Boston Bruins: Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel are still bad news for the Bruins

The Boston Bruins welcome a slumping Arizona Coyotes outfit to TD Garden today. Despite their recent form, the likes of Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel should still be feared.

A few years back, the notion of both Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel willingly suiting up for the Arizona Coyotes would seem absurd. Yet here we are, the Boston Bruins are welcoming the 2010 first overall draft pick and our own fifth overall pick from way back in 2006 to town as Yotes players.

Taylor Hall is perhaps the player that needs to be zoned in on the most. In his last 15 games, he has 14 points and is currently on a four-game point streak.

By comparison, former Boston Bruins right winger and two-time Stanley Cup champion, Phil Kessel is a miserable 5 games without a point and eight since he last scored a goal. His current pace would see him hit just 45 points; the only year he scored less was his rookie one with the Bruins.

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Interestingly, given they have the elite left and right wingers available to them, the Coyotes opt to play them on separate lines rather than load up a top line. When you look at their line-mates, nobody else’s name really jumps off the page though, to be honest.

Limiting Hall’s line is likely to fall on the duo of Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy, especially with Brandon Carlo missing due to personal reasons. McAvoy will no doubt be tasked with keeping up with Hall, as Chara lacks that burst of pace these days.

Preventing Kessel from getting a look-in could well fall on the combination of Torey Krug and John Moore. This will certainly be a test for Moore, who hasn’t seen ice-time since prior to the All-Star break.

With his recent play, it wouldn’t be altogether surprising to see Jeremy Lauzon spend some time defending Kessel’s line too. He’s shown to be an effective young defenseman in recent games and will seek to further stake a claim to Moore’s spot on the roster.

Given Hall and Kessel are both only two seasons removed from 93 and 92 point years respectively, they are always going to be a threat, wherever they’re playing. It’s down to the Boston Bruins defensive group to step up today and ensure that they both get limited looks on Tuukka Rask.

We don’t want to be a slump breaking team for Kessel, while also wanting to be the team that ends Taylor Hall’s recent streak.

The Arizona Coyotes know how to play, on occasion; they very recently toppled the Edmonton Oilers 3-0, but equally they are coming into Boston off the back of a 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s anyone’s guess which version of them shows up really.

Another game like the past five would be ideal for the Boston Bruins; it’d cement our position atop the standings and act as a reminder to the rest of the league that star power counts for nothing against the well-oiled machine that is the Bruins.