Tuukka Rask got the nod from coach Julien late this morning to start in nets for the Halloween matinee at the Garden against the Edmonton Oilers. Based on the Bruins history this season, Stevie Wonder could of gotten the nod in net as today would be a scheduled win in theory of course with this win one ,lose one season so far.

The Bruins peppered veteran goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin in the closing seconds of the second period andVladimir Sabotka popped what would of been his first goal of the season but it was just after the buzzer sounded  to keep the game scoreless after two. Blake Wheeler finally breaks the 0-0 tie with his fourth goal of the season from Sabotka , just under 3 minutes into the final period. Wheeler then returned the favor to Sabotka as this time he did score his first goal of the season.

Rookie Bruins net minder Rask plays a solid 60 minutes to earn his 2nd career shut out this afternoon winning 2-0. This was also a milestone for Coach Julien as this was his 100th win behind the Bruins bench.

The up and down Bruins travel to MSG tomorrow to face conference rival, the New York Rangers. Lets hope the somewhat predictable B’s break this foolish .500 pattern and put a couple together this weekend.

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Happy Halloween to everyone from Stick to Hockey. Today I decided to throw together a quick “trick” or “treat” article about some of the who’s hot and who’s not in the NHL so far this season. Here is a few stand outs for you.

Treats

I don’t think anyone is hotter than L A Kings foward, Anze Kopitar right now in the NHL tallying 8 points in his last 3 games including a natural hat trick against Dallas on Thursday night. The Kings early success this season has a lot to do with Kopitar.

The Colorado Avalanche out to a great start and best in the west need to give goaltender Craig Anderson a pat on the back. Anderson leads the league with wins (10) and is sporting a 2.04 GAA and a .939 save %.

Speaking of goalies, Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres is leading the league in save % (.944) and GAA (1.65) . Miller is still undefeated at 8-0-1, Buffalo is 3rd in the east at 8-1-1.

The New York Rangers got a very good treat aquiring Marian Gaborik from the Minnesota Wild. Gaborik has 10 goals and 8 assist as he sits 5th in the league for points. The much anticipated return to Minnesota last night was a let down as Gaborik was out with a leg injury.

Tricks

Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers has been less than impressive with a mere 2 goals and a -3. Those are not the numbers that the Panthers were expecting out of Horton when they gave him that 4 million dollar contract. There has also been trade rumors circulating with Horton’s name attached.

The Detroit Red Wings are in the market for a goaltender as Chris Osgood could have passed his prime. Osgood , one game over .500 and a dismal 3.41 GAA and a .882 save %, there is no surprise on why Detroit is shopping.

A big part of the Carolina Hurricanes success a few years ago when they won the Stanley Cup was the outstanding play of goaltender Cam Ward. This season Ward has started out very shaky with a 2-6 record.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

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Anaheim Duck, Scott Niedermayer tops my list of rumors I hope come true. Scott has reportedly been looking to come back to the east coast and is considering another stint at New Jersey, Philly and yes Boston. If anything does happen with Niedermayer, look for it to happen after the Olympic break.

It is no secret that The Detroit Red Wings are just short of desperate for an NHL goalie. Veteran Chris Osgood sporting a 3-2-2 record and Jimmy Howard 1-2-1 are less than par this season Howard gave up 6 goals the other night in the Wings loss to the Oilers. Both goalies have a save percentages in the high 80′s and GAA around 3.5, the Wings need some new blood between the pipes. Toskala’s name has been thrown around for a possible solution.

Speaking of Toskala, Toronto is less than thrilled with his dismal start not to mention  his 4 million dollar salary and GM Brain Burke is looking to deal him out of Toronto. Add the Ducks to the short list of candidates for Toskala as there has been reports that Burke has shown interest in Giguere.

