It’s official, the Boston Bruins have a winning streak for this first time this season. The team seeks to make it three games tonight in New Jersey.
I don’t think anyone would have thought this is the path the Boston Bruins would be on this season. It took until late November for the team to win back-to-back games. The team has been decimated by injuries. And the goaltending situation is…unsettled to say the least.
Despite that, the Bruins are coming off an incredibly successful week. Despite going 2-1-0, the Bruins outplayed all three of their opponents, all of which are incredibly solid teams. The Ducks were able to take advantage of the disappointing play of Tuukka Rask, and give the Bruins their only loss of the three game California trip. Anton Khudobin then backstopped the team to wins against the Kings and the Sharks.
The question going into today, is who will be the Bruins starting goalie. More on that later. But the Metropolitan Division leading New Jersey Devils are next on the docket. Taylor Hall and the boys are probably one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season. Considering they have two legitimate Calder candidates in Nico Hischier and Will Butcher, they could be interesting to watch.
Schedule
The Bruins play the New Jersey Devils for the first time this season at the Rock. The game taking place at the Prudential Center will start at 7:00 pm tonight. The game will be broadcast on NESN and the audio version can be listened to on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
What to watch for
Oh boy, what’s a head coach to do? I personally would not want to be in Bruce Cassidy’s shoes right now. Do you start the underperforming Tuukka Rask, knowing what he’s capable of? Or do you start the hot-handed Anton Khudobin, knowing he’s never truly excelled as a starting goalie in the league.
With a team that desperately needs points, especially while so much of the team is on injured reserve, I think you have to go with the hot hand in Dobby. If Rask can somehow get his game back, and the team gets healthy, perhaps the Bruins can make some noise this season. But to make noise in the Spring, you need to be getting points in November and December.
Next: Predicting the Bruins next recall
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the team will be without Brad Marchand and Torey Krug for tonight’s game. The players have been on the ice in non-contact jerseys in practice. However, Ryan Spooner is getting closer and closer to a return. The team could certainly use some veteran leadership back.