Domination Continues for Bruins

After the Bruins opening game two weekends ago in Prague, the faithful fans who shed blood, sweat, and tears for this team every year were left wondering if it would just be another letdown of a season for the black and gold. Three games later, most of those faithful fans are finding it difficult to contain their excitement for the future.

The B's strolled into Washington last night to take on the red-hot Capitals led by star winger Alex Ovechkin. In the matchup that everyone always highlights when these teams meet -- Chara and Ovechkin -- the big guy came out on top as the Bruins derailed the defending Presidents' Trophy winners, 3-1.

For the third straight game, Tim Thomas got the nod between the pipes for the Bruins, who seemingly have a fairly unexpected goaltending competition brewing within the first week and a half of the season. Thomas was brilliant again last night, and he has allowed just 2 goals in his first 9 periods of the campaign. With two perfectly capable goaltenders, I expect the B's to continue riding the hot hand throughout the season. You can expect to see both Thomas and Tuukka Rask start somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-45 games apiece. Many believe that a team needs a clear-cut #1 goaltender for the postseason, though. And while that may be true in cases where both goalies are showing signs of incompetence, I'm not so sure this duo couldn't pull it off. Our problem isn't incompetence -- it's over-competence. Just like last season, defense and goaltending receive A+ marks in the early going.

So what's the difference between this year's squad and last year's squad? Any Bruins fan can tell you that this team looks like a very well-rounded and complete team when they're scoring goals. And that's exactly what they've done so far, tallying 10 goals in their past three games since the opener. The additions of Tyler Seguin and most especially Nathan Horton have been huge improvements in the early stages of the season -- Horton is tied with David Krejci for the team lead with 6 points, while Tyler Seguin has registered a goal and an assist. Milan Lucic has been hitting the scoresheet (3-2-5) as well, living up to his prior expectations and playing reminiscent of his postseason play last year. With Marc Savard and Marco Sturm still out due to injury, this team truly does seem like it has all of the pieces in place to make a run at this Eastern Conference.

I suppose we'll find out a little more about the B's when they head back to Boston for their home opener tomorrow night against those same Capitals (4-2-0). You know Alex Ovechkin and his squad will be looking for redemption, so it should be one of their stiffest challenges yet.