Posted by Gayle Simone, Sun Staff

Was it playing for the first time at home? Was it the former Bruin greats - Bucyk, Neely and Bourque? Was it the energy in the building?

It doesn't really matter what the reason was. The fact of the matter is ... they did it. The Bruins protected the lead, much in part to great "D", and beat the Calgary Flames 3-2.

I'm not going to recap the game, if you weren't able to watch it you can read Carmine's story in the morning ;-)

But if you didn't catch Boyes' goal just 18 secs into the game, you missed not only a beautiful goal, but an outstanding feed from Savard.... I wish I could have heard Dale Arnold call that - oh wait I will when I watch the Bruins in 2 on NESN ....again if you remember....

Brad Boyes, Brad Boyes, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when he scores on you?

"Boston Bruins power play goal scored by #27 Glen Murray, assisted by #23 Paul Mara and #71 Marc Savard at 19:24. WOOOO"

Ahh, how I missed the public address announcer at the Garden - now I know I did not get that exactly, but there is a reason for that and I will explain in a few minutes....

It was great hearing the Bruins' Goal Song (Zombie Nation by Kerkraft 400) three times!

OK, time for my little rants....

1. I love and I mean LOVE the new scoreboard at the Garden, the picture quality is amazing!!!! The only thing I didn't like was the way the penalties were displayed - too small and because I was in the corner of the ice, I didn't have a straight on shot of the scoreboard so the penalties were on the corners... but other than that LOVE, LOVE the new scoreboard!!!!

2. The sound quality at the Garden this year isn't as good as it was last year, hence the reason I could barely hear the public address announcer - not too mention my section won something tonight and no one in my section knew what we it was - that is something I hope they fix soon. I was at the game with George, my friend that critiques the games with me, and he thought that it was quite possible they might be having some electrical problems due to all the changes they have made, maybe, maybe not - but it was frustrating not being able to hear what my section won - after the game I found out it was 15% off at the Pro Shop.

3. OK, I understand - even though I don't agree with it - when you're at a Red Sox game and fans start to cheer "Yankees Suck" but why oh why would you start that chant at a HOCKEY game? A couple rows behind me sat some pretty drunk people and they literally were driving me insane throughout the game. At one point, they were yelling at everyone in our section to stand up and cheer and that they were the "passion of the game." I couldn't take it anymore and turned around and said "No, you're the drunk idiots of the game." Did I mention they were drunk?

4. I only had to scream "down in front" once ... nothing is more irratating than when people stand up and move around when the puck is in play; wait for a whistle - it's called hockey etiquette. I mean the Bruins were on the penalty kill and there were like 6 or 7 people just standing around asking each other what they wanted to drink - honestly, you couldn't sit down and discuss that?

5. Got some free stuff tonight; besides the ticket itself (That's what happens when George losses a bet to me) - a couple of t-shirts; some schedules and my personal fave the 2006-2007 Media Guide (thanks to George).

6. George and I were discussing the blog and he gave me the idea to do an "All-Suck" team 10 games into the season - a spin of the All-Star teams - so stay tuned that's coming soon.

7. By the way, I'm still not convinced of Toivonen in net; I just finished watching NESN Sportsdesk and Dale and Brick were saying he played outstanding tonight and no offense; he played pretty good but not outstanding. I think he could have stopped at least one of the goals - JMO.

8. Loved the way Chara came to Hannu defense when his helmet was knocked off in the first. Phaneuf was looking for a dance partner all night - he seemed, at times, to have a few takers, but the refs broke them up before it even got started.

OK enough of my rants... Did you watch the game? Are you going to tune in Saturday night when the Sabres come to town or will you be watching Game 1 of the World Series?