The weekend California sweep proves the Bruins are back
If there was any doubt that the Boston Bruins would come back with a vengeance this year after being booted from the playoffs by the Florida Panthers, this past week’s sweep, with an emphasis on the weekend, should put all of that talk to bed.
After defeating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 to start the road trip, the Bruins continued on their torrid pace to start the season – defeating the Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks on back-to-back nights by a combined score of 7-3.
On Saturday against the Kings, David Pastrnak continued his white hot start to the season scoring a goal and racking up two assists, making him the first Boston player in over 20 years to have a goal in the first four games of the season.
Speaking of the first four games of the season, Brad Marchand extended his points total to four games in a row as well, as he collected two goals of his own and assisted on Pastrnak’s opening tally.
To go along with Marchand’s two goals, Morgan Geekie picked up his first tally with the Bruins with the helpers coming two former Los Angeles players in Milan Lucic and Derek Forbort.
On Sunday night, however, one particular Boston player truly proved his mettle: Matthew Poