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Causeway gameday! Boston Bruins & the City of Brotherly Loss

By Chad Zimmermann

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 21: Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) peeks around Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) on the power play during a preseason game between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers on September 21, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Flyers 2-1 (OT). (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 21: Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) peeks around Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) on the power play during a preseason game between the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers on September 21, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Flyers 2-1 (OT). (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Bruins are coming off what could probably be deemed their best win of the season.  Their reward?  A trip to Philadelphia and a game with the struggling Flyers.

Is Tuukka Rask back?  This is definitely the question on any Boston Bruins fan’s mind right now.  Coming off a fairly solid performance against the Eastern Conference leading Tampa Bay Lightning, where the Bruins escaped a late rush, and scored a 3-2 victory.  Rask was only forced to make 19 saves, meaning the team played much better in front of him than in games past.

Boston Bruins
BOSTON – FEBRUARY 8: Boston Bruins goalies Tuukka Rask, left, and Anton Khudobin take a break during a practice with new coach Bruce Cassidy at Warrior Arena in Boston on Feb. 8, 2017. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

There had been significant rumblings of a goalie controversy in Boston.  Anton Khudobin had been playing lights out, backstopping a 4 game win streak.  Rask ended that streak in a loss to the Edmonton Oilers.  Rather than ride the hot hand, head coach Bruce Cassidy decided it was better to try to get his #1 goaltender back on track.  If Tuukka gets going again, he’ll look like a genius.  If not, hopefully Khudobin will still have the hot hand.

The team heads to Philadelphia today to take on the Flyers…or should I say the FLLLLLLLLLyers.  Yes, count ’em, that nine L’s.  They represent the nine consecutive losses the Flyers have suffered.  Five of those were in overtime or in shootouts, so they’ve collect 5 points.  But still, on a team featuring players like Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Shayne Gostisbehere, 9 straight losses and last place in the Metropolitan Division is crazy.

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Schedule

In a game I should be at, the Bruins will be playing at 1:00 pm today at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA.  The game will be televised locally on NESN, and 98.5 The Sports Hub for radio listeners.

What to watch for

The team is finally starting to get close to full strength again.  David Krejci and Anders Bjork have been labeled as “maybes” for today’s game.  The Bruins find themselves one point out of a playoff spot (11-8-4, 26 points), with several games in hand over many of the teams in front of them.  And that has been done with a team comprised of many AHL players on the NHL roster.  When this team gets to full strength, I think they can make some noise.

The goalies will be splitting the next two games according to Cassidy.  Rask will be starting in net today, hoping to ride the momentum from Wednesday night’s win.  Khudobin will then take the crease next week in Nashville.  If Rask pulls a Stella and gets his groove back, and Khudobin can be an above-average back-up, they could be a formidable duo.

Next: No goalie controversy in Boston

The Flyers top line of Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek is one of the best lines in the NHL.  They have combined for 84 points in 25 games, and they are all averaging more than a point per game.  The problem?  That is where all of their scoring is coming from.  They have scored 32 of the teams 70 goals, or 45%.  They Flyers need secondary scoring if they want to compete.  And basically, if the Bruins can shut down the top line, perhaps it could be 10 losses in a row for Philly.

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