2/28 Edition of the Beantown Breakdown

Bruins, Celtics Earn West Coast Wins

The Bruins and Celtics were both in action last night, but the hometown fans needed to stay awake into the later hours in order to catch the games. The B's were on the western coast of Canada visiting the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks, while the Boston Celtics were a little bit further south, across the border, taking on the Los Angeles Clippers. In the end, it was a good night for both squads.

The B's, according to most fans and experts, have turned into an actual Cup contender with their recent acquisitions. Last night could have been a pretty large measuring stick, facing a Canucks team with a superstar goaltender, two of the top scorers in the NHL, and the best win-loss record in the entire league. Thanks to production from their big names, the black and gold left Milan Lucic's hometown with two points.

Lucic assisted on Boston's first tally of the game, which was a second-chance effort by Nathan Horton that found its way into the net to tie the score at one. Late in the third period, Lucic buried the rebound from a Dennis Seidenberg shot for his team-leading 27th goal of the season, giving Boston the lead for good. Patrice Bergeron added to his team-leading point total (21-29-50) with an empty net goal to seal the deal for Boston. Tim Thomas made 28 big saves between the pipes, earning his 28th win of the season.

We might see Tuukka Rask between the pipes against the NHL's worst team, the Edmonton Oilers. It's a huge game for the Bruins, and they can't fall into the false idea that Edmonton will be a cakewalk. There is no such thing in the NHL. The action will start at 8:00 ET tonight, and it will feature the long-awaited matchup between Taylor and Tyler -- rookies Taylor Hall of the Oilers and Tyler Seguin of the Bruins, who were selected first and second overall, respectively, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Back in the United States, though, the Celtics were tipping off against Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers. The game marked the Celtics debuts of newly acquired players Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green, and both players made impacts in what ultimately amounted to a 99-92 Celtics win.

Krstic got the start at center for Boston, and he was fairly impressive overall. The big guy was in a little bit of foul trouble, but he pulled down a game-high 6 offensive rebounds and dropped in 9 points. Defensively, he was able to hold Clippers starting center DeAndre Jordan to just 4 points.

Jeff Green didn't see quite as many minutes as Krstic did, but he contributed 7 points on 2-for-5 shooting from the field. Green will be a work in progress for the C's, but the underlying consensus is that he will become a great player for Boston down the road. We can only hope that didn't come at the expense of a 2011 title shot -- which, for the record, I don't believe it did.

The story of the game were the big names for the Celtics, though. Paul Pierce poured in a team-high 24 points, Ray Allen dropped 22, and Kevin Garnett pitched in 16 to go with 11 rebounds. Rajon Rondo dished out 11 assists and grabbed 7 boards of his own, and Glen Davis continued to play a fantastic sixth-man role with 10 points off the bench. It may have been a little too close -- the Clippers led by 7 at halftime -- but in the end, a win is a win.

It was a good night to be a Boston sports fan, and we don't have to wait very long to see each of these teams back in action again. I mentioned that the Bruins hit the ice tonight at 8, and tomorrow night, the Celtics visit the Utah Jazz. Tip-off for that one is set for 9:00 PM ET. We know all too well here in Boston that the regular season isn't something to get overly excited about, but it sure feels good knowing that you have legitimate title contenders in -- well, just about every sport.