Sports Redux: Bruins Remember Their Snooze Alarm, But Lose Anyway

Everybody's entitled to a night off now and then. Fortunately, the NHL provides each team with a firm schedule that allows them to plan those nights off ahead. Unfortunately, the Bruins seemed to think one of those nights was last night, even though there was a game scheduled and an opponent in town.

So what we saw was one of the few bad games the Bruins have put forth this year. They have up a couple of New Jersey goals, one shorthanded, one power play, and sleepwalked through the second period, only getting five shots off and finding no offensive rhythm. Which speaks either to the notorious stifling Jersey D or the hangover after Tuesday's thriller; we're not sure.

But Claude Julien apparently splashed around some cold water in the locker room, because the third period looked very different. True, the first two Bruins goals - a Kobasew "shot" that slowly bled into the goal and Savard's goal possibly went through a hole in Scott Clemmensen's pants - weren't pretty, but they counted. Dennis Wideman shot a rocket for the B's third goal, giving them a miraculous lead.

But it was short-lived, as the Devils' Patrik Elias tied it up with under two minutes to go, and Jamie Langenbrunner's second of the night won it for Jersey 1:11 into OT. All things considered, the Bruins were pretty happy to just get the point and get the hell out of the building before they completely forgot how to play crisp, good hockey.