Bruins waiting, watching -- and thoughts on other stuff.

Still no answers on the Bruins' second-round opponent -- depending on how Tuesday's elimination games play out, it could be any of 3 teams. So we wait.

• As expected, Tim Thomas is a Vezina finalist. The general buzz around the league is that he's a shoo-in over Western Conference contenders Steve Mason and Niklas Backstrom. And rightly so... Timmy has by far the most sterling resume' of the three, and a media-friendly personality to boot. Remember who does the voting!
  

• The other big story of the day is Joe Thornton's attempt to rally the Sharks past Anaheim after being down 3-1. I can't remember any player being under so much pressure to perform in a first-round series. You get the sense that if the Sharks lose, even in Game 7 double OT, the golden age in San Jose may come to a quick and bitter end.

• If the Rangers can manage a Game 7 win over Washington, the Bruins will happily face the lowest-hanging fruit left in the playoffs. New York has done almost everything wrong since taking a 3-1 lead in the series, but might squeak past the Caps because Mike Green is suspended for the final game... or is he?

• What's really sad is the two best series in the first round have been Jersey/Canes and Hawks/Flames. Both have been steamrolled by coverage of other, "name brand" matchups.

Lessons From Last Night's Game

You won't get far against good teams without a power play.

Ryder and Sturm might not be superstars, but losing them has really hurt the Bruins at both ends of the ice... and particularly on the power play (see #1).

You can't plan for, or defend against, fluke goals. Don't put too much stock in a game decided by them.

You can't plan for, or defend against, fluke injuries. Don't plan your season around having everyone healthy.

If the Bruins are going to play only half a game, it's better they play the second half.

When two good hockey teams go head-to-head, it's a beautiful thing to watch... no matter who wins.

As a fan, don't put too much emotion into a February matchup, no matter who's playing. If you win, the buzz only lasts for a day or two. If you lose, it's not fun anymore. Either way, there's another game right around the corner.

Bruins vs. Sharks: Preview Central

So much has already been written about this game, there's little left to say. See yesterday's post for some number-crunching and general hype. It's going to be an amazing night, plain and simple, even if the on-ice product falls short of expectations.

Here's a rundown of what others have written across the interwebs:

Blogs

Stanley Cup of Chowder - "Maybe Milan Lucic or Shawn Thornton will recreate the famous scene where Claude Lemieux turtled and Cam Neely threw him like a ragdoll into the corner."

Hub Hockey - "The "Open Rink" chat session is now open for the game."

Hockey Journal - Chiarelli: "I’ve just looked at the Washingtons, the New Jerseys, the Philadelphias, and the San Joses, and how we match up against them. That’s going to be like playoff hockey against those types of teams. "

Mike McMahon - Interview with Tim Thomas. "And did I know it was coming up? Yes; basically only because the media keeps telling me."

Rink Rap - "The noise you hear tonight will be like a sound version of that No. 77, half-Bruin/half-Avalanche sweater."

Kynch's Korner - "Hard working Bruins take on the surfer dudes from Cali."

Caveman Strong - On Thornton: "He's like Marc Savard, if Marc Savard ditched the faux-hawk, got taller, stronger, and stamped a 'chokes in the play-offs' sign on his back."

The Hockey Blog Adventure - "Basically every category that there is in hockey, these two do well in."

Battle of California - "See if you can find the number of wrestling references in this post."

Fear the Fin - "Tonight is where the big dogs show who has the bigger bite."

Sharks Hockey Analysis - "Like the great David Bowie, the Sharks fortunes vs. Boston could go both ways"

Barry Melrose Rocks - This week's Versus drinking game. Drink... "If Claude Lemiex gets in a fight."

Mainstream Media

Versus' Adrian Dater - "if you're not watching it, don't call yourself a hockey fan ever again. Just don't."

NESN - "If the Bruins want any chance of walking off the ice with those two points they will need to tighten up their game when and if they get a lead."

ESPN - "The best of the West taking on the best of the East. A potential Stanley Cup finals preview?"

ESPN's Pierre LeBrun - "The man who traded away Joe Thornton can hold his head high."

The Sporting News' Craig Custance - "The evolution of Boston center Marc Savard into a more complete player has helped fans in Boston forget Thornton was ever there."

The Boston Globe - "All Joe Thornton wanted for Christmas was a surfboard."

Boston.com - Thornton: "There aren't too many ex-teammates over there, and it's just really an important game in the schedule"

San Jose Mercury News' David Pollak - "Though their teams are in different conferences, Sharks and Boston Bruins players confess they check each other out."

Game on!

How Awesome Is This Game Going To Be?

The Bruins host the Sharks tomorrow. How awesome will it be? It'll be this awesome:

- Boston leads the Sharks by 6 points in the overall standings, but San Jose has 4 games in hand. Therefore, this matchup could very well determine the eventual President's Trophy winner.

- This is the first, and probably the only time this regular season that the conference leaders will play head-to-head.

- San Jose is mired in a "slump" (loosely defined) involving a couple of OT losses to playoff bubble teams. Boston has split a pair of OT games in its past two contests. Both teams are facing long road trips ahead and could really use a boost in confidence.

- This will be the second time that Joe Thornton has returned to Boston since the infamous trade two years ago.

- The first time he returned, Thornton was ejected after two minutes for this illegal hit.



- Goaltenders Tim Thomas and Evgeni Nabokov are 2nd and 5th, respectively, in GAA among goaltenders who have played 30+ games, and 1st and 12th respectively in save %. Yet both struggle to be widely considered top-10 at their position.

- These are the second- and third-highest-scoring teams in the league (the Wings are #1).

- These are the first- and third-stingiest defenses in the league (the Wild are #2).

- Marc Savard and Thornton are possibly the best passers in the league, along with Sidney Crosby.

- Four defensemen -- Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman for Boston, Dan Boyle and Rob Blake for the Sharks -- are in the top-15 scorers among defensemen.

- Boston and San Jose are 4th and 5th, respectively, among all power plays. San Jose has the league's 4th-best penalty kill whereas the Bruins are 10th.

- 6 of the league's top 10 +/- ratings can be found on these rosters.

- San Jose's Joe Pavelski and Boston's Stephane Yelle are 6th and 7th, respectively, in blocked shots. That's right, even the shot-blocking defensive forwards are elite in this game!

- The only bummer about this game is injuries -- former Shark Marco Sturm will not get the chance to face off against his former club. Michael Ryder will join Sturm on injured reserve after undergoing surgery to repair his fractured orbital bone. Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward is a gametime decision, but likely to return after missing a game due to the flu. The Sharks will be missing defenseman Brad Lukowich and geriatric chatterbox Jeremy Roenick.

- Both teams have suffered a bit from mid-season fatigue, so perhaps it's a good thing that they've both been idle since Saturday.

It's been the hottest ticket in hockey for months, ever since it become obvious that the Eastern Conference was a one-horse race and that the Sharks were set for a franchise-best season. Expect a lot of media talk about Stanley Cup previews and "setting the tone", but the coaches will undoubtedly do their best to maintain focus on getting 2 points in the here and now.

Regular-season hockey doesn't get much better than this!