Following an outstanding showing against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Boston Bruins start the week with a two-game series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While this Penguins team has lost a step since their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, they can compete with the best in the league on any given night.
With both teams sitting in the top half of the Eastern Division, this series will be another early test for the Bruins to show their meddle and see where they stack up among the Eastern Division’s best.
If the Bruins are going to beat the Penguins, here are three key factors that will contribute to their success.
3. The Boston Bruins will need to slow down the dynamic duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The Bruins defensive corps will need to bring their best effort in order to slow down a potent Pittsburgh Penguins offense. The Penguins offense is led by perennial all-star Sidney Crosby.
Through the first six games of the season, Crosby has started on a torrid pace and leads the team with three goals and seven points while logging almost 20 minutes of ice time per game.
While Crosby draws most of the attention, second line center Evgeni Malkin is just as talented. Malkin has started a little slower, with only one goal and one assist thus far, but he can get hot quickly and is always a danger whenever the puck is on his stick.
In years past, Zdeno Chara would typically draw most of the ice time against Crosby in order to minimize his ability on the offensive end and they would trust the other two defensive pairings to keep Malkin in check. With Chara having left for Washington this offseason, it will be interesting to see which Bruins defensive pairing will be drawing the matchup with Crosby.
It’s likely that they will turn to Brandon Carlo due to his strong defensive acumen, but a physical presence like Kevan Miller might be an attractive option to slow down the offensive attack.