Boston Bruins Weekly Predictions: Busy Road Trip
Including their most recent back to back games against the New Jersey Devils and the Ottawa Senators, the Boston Bruins will have played six games in only nine nights after they play against the Toronto Maple Leafs this Saturday. With the exception of the Toronto matchup, all of those games are on the road.
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With the amount of injuries and call ups the Bruins have had to make in January, a long road trip might actually be a blessing in disguise. Road trips allow the team to stay closer together prior to and after games which will give the new members a chance to get acquainted with all of their teammates and feel more comfortable as a whole. With three of a possible four points so far on this road trip, the Boston Bruins will look to extend their point streak and hopefully develop a winning streak as well.
Bruins v Rangers
The Bruins head into New York after suffering an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. Brad Marchand made his return to the lineup, but it was not enough. The Rangers have an even better team than Ottawa and arguably the best goalie in the world behind them. I expect that Henrik Lundqvist will get the start against the Bruins with Tuukka Rask taking him on.
Look for there to be many scoring chances in this game as both defense groups have offensive minded players. This leads to more players lingering in the attacking zone which usually results in more scoring opportunities and turn overs. However, with these goalies in net, lots of scoring chances might not mean lots of goals. I will predict a 3 to 2 victory for the New York Rangers.
Bruins v Flyers
The Bruins will show lots of upside in their game against the New York Rangers, but it will not pay off until they go up against a lesser team. Enter the Philadelphia Flyers. I assume that coach Julien will be desperate for a win at this point and will put Tuukka Rask in for a second game. Rask will take this game over, frustrating the Flyers offense. The Bruins will not dominate this game, but they will play well enough to take it 3 to 1.
Puck Prose
Bruins v Sabres
For the sake of pride, this will be a game that the Bruins must win. I believe that they will hit the ice with this mentality. I truly feel that every single game we watch this week will be good ones from Boston, but this will be the game where the Bruins really show off their competitiveness and drive. Jonas Gustavsson will get the start for this game, giving Rask a night off in preparation for Saturday’s return home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gustavsson will let in a couple, but the Bruins will have four different goal scorers this night with 5 to 2 being the final.
Bruins v Maple Leafs
This game will see the Boston Bruins returning to TD Garden. Whether they are on a winning streak, like I think they will be, or not, a welcoming home crowd will be enough to get them through this game. Toronto has the coaching and ability to make any game against any team interesting. It will be the Bruins job to keep it simple and controlled. I expect the Bruins to take the lead early and stick with it. The Leafs will try to respond, but those risks will lead to more Bruins goals than Leafs goals. The night will end with the Boston Bruins winning the game 4 to 2 after scoring an empty net goal.
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The hope is that we will see another Boston Bruins hot streak like we did in early to mid December. January has not started as well as anyone would have hoped but I believe that this road trip will be the beginning of something great. This team is good and most teams and fans outside of Boston are beginning to notice. Whether they will make the playoffs this year or not still remains a debatable topic, but, at this point in the season, the team itself is certainly good enough to.
Next: Claude Julien Coaches 900th Game
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