Boston Bruins: California Dreaming
The Boston Bruins have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now. They’re 7-1-2 in their last ten games, and they’ve proven that they can take on some of the finest teams in the league, and beat them.
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While the Bruins have been strong on the road, they’ve had their troubles against the California teams. The Bruins have been outscored by a wide margin against California teams. The Ducks, Sharks and Kings have had their way with the B’s so far outscoring the Black and Gold 20-8. Now the Bruins have to buckle down and play some of their best hockey of the season if they want to keep their place in the standings.
“Any time you get beaten by teams like we did by those three California teams, it’s going to be some games that we want to get a little revenge and payback,” said Bruins forward (and former Anaheim Duck) Matt Beleskey. “Hopefully we’re ready for that challenge.”
The Bruins have gotten better as the season has gone along. They’ve gone from a sloppy joke to a serious playoff contender. If they want to maintain that momentum (not to mention shut up the critics), they’ll have to have a great road trip out West. The Western Conference has been the stronger side these last few seasons, and a good showing in California would prove there are Eastern teams just as solid as the West.
The Bruins themselves know what they’ve done so well. They’re also hungry for success and want to keep the momentum going for the B’s.
“I’m sure there’s a reason behind [the Bruins’ surge],” Zdeno Chara said. “You want to keep getting points. You want to keep climbing up, but I think the main thing was that the focus was not, and still is not, necessarily how many points we’re going to have at the end of the night but what the performance is going to be like. [The focus] is how we’re going to be improving our game and really focusing on our effort and plays away from the puck, you know, along the boards, you know, winning the battles, races and so on. That’s been the main focus for us.”