Don’t look now folks, but the Red Sox have won 7 out of their last 9 games after sweeping the Jays in Toronto. Josh Beckett got lit up once again on Monday night, but the Sox were able to outslug the Jays, winning 13-12. On Tuesday, Clay Buchholz showed why the Sox have been keen on keeping him around and believe him to have top-of-the-rotation stuff. Buchholz pitched 8 innings, allowing 1 earned run and struck out 4. Buchholz has been the true ace of the staff in the early going posting a 2-2 record with an ERA of 2.19 in 4 starts. Wednesday, Jon Lester pitched like the ace he is, shutting out the Jays through 7, while striking out 11. Daniel Bard struck out the side in the 8, and Jonathan Papelbon retired the side in order in the 9th to pick up his 7th save of the season. The three pitchers combined for 15 Ks, while only giving up 2 hits. Sox are back to .500 and are now in 3rd place and 5.5 games back of Tampa Bay. John Lackey gets the ball Friday against Baltimore and Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his return to the Sox’ rotation on Saturday.

The Celtics, defeating the Heat 96-86 in Game 5, will face a familiar foe in the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lebron James has been nursing a sore right elbow, so we’ll see how that factors into the series. One thing is certain, this series should be epic and don’t be surprised if it goes to 7 games.

Marc Savard returns from a Grade-2 concussion as the Bruins take on the Flyers in Eastern Conference Semifinals

With the 8th-seeded Montreal Canadiens upsetting top-seeded Washington in 7 games, the Bruins will have home-ice in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals as they play host to the Philadelphia Flyers. On paper, the Bruins should be favored in this series, especially with Tuukka Rask in net and the return of Marc Savard to the lineup. Granted, the Flyers did knock out the #2 seed New Jersey Devils and should not be taken lightly, especially because of their physical style of play. Bruins are going to have hold their own in the toughness department, continue to play strong defensively, and get those timely goals they were able to achieve against Buffalo. If all goes according to plan, expect a Bruins/Penguins matchup to decide who earns the right to play for Lord Stanley’s Cup out of the Eastern Conference. Out West, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 6-1 in Game 7. In the Semi-Finals, the 5th seeded Red Wings will match-up with top-seeded San Jose, while #2 Chicago matches up with #3 Vancouver. As a hockey fan, I’m hoping for an Original Six match-up in the Stanley Cup Finals pitting the Bruins against either Detroit or Chicago.

The Boston Bruins and Milan Lucic have agreed to a 3-year extension worth $12.25 million.

The 21-year-old Lucic set career highs in all major statistical categories last season, scoring 17 goals and adding 25 assists for 42 points.

Milan Lucic

An aggressive checker and an outstanding fighter, he also tallied 136 penalty minutes and finished with a +17 rating. Last Saturday, Lucic bloodied Carolina’s Jay Harrison in a second-period bout. In the preseason, Lucic opened up Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil.

During the 2008-09 postseason, the 6-foot-3-inch, 228-pound winger had three goals and six assists and a team best +12 plus/minus rating in 10 games.

In his rookie year in 2007-08, Lucic registered 8-19=27 totals and 89 penalty minutes in 77 contests. Lucic earned the team’s “Seventh Player Award” for his efforts, an award voted on by the fans and given to the Bruin who performs above and beyond expectations. He also
contributed two goals in seven postseason games.

Lucic has skated in both games during the 2009-10 season and has one assist and five penalty minutes.

He was originally drafted by the Bruins in the second round (50th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Source: Boston.com

In other Bruins’ news, the Bruins are 1-1 on the season. They lost 4-1 to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the season-opener. The Bruins bounced back in a big way with a 7-2 pummeling of the Carolina Hurricanes, the team that knocked out the Bruins in last year’s playoffs. The Bruins scored three times each in the first and second periods and added another tally in the third period. The B’s got goals from Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, Marco Sturm, Dennis Wideman, Shawn Thornton, and Matt Hunwick. Tim Thomas was solid between the pipes in the win, making 25 saves on 27 shots. He had almost no shot on the two goals allowed to Scott Walker and Eric Staal. Walker, crossing the slot, re-directed a shot from Aaron Ward for the goal. Returning in the third period after being knocked out by a one-time shot that struck him in the side of the head earlier in the game, Eric Staal cashed in on a power-play, beating Tim Thomas underneath the arm-pit with a wrist shot.

The Bruins also won the physical aspect of the game. Milan Lucic man-handled and bloodied up Jay Harrison in a fight and Shawn Thornton also won a bout against former Bruin Andrew Alberts. Thornton went after Alberts in retaliation for Alberts going up high with a hit on Marco Sturm earlier in the period.

The Bruins get back to action on Thursday as they play host to the Anaheim Ducks. The puck is set to drop at 7pm.