Sports Redux: "Bad Luck, Story of My Season, Nothing Can Go Right"

So sayeth Milan Lucic, whose overskating led to the game-tying goal yesterday at the Garden, as the Bruins' tour through the various circles of Hell continued with a 3-2 shootout loss to Vancouver, their 10th in a row.

Once again, if the game were only half an hour long, the B's would be sitting pretty, as they jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on power play goals by Zdeno Chara and Michael Ryder. But the Canucks then apparently told goalie Roberto Luongo to just sit tight the rest of the way, 2 goals is all the B's are good for, and it worked. Although they once again outshot and outworked their opponents, they and their beleaguered fans had to sit tight and watch Vancouver catch up on a second-period goal by Mason Raymond and the tie-er with 5 minutes left by Pavol Demitra (the goal that made Lucic do the above soulsearching). "That’s the kind of goal you get when you shoot the puck. We don’t, though," said Tuukka Rask, also feeling the existential angst that's gripping Causeway Street.

By the time the Bruins outshot the Canucks 7-1 in OT, and it had inevitably proceeded to the shootout, Claude Julien knew how everyone felt: "I guess it’s to the point you dread to be in the shootout." Yeah, pretty much. Miraculously, the Bruins are still only two points out of the playoffs, and now embark on a 4-game pre-Olympic road trip starting today in Montreal.

Also playing today are the Celtics, who are feeling a little bit better this week after beating three inferior teams. Which means today's jaunt with Orlando (who the C's have only beaten once, on Christmas, since last spring's playoff series started to unravel) is a good test to see if the recent struggles are anything that will carry into the spring. Good news for the C's: Paul Pierce seems to think his foot feels well enough to take the court today.

Dan Shaughnessy, earning his paycheck once again, has unearthed the previously unconsidered fact that Archie Manning is in a tough spot, what with the team and the city he's loved and been identified with for decades being matched up in the Super Bowl against his son. Now that's reporting! Wait 'til Dan discovers that a win for New Orleans would mean good things for a city still feeling the effects of a major natural disaster. We'll be right here waiting.