What a gutsy win against the Canadiens. Seriously, it was gutsy. The Bruins did not play well against the Canadiens and no one can really blame them. It’s Montreal…a bad Montreal at that. So the Bruins were lackluster against the Habs, they still came away with 2 points. That’s what this part of the season is about. It’s about taking those grinding-type of games and coming away with 2 points. The win puts the Bruins 1 point behind the New York Rangers for first place in the Eastern Conference and still keeps Ottawa at bay (who beat the Rangers 3-0 on Thursday). Ottawa has 54 points while Boston has 57, but Ottawa has also played 5 more games than Boston (45 to 40).
If you look at the standings, Carolina isn’t making the playoffs anytime soon. The Canes are currently sitting in 14th in the East at 15-24-7. It’s surprising that they shut out the Rangers on Thursday given how poor this team has played. In their last 10 games though they’re over .500 at 5-4-1. The team has also been without their superstar young gun Jeff Skinner, who has only played 30 games this season but is still third on the team in total points. The good news for Hurricanes fans is that Skinner has been cleared for contact in practice, which could indicate that his injury is healing quite nicely.
On the Bruins side of things, well, it’s the usual course. The Bruins are without Brad Marchand again due to his suspension but the team is currently 2-0. I guess if you want a player suspended, it’s during these stretch of games where they play one team that is currently in the playoffs (Florida Panthers). Maybe the Canucks plan to get Marchand suspended didn’t work out as well as they thought. Lets get a guy suspended for 5 games where the Bruins could potentially go 5-0 because they only are playing one competent hockey team.
Sign me up.
Anyways, stat wise the Bruins are clicking. David Krejci is on a 10 game point streak, a career best, and his linemates are benefiting from it. Milan Lucic scored his 15th goal of the season last night. Nathan Horton is now 4th on the team in goals with 14 and is starting to get his game back after a bumpy start. Boston is 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and their road record is 12-4-0, which is easily tops in the NHL.
Honestly, I don’t know what else to say. The Bruins are going up against the 14th placed Hurricanes. They should be able to handle them pretty well. I’m sure the Rangers felt the same way though and they were shutout. If the Bruins show up and play like they did against the Canadiens, they’re going to lose. You can’t mindlessly skate through these games and expect to win.
After the jump…jump!...
Projected Lines
Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Nathan Horton
Beniot Pouliot – Patrice Bergeron – Tyler Seguin
Jordan Caron – Chris Kelly – Rich Peverley
Danny Paille – Greg Campbell – Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara – Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg – Andrew Ference
Adam McQuaid – Joe Corvo
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Do You Know Your Enemy?
Media
Puck Drop: 7pm EST
TV: NESN
Radio: 100.7 WZLX
Online Feeds: Here
Game Day Video
34 seconds into the video, Andrew Ference with plants Jeff Skinner with a textbook DDT.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ4vtvYfG2A&w=640&h=360]
LETS GO BRUINS!
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