Causeway Crowd
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Boston Bruins Causeway gameday! Penguin weather in the USA

By Chad Zimmermann

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 18: Boston Bruins Defenceman Charlie McAvoy (73) takes the shot on Pittsburgh Penguins Goalie Matt Murray (30). During the Boston Bruins game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 24, 2017 at TD Bank Garden in Boston, MA. (Photo by Michael Tureski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 18: Boston Bruins Defenceman Charlie McAvoy (73) takes the shot on Pittsburgh Penguins Goalie Matt Murray (30). During the Boston Bruins game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 24, 2017 at TD Bank Garden in Boston, MA. (Photo by Michael Tureski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Bruins are facing a lengthy layoff after tonight’s game.  Here’s hoping the momentum from last night’s thrashing can get them through this half of the back-to-back.

What an absolute trainwreck of a game last night…for the Carolina Hurricanes that is.  The Boston Bruins jumped on the ‘Canes and never let up.  Whenever the Bruins open up a two or three goal lead, fans have a reason to be skeptical as to how the game will end up.  But last night, the team never took their foot off the pedal.  It seems like they may have broken that bad habit.

In the 7-1 drubbing, the 1st line proved why they are one of the best lines in hockey.  Patrice Bergeron had five points (4-1–5), Brad Marchand had four assists, and David Pastrnak had three points (1-2–3).  Riley Nash, who we at Causeway Crowd have started to call an offensive dynamo, and rookie Jake DeBrusk scored the other two goals.

After last night’s game, the Bruins hopped on a plane to fly down to Pittsburgh to take on the two-time defending champion Penguins.  The Bruins and the Penguins have freaky-Fridayed from last season when it comes to the standings.  The Bruins currently sit at 23-10-4 (50 points) and are 2nd in the Atlantic.  The Pens are 21-19-3 (45 points), and are on the outside looking in of the playoff picture.  The teams met in November this year, and the Bruins squeaked out a 4-3 win, after giving up a lead.  See above commentary about letting up in games.

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Schedule

The game tonight at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA is scheduled for a 7:30 pm puck drop.  The game has been picked up by NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast nationally.  As if that was in doubt, considering the Penguins are playing.  I swear, if Pierre McGuirre is between the benches, I will be watching the game on mute.

What to watch for

Anton Khudobin started last night’s game and performing admirably, despite not really being challenged by the ‘Canes.  Head coach Bruce Cassidy had already announced that the two netminders, Khudobin and Tuukka Rask, would split the starts this weekend.  Tuukka has pretty solid career numbers against Pittsburgh, and they can be a handful offensively, so the decision makes sense.

I’m curious as to the “one question mark up front” for tonight’s game.  Not sure who that could possibly refer to.  The time on ice numbers were a bit skewed last night, given the beat-down, so third and fourth liners played a lot of minutes.

Next: Bruins are legitimate playoff contenders

In additional to the goaltending, the Bruins defense has recently been on fire.  The Bruins have only allowed 3+ goals four times since the start of December (15 games), all losses.  So basically, the key to wins for the Bruins?  Allowing less than 3 goals.

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