Boston Bruins Weekly Predictions: Eastern Dominance

The longest road trip of the season for the Boston Bruins is over, but the schedule remains rather relentless. Since their game against the Los Angeles Kings on February 9th, the Bruins have not had two days off in between games. In fact, the next time they will experience a two day break will not be until March 13th and 14th. That is a busy month of hockey. In order for the Bruins to remain as competitive as they currently are, they will really need to dig deep in these upcoming games.

This week involves four games, all featuring Eastern Conference foes who, with the exception of the Columbus Blue Jackets are all in the playoff race. The Bruins have a chance to really put some distance between themselves and these teams, along with other Eastern Conference opponents.

Bruins v Blue Jackets

After their character win over the Dallas Stars, it would be unfortunate if the Boston Bruins could not grab another victory in Columbus. The Blue Jackets forced the Bruins to overtime last week, but this time, I feel that the Bruins will be more prepared and more confident in themselves. Look for Brett Connolly to have another productive game with his exceptional line mates helping his team to a 4 to 2 win.

Bruins v Penguins

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Pittsburgh is one of those teams that were pegged to make the playoffs at the beginning of the year. However, this season has shown many ups and downs and it remains uncertain to this day whether or not this team has what it takes to stay in the Metropolitan race. This game may have a playoff atmosphere to it, which would benefit the Bruins since they usually do fairly against the Penguins come playoff time.

The defensive system of the Boston Bruins takes away the scoring opportunities from the Penguins and holds them at a stalemate until they take too many risks leading to Bruins goals. Unfortunately, it has become common knowledge that Boston’s defense is not what it use to be, which could open this game up much like Saturday’s game against the Dallas Stars. Even so, I still see the Bruins taking this match up, with Tuukka Rask playing at the top of his game, with a final score of 3 to 1.

Bruins v Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are in a much more dire situation that Boston. Yes they are still in the playoff hunt, but they are behind the eight ball and have not shown enough consistency throughout the year to catch the other Eastern Conference teams Carolina will need a miracle run similar to the Ottawa Senators last year and it will need to start now.

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In all honesty, I do not see the Hurricanes making the playoffs thus year, but I do see them being a competitive force and we will see that in full effect against the Boston Bruins. Carolina is more desperate at this point and will simply outwork the Bruins and earn themselves a win for it. The Bruins will play well but will come up short in the third period losing 3 to 2 in regulation.

Bruins v Lightning

Not only are the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Bruins conference and division, but they are also currently holding the exact same point total of 70. While it looks like both teams are sitting comfortably in the standings, things can change rather quickly and both teams will go into this game knowing that the points earned could mean everything as far as who, or if, they will play in the playoffs. As much as I don’t want this to happen, this game will go into overtime, as many more will as we approach the end of the season. Tampa Bay will take the game during 3 on 3 play with the score ending at 3 to 2.

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Boston has a huge opportunity to push some challenging teams down in the playoff race. At the same time, these teams that they are playing have a chance to really hurt the Bruins and gain on them. Preventing other teams from gaining points is just as important as achieving your own and that notion will ring true more than ever for the Bruins this week. The Boston Bruins are going into a week with four games where points will be given out non stop. The only question is who will get them?

To make your predictions for this week’s games, post in the comment section below. For more access to all things Boston Bruins, follow 29Bruins on Twitter.