This One's for You

Last night was Military Appreciation Night at the TD Garden. Mark Stuart and
Blake Wheeler bought $10K worth of seats for local servicemen and women to attend the game. 

          As soon as Army sergeant and double amputee Michael Downing skated onto the ice in a flexible-flyer type wagon fit with hockey sticks as poles, fans in the stands and watching on NESN knew last night wasn't just any other Bruins game. It was Military Appreciation Night at the TD Garden and the scene was emotion throughout, beginning with Downing's ceremonial drop of the pick at center ice in front of a raucous standing ovation of 17,565. 
          "From all the people that were here in the building, plus the puck drop, that got everybody's blood flowing," said Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart, who along with center Blake Wheeler combined to buy $10K worth of tickets for local servicemen and women to see the game. "It was pretty special to see. I can speak for all the guys on the team that we wanted to come up with the win tonight for them and for us." 
          And win they did. Defenseman Adam McQuaid got the crowd involved early in the first period when he pummeled Rod Pelley in a heavyweight slugfest near center ice. McQuaid appeared to fall to the ice and many fans, myself included, assumed the referees would stop the fight. Not tonight. Feeding off the energy of the crowd, McQuaid quickly found his footing, bounced back up and proceeded to land a mammoth right hook to Pelley's head before skating toward the penalty box to a thunderous applause. 
          Michael Ryder gave the Bruins an early 1-0 lead when he beat New Jersey legend Martin Brodeur down low during a two man advantage. Nathan Horton and Wheeler (playing center in place of the injured David Krejci) tacked on goals to open the second and third periods, respectively. Tim Thomas made sure the 3-0 score stayed that way, finishing with 28 saves to record his 4th shutout of the season. 
          Coming into the game, the Bruins had lost three in a row and recorded just one win in their last five games. Last night's emotional win over the Devils seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. 
          "We made it a point before the game to have a good game and a good start, because there are people that have obviously made a huge sacrifice for our country and they're out here for us to entertain them," added Wheeler, who along with many other Bruins sported camouflage tape on his stick in honor of the servicemen and women in the stands and around the world.
          Let's see if the Bruins can ride the momentum of this big win into New York when they visit the Rangers Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.