bruin Up A Storm

I'm what some would call a "couch-sleeper". I probably spend the night on the couch an average of 2-3 times per week. I have a perfectly good bed, as many lucky females could attest to, but there is something comforting about our ripped up, beer-soaked couch that really hits my slumber g-spot. Maybe I am mentally preparing the miserable years I will spend married to three or four different wives....
The common denominator for most couch nights begin with a Boston sports event. Don't get me wrong, I find nothing boring about hockey, football, baseball, or basketball. But admittedly, I slept through the entire Patriots-Bears and Patriots-Steelers games this year. I also often find myself awaking for the final minute of Celtics or Bruins games. However, last night's Bruins-Habs matchup was an absolute do-not-miss. It was hands down the most exciting and bad ass game of the year. The best part was that the B's held a 3 goal lead with a minute left, so it wasn't even a question of if they would come away with the victory at the end. It was one of those games that even if I had been up 50 straight hours and drank half a bottle of Nyquil, I STILL would have been jumping on the couch, screaming at the TV like an 8-year old tantrum.
There were only three low-lights in the game. The first was that the Habs scored 4 goals on 8 power plays. The second was Kreiji getting the shit kicked out of him by Benoit Pouliout. The third was more of a disappointment then a negative, but Tim Thomas' "fight" against Carey Price was one of the more pathetic showings that I have seen in a while. It probably would've been better if Price wasn't such a vagina and actually wanted to fight, but instead he just kept Thomas in check with his jersey over his head.
To fully appreciate the game, watch the ESPN recap. I won't bother explaining who fought who, but in total there were 187 penalty minutes doled out to 23 players, including 13 fighting majors and 6 misconducts. Travis Moen led the Habs with 22 minutes in the box, and of course, Shawn Thornton led the B's with 17 of his own (even though he only had 9 minutes of ice time in the entire game). The 12:36 melee in the second period will go down as one of the highlights of the season, where 13 penalties were given to 9 players, ending 12 seconds later with a Canadians power play goal. But when the dust settled, the Bruins had an 8-5 lead with less than a minute remaining, and took the game 8-6 (after a 2 man advantage goal by Pacioretty).
The moral of the story is that last night's Bruins game was the definition of Original 6 hockey. Two storied franchises with an epic disdain for each other went at it full steam, leaving only Habs fans and players alike in agony at the end. The Bruins will face the Habs in Montreal on March 8th, and they'll face off one final time at the Garden on March 24th. Start looking for tickets now, because the division will certainly come down to the wire.