Boston Bruins: Three questions to answer this week
Here some important things to look for this week with the Boston Bruins.
The Boston Bruins ended the week with an overtime loss Saturday night to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins were the better team for long stretches of the game, but they were unable to secure the two points.
With the OT loss, the Bruins are now 5-1-2 through the first eight games of the season.
The Bruins look forward to some big matchups this week. They’ll try to get revenge on the Maple Leafs Tuesday night back in Boston. Then, the Bruins face St. Louis on Saturday for the first time since last season’s devastating Game 7 loss.
On Sunday, Boston heads to New York to take on the new-look Rangers for the first time this season.
The Bruins face some important questions this week that should tell us a lot more about their prospects this season.
How long will David Krejci remain out of the lineup?
The Bruins played the last two games without David Krejci in the lineup. Krejci picked up an injury last Monday in the game against Anaheim.
Krejci skated with the team last week, but he wasn’t healthy enough for game action. The Bruins hope to get him back with some tough games coming up.
Look, Krejci hasn’t been great this year; he only has one assist in five games. But, he remains a crucial piece for the Boston Bruins because he’s the key when it comes to secondary scoring.
Boston’s top line scored 15 of the team’s 22 goals so far this season. That’s almost 70%. David Pastrnak alone has nine goals.
This type of production, even with a player as talented as Pastrnak, isn’t sustainable. The top line surely can’t average almost two goals per game for an entire season!
As such, if the Bruins want to go far this year, they need consistent production from their secondary scorers. That means the Bruins need more than anything to get Krejci healthy.
Hopefully Krejci suits up for the big games against Toronto and St. Louis. But, he should only play if he’s 100% healthy. The Bruins can’t risk a season where Krejci can’t find consistency.
Will Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen pick up where they left off?
One thing that stood out in the game against Toronto is that the Boston Bruins finally had a forward not on the top line score a goal. In fact, they had two!
Both Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen got on the scoresheet versus the Maple Leafs. DeBrusk put the Bruins on the board in the first, and Heinen scored a power play in the second.
The certainly hope that DeBrusk and Heinen can keep it up not only for this week, but for the entire season.
The Bruins had high expectations for DeBrusk this season after he had 27 goals last year. Most had him penciled in for at least 30 this year.
DeBrusk unfortunately got off to a really cold start this season, so it was great to see him get his first goal against Toronto. The goal came off a nice assist from Charlie Coyle, who’ll likely be DeBrusk’s center again if Krejci is out.
Let’s hope DeBrusk build off his game against Toronto and continues to find the back of the net. He should be Boston’s best goal scorer not on the first line.
The Bruins also look to get more production out of Heinen. He started the season on the right foot with a goal in the opener against Dallas. After that, he didn’t score again until the game number eight in Toronto.
Heinen is a solid player who wins puck battles and contributes defensively, but the Bruins need to him to produce some offense. He did so against Toronto, so we’ll see if Heinen can continue.
How will the Bruins respond to their matchup with the Blues?
Let’s face it: last year’s Game 7 loss to the Blues still stings. Boston Bruins players have even said as much. So, how will the players respond when the Blues come back to town on Saturday night?
Look back to when the Canucks visited Boston in 2012 for the first time after their Cup Final lost. The Canucks ultimately won that game, but not without a ton of on-ice fireworks. Some of the Canucks players lost their cool, and it was clear they weren’t over the previous year’s loss.
Fast forward to now, and the Canucks still haven’t fully recovered from the Cup loss. That first game back in Boston was a sign of what was to come.
The Boston Bruins can’t let anything like this happen when they play St. Louis on Saturday. They can’t get stuck in the past; instead, they need to focus on the present. A strong game against the Blues will help Boston turn the page and move on.
There will definitely be a lot of emotion in the arena when the puck drops. Hopefully the Bruins will use it to their advantage and come out with a win.
The result of game won’t change what happened last year, but the Bruins can still use it as a springboard for this season.
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