Avalanche Coach Patrick Roy Wary of Bruins’ Winning Streak
By Duncan Day
Jan 27, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy leaves the bench after his team defeats the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Avalanche defeated the Stars 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Bruins’ Win Streak Not Necessarily Invincible
Since the Boston Bruins have been skating exceptionally well in the past month, the Colorado Avalanche may succumb to some self-doubt when examining the Bruins prowess and current 10-game winning streak.
According to CBSSports.com, after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy acknowledged the fact that his squad played decently against the Jets. Nonetheless, he implied that the Bruins will present a challenge necessitating true preparation.
"“We were not trying to find excuses. We haven’t done that all year,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We just wanted to make sure we had a good start, and we did. We scored on our first shift. I thought our guys had good legs. We need to be ready for the Bruins on Friday night.”"
The B’s are set to confront the Avalanche tomorrow night at the Pepsi Center in Denver, and Roy probably isn’t the only coach in the NHL who would want his crew to understand and maybe slightly fear the Bruins’ domination.
After all, the Montreal Canadiens overpowered the Avs 6-3 in Canada, and Roy is currently stumbling on a two-game losing streak.
The Avalanche, however, are slotted nicely in the Western Conference standings at 5th place–a massive 12-point gap between their spot and the 6th place Los Angeles Kings.
In other words, the Bruins should be wary of the Avs having almost nothing to lose and displaying adept, physically-strong centers Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Paul Stastny and Ryan O’Reilly.
Each tallying no less than 20 goals or 28 assists, these forwards have anchored the Avalanches’ scoring capabilities and proved themselves to be quality players day in, day out.
The Avalanche, as of late, have defended poorly, enabling elevens goals against in the past two games.
Both of these competitions were on the road, though. Coming back to a lively crowd in Denver, a fan base that hasn’t seen the Avs appear in postseason action since 2008, should strengthen their team’s morale and direct negative energy towards the Bruins.
Overall, this match will be one of the toughest victories for the red-hot Bruins during their expanding spell. Roy shouldn’t feel extremely threatened by the B’s.