Boston Bruins

On the first day of the New Year, the NHL returns to its ice pond roots when the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins play in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park at 10 a.m. on Channel 4. Hockey on a baseball field -- slap shots off the Green Monster, center ice near second base, the Zamboni machine in the outfield. Will the Bruins wear red socks? It will be the NHL's third game played outdoors in the United States. Last year the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings met in Wrigley Field, and it was the most-viewed regular-season contest in 34 years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

With a minute left and Anaheim's first victory seemingly secure, Teemu Selanne turned to coach Randy Carlyle and asked: "Why is Corey Perry out there killing penalties?" By the time Selanne looked back at the ice, Perry had scored. "That's why he's out there killing penalties," Carlyle said after Perry's short-handed goal with 53 seconds remaining clinched the Ducks' 6-1 victory against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Selanne scored two goals 82 seconds apart in the second period to give the Ducks the lead, and Perry had two goals and an assist to help the Ducks pull away.

Mark Recchi and the Boston Bruins instead moved closer to giving the Carolina Hurricanes a different kind of knockout punch. Recchi had a goal and an assist, and the Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2, on Tuesday night to even the Eastern Conference semifinals and force a decisive Game 7. Marc Savard scored before leaving in the third period because of an apparent leg injury.

Tim Thomas stopped 19 shots for his first NHL playoff shutout to help the Boston Bruins keep their season going with a 4-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday. Phil Kessel scored twice, and Zdeno Chara gave Boston a big lift when he returned in the third period after leaving the ice in the second when he was slashed by Jussi Jokinen.

Former Montreal forward Michael Ryder scored twice and assisted on David Krejci's goal to help the Boston Bruins complete a four-game sweep of the Canadiens with a 4-1 victory Wednesday night at Montreal. Tim Thomas made 26 saves, and Phil Kessel also scored for Boston, which won the Eastern Conference quarterfinal for its first playoff series victory in 10 years.

Phil Kessel had two goals and an assist, and Zdeno Chara scored with 8:45 left to break a third-period tie and help lead the host Boston Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in the opener of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Tim Thomas stopped 26 shots for the Bruins, who are the top-seeded team in the East but haven't gotten out of the first round in a decade. Carey Price made 35 saves for Montreal.

Dustin Brown gave the Kings a comeback win and a boost in their bid to come from behind in the playoff race. Brown scored with 35 seconds left in overtime and the Kings beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2, on Thursday night as the struggling Eastern Conference leaders squandered a 2-0 lead. "It's a huge win for us," Brown said. "We've shown we could come back many times this year and this is just another one, but it just happened to be against one of the better teams in the league." Not lately.

Louisville ended up as the top team in the field, Kentucky won't sniff the bluegrass for the first time since 1991 and Arizona got up off the desert floor to extend its tournament streak to 25 consecutive years. Northern Iowa, you're in, but Florida, go take a seat next to Kentucky. Deep breath . . . UCLA, which has won 11 more national titles in basketball than USC, earned a higher seeding than the crosstown Trojans, No. 6 versus No.

Armand "Bep" Guidolin, 82, who was the youngest player to skate in a National Hockey League game, died Monday in a Barrie, Canada, hospital. The cause of death was not announced. A native of Thorold, Ontario, Guidolin was 16 years and 11 months old when he made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins on Nov. 12, 1942. The Bruins needed help because of the number of players serving in the military during World War II. Guidolin, a left-shooting left-winger, went on to play nine seasons in the NHL, recording 107 goals and 171 assists in 519 games with Boston, Detroit and Chicago.

Friday will mark 50 years to the day that a rangy black kid from Fredericton, New Brunswick, donned a Boston Bruins sweater and broke pro hockey's color barrier on a sheet of ice in Montreal. If you're lucky enough to catch 72-year-old Willie O'Ree telling stories during the festivities the NHL and the rest of the hockey community has planned to commemorate the occasion, listen closely. Turns out he's got another tale about overcoming adversity that might be even better. "That's one reason I feel blessed, " O'Ree said in a telephone interview from Boston, where he was to be honored before a game weekend game against the Rangers.