Marc Savard and the Boston Bruins have been trying to work out a contract extension to keep Savard as a Bruin. Savard is reportedly looking for 6.5 million a year in his next contract. Savard is currently making 5 million. This is typical for Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and I hope he doesn’t let another star get away from the Bruins organization. What scares me is, Marc will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season if the Bruins can’t strike a deal with him. Savard’s family resides not too far from Toronto and I am sure the Maple Leafs will make the attempt to lure Savard to old teammate Phil Kessel.

Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers has said that he would rather play in a more traditional hockey environment and he may get his wish. Depending on what you read and who you ask, Horton may be on the trading block. The Panthers deny the rumors but the Ottawa Sun has reported that he is available for a deal. With only a couple of goals this season, my question would be what are they going to get since he carries a 4 million dollar contract.

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There is a sports saying that says there is no “I” in team, but there is a “U” in you suck.  That would be yousuck.com, a site that loves to bash guys like me….referees. No matter what, we only please half the fans in any given game and guess who is unhappy this time?

Apparently this “group” was unhappy with the job that the referees in Monday nights Toronto/Anaheim game. Ducks fans were bitching that the referees were giving the win-less Toronto Maple Leafs “favorable” calls which lead to 5 power play goals and the Leafs first victory of the season.

Before tonight’s game in Anaheim the makers of anti-ref gear, Ref You Suck will be sponsoring an anti-referee rally to voice their unhappiness with Mondays game. They will be out there with signs and shirts in front of the Honda Center acting like fools.

Referees and officials in general have been under fire since the whole MLB playoff  issue when the umpires clearly missed some big calls in a few of those games. But protesting and rallies? What is this the 60′s? Give me a break, this is a disaster waiting to happen and I wish I could be there to see it.

Instead of blaming the officials in Monday nights game why can’t Duck fans accept the fact that they lost. Were the penalties uneven? Yes they were as the the Leafs had 10 pp to the Ducks 3 , so what. I don’t know of any official that has called a game according to the score or standings, it is what it is. We see 2 colored jerseys out there, not teams or players nor did I ever read a rule about teams should have equal power play attempts in a game.

I was looking at the score sheet and with the exception of 2 hooking calls, every thing else on the Ducks was roughing, slashing or a misconduct. Those are not marginal calls. The Leafs were the ones with and abuse of an official call.

The bottom line is that The Ducks penalty kill was horrendous to say the least. I don’t care how many fictitious calls you think the officials had, your team still went 5/10 on the penalty kill. 50%! Jonas Hiller played a great game making 33 saves in Giguere’s absence with a groin injury. That brings me to another point, your Ducks got out shot 39-28. Just accept the fact that the Ducks had a bad game and their emotions were their own worse enemies.

Even in the unlikely event that they succeed and get thousands of fans, what did you prove? It will not change the way the officials will call the game tonight or any other night.

Instead of protesting officials, bring that enthusiasm to the White House and fight for health care.

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The injury bug continues in the NHL with two more stars going to the sidelines. Pittsburgh Penguins star, Evgeni Malkin will miss the next 2 to 3 weeks with a shoulder strain. Malkin has played in 254 consecutive games after missing his first 4 professional games. That streak will obviously come to an end.

Vancouver Canucks goalie, Roberto Luongo will miss at least the next two games as the team travels to sunny California to face the Kings tonight and the Ducks tomorrow night. Luongo has a hairline fracture of a rib on his right side.

Dominic Hasek at 44 years of age was going to make a run to play in the 2010 Olympics and that now seems to be unlikely. Hasek suffered a thigh injury playing in the Czech league this past weekend and will be out for 3 weeks.

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This is probably the first time this season that I can say the Bruins played well and lost. Giving up a goal with just over a minute to go which was pretty much a garbage goal. Chara had a chance in the final minute ringing the cross bar but with no luck as the B’s drop a tough one to the Devils 2-1.

Once again the pattern continues lose one, win one. The Devils remain undefeated on the road improving their record to 6-0-0 away from New Jersey. Back up net minder, Yann Danis made his first appearance of the season, giving Martin Brodeur a night off after last nights loss to Buffalo. Danis stopped 31 of the 32 shots the Bruins threw at them.

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