Boston Bruins: Upcoming road trip presents a big challenge

The Boston Bruins face some big tests on this four-game road trip. After the game in Ottawa, Boston takes on three playoff teams.

The Boston Bruins travel to Ottawa Monday night to take on the Senators. This game marks the start of a four-game road trip for the Bruins.

After the matchup with Ottawa, Boston has a day off before a tough back-to-back with Washington and Tampa Bay. Then, the Bruins conclude the trip Saturday against Florida.

Washington, Tampa Bay, and Florida are all playoff teams, so this road trip certainly presents a big challenge for the Bruins.

Bruins cannot overlook the Senators

First, let’s not discount the Senators. The Bruins handled them twice already this season, but Ottawa is by no means a bad team. In fact, the Senators continue to exceed expectations, which certainly weren’t high at the start of the season.

Boston’s forwards need to step up in Ottawa to leave with a victory. We need to see more offense than we did Satuday against the Avalanche.

Capitals, Lightning, and Panthers are true tests for the Bruins

That said, the true tests of the road trip happen in the next three games. Like we mentioned before, all three opponents are in playoff spots right now. Not only that, each team already defeated Boston this year.

What stands out with each team is the offense. Washington, Tampa, and Florida all have top-10 offenses in terms of goals scored. Safe to say Boston’s defense and goaltending will need to be up to the task night in and night out.

The Capitals always give the Bruins fits, especially at home in Washington. Boston will need to ready from the jump for the league’s leading offense. If not, this could be a long night, as the Capitals are 14-1-3 when they score first.

Then, the Bruins head down to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning the next night. The Lightning are only sixth in the Atlantic, but nobody can question their talent. This game will be extra-difficult since it’s on a back-to-back. Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak need to step up.

The final game of the road trip may not seem as difficult as the middle two, but that’s not really the case. The Panthers currently are only behind the Bruins in the Atlantic standings.

Florida, as you probably remember, came back from a four-goal deficit to beat Boston in overtime a few weeks back. The Bruins should expect another difficult matchup to conclude the trip.

The Bruins clean up at home; last Saturday was only the first regulation loss this season at TD Garden. However, great teams need to play well on the road as well.

We’ll learn a lot about the Bruins over these next four games. This is really the first time this year they’ll face any type of adversity from game to game. If they battle and emerge with more than four points total, consider that an overall victory.