Bruins head to California for first road trip of the season
After successfully capturing wins in their first two games of the season, the Boston Bruins are headed to California for their first road trip of the season.
The Bruins’ first win of the season they took handedly by a score of 3-1 over the Chicago Blackhawks, and the second one came thanks to a penalty shot in the third period off the stick of David Pastrnak – giving them a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Serving up a spaghetti snipe 🍝 pic.twitter.com/zvGYFUMLGh
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 15, 2023
In a typical season, Boston would take their California trip midway through the season, but this year the Bruins head to California early.
In fact, they will be playing the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center at San Jose on Thursday, which will be followed up by a trip to Los Angeles where they take on the Kings at the Crytpo.com Arena. Finally, they conclude the California trip with a trip to Anaheim where they will take on the Ducks at the Honda Center.
Following the trip to the Golden State, they finish the trip in Chicago with a rematch with the Blackhawks and finish off that season series.
Let’s take a look at each game coming up. Each team’s record is as of today.
Game 1 – Bruins (2-0-0) vs. Sharks (0-2-1)
Boston comes in as heavy favorites to beat the Sharks on Thursday. San Jose has yet to win a game after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Opening Night, falling 2-1 in the shootout to the Colorado Avalanche, and falling on Tuesday to the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3.
This gives them a 5-12 goals for/against differential. Definitely not a good look. For the Bruins, they come in with a 6-3 goals for/against differential.
The Sharks will come at the Bruins with an attack of Tomas Hertl, Mike Hoffman, and Anthony Duclair (formerly of the Florida Panthers), but what’s unknown right now is their goalie situation.
While MacKenzie Blackwood has started two out of their three games, he has also allowed eight of their 12 goals. On the other end of things, Kaapo Kahkonen has only allowed four goals in one game.
Prediction: Bruins 4, Sharks 1
Game 2 – Bruins (2-0-0) vs. Kings (1-1-1)
Saturday’s game is another where Boston comes in as a cautious positive. It’s entirely possible they come out with a very tight victory here, but it’s also possible they come out with a loss at the same time.
Last season when the Kings came to town, the Bruins took the loss in overtime and that was with Pheonix Copley in net. Los Angeles now has a choice to make: do they go with the goalie that won the game last year or the more experienced goalie in Cam Talbot?
So far it’s Trevor Moore leading the way with four points (3 g, 1 a). Anze Kopitar is right up there as well, with four points as well, but has two goals and two assists.
Talbot has played more this season, and has the experience with facing Boston in his time with the Ottawa Senators, and Philadelphia Flyers.
Prediction: Kings 3, Bruins 2 (SO)
Game 3 – Bruins (2-0-0) vs. Ducks (1-1-0)
No insults here, but this is probably the most winnable game in the California trip. The Ducks sit at 1-1 and have had an up and down start to the season thus far.
In their first game of the season they fell to the Golden Knights on the road, and in the second game they promptly defeated the Carolina 6-3. The Ducks are led in scoring by former-Bruin Frank Vatrano who has three goals thus far.
One player to look out for in this game is Leo Carlsson, the second-overall pick in this past year’s draft. Carlsson has yet to play in the regular season yet, but maybe he’ll make his debut on Sunday… Just maybe…
Out of Lukas Dostal and John Gibson, it really remains to be seen who Anaheim will with in net. It’s experience against the Bruins vs. who has more wins this season.
Prediction: Bruins 5, Ducks 3