Offensive struggles? What offensive struggles?

The Bruins put more goals on the board last night than they did in the entire month of February - well, that's how it seems - exploding for a 5-1 win in Philadelphia that showed they still have a little spunk in them. The big winner of the day was Patrice Bergeron, moved onto the first line after Marc Savard's injury (which they now confirm is probably season-ending), with a goal and two assists. The B's had a 2-1 lead until late in the second, when Bergeron and David Krejci scored 46 seconds apart to leave the Flyers with nothing left to do except try to start a fight. As seen here, Dan Carcillo had the will to start something, but little to back it up except for a wispy mustache.

So what caused the offensive explosion? It might have been the closed-door meeting that the team had with GM Peter Chiarelli before the game. Blake Wheeler didn't want to go into specifics, but said, "What I can say is that everyone was inspired. He touched on the things that everybody has to take care of. Hearing it from him, it definitely lights a fire." We're left to wonder what motivational tools might be in Chiarelli's repertoire.

It was probably written before the game, but we still note with interest Steve Buckley's column about the heart of the Bruins, where he suggests that since they're honoring the gritty 1970 team before the Pittsburgh game next week, they might want to decapitate Matt Cooke while they're at it. He does say they shouldn't take it out on Crosby, but we doubt the fans at the Garden will agree.

We'll admit, the Patriots aren't what they used to be, but we still have to dust off the "Bad Career Move" notebook with the news that tight end Benjamin Watson has joined the Cleveland Browns. Um. Good luck, Ben.

John Lackey threw three strong innings, and old friend Jason Bay went 0-for-2 as the Sox beat the Mets in Grapefruit League action. Bay hasn't gotten hurt yet, which makes us wonder if he really feels comfortable in the Mets organization.

And if you're still able to read anything about the Celtics without your vision going blurry and showing other signs of PTSD, we recommend Chris Forsberg's column on ESPN, where he has some suggestions for how Doc can shake the team out of its winterlong stupor.

Filed in Sports and tagged Benjamin Watson, Blake Wheeler, Celtics, Jason Bay, Patrice Bergeron, Peter Chiarelli, Red Sox, sports redux, sportsredux

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