Time Warp

Tough guy Shawn Thornton wasn't the only Bruin to drop the gloves during Thursday night's 6-3 victory over Dallas. 

The Big Bad Bruins are back.

If, by the outlandishly far-fetched chance that you are a Bruins fan and have been in a coma or a cave for the past thirty plus years, it's my bet that if you watched the Black and Gold beat up and batter the Dallas Stars Thursday night you would have felt as if nothing had changed. And, if you are south of 25 like me and only know of the Big Bad Bruins from fuzzy black and white television clips and folklore stories about Terry O' Reilly passed down from your father, I can't help but think that a performance like that is exactly how the Bruins earned the nickname "Big and Bad" in the first place.

Last night, the Bruins fought first and scored later. Suddenly the new Garden looked a lot like the old Garden, circa the 1970s when a young phenom named Bobby Orr was surrounded by tough, intimidating playmakers like Johnny Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman and, of course, O'Reilly. Within three seconds of the puck dropping against Dallas Thursday night, the Bruins had already dropped the gloves an astounding four separate times. First, it Gregory Campbell squaring off with Steve Ott. One second later Shawn Thornton took on Krys Barch. Then, two seconds after that Adam McQuaid pummeled Brian Sutherby.

"He just came out on the ice and we made eye contact," explained McQuaid of his bout with Sutherby. "We didn't even say anything. We just kind of nodded and went from there."

Before the sell-out crowd of 17,565 even had time to assess the mayhem that had just transpired, Andrew Ference fought with Adam Burish less than four minutes later. At this point, I was half expecting a Dallas fan to taunt Milan Lucic from the stands, to which Looch would leap the boards and give him what for, a la O'Reilly in the infamous Madison Square Garden fracas in 1979.

Three minutes and 51 seconds. Four fights.

"That's what happens in hockey," explained Campbell, who was seeking revenge on Ott for blindsiding him in a game nearly two years ago. "Words were said. Things happen. There was really no forewarning or anything like that. It just happened."

And, oh yeah, two goals in that time span as well, all by the Bruins. First Milan Lucic and then Patrice Bergeron, all within the first eighty seconds of the game. Entering the first intermission the Bruins held a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Despite a spirited third-period comeback attempt by the Stars, the Bruins hung on to pin a 6-3 victory over Dallas, a team that entered the game as the best team in the Western Conference. After surrendering three unanswered goals and watching all the momentum they built early in the game evaporate, the Bruins reclaimed control when rookie Tyler Seguin ripped a wrister past Keri Lehtonen late in the third period to make it 5-3. Bergeron, who finished with two goals and an assist, nearly tallied another hat trick in the final minute but his shot at the empty net sailed wide. Brad Marchand added the final empty net goal.

Tuukka Rask, who earned a rare start between the pipes, finished with 30 saves, including an absolutely absurd left pad save on a cross-ice feed early in the first period. With the victory the Bruins improve their record to 30-15-7. And, with 67 points, Boston leads the Northeast Division by four points over Montreal and trail the Conference leading Flyers by just six points.

"I'm pretty sure the Bruins fans didn't mind it, " coach Claude Julien said of the excessive ficticuffs. "We can leave it at that."

Well put, Claude.

After all, if there's one thing that unites all Bruins fans, young and old, it's our passion for watching the warriors behind the treasured Spoked B kick ass and takes names. That's how it always was. And that's how it always should be. It's in our DNA. It's what makes the Bruins the Bruins.

Let's just hope that after Thursday night's heavyweight bout and subsequent knockout of Dallas, the new Big Bad Bruins are here to stay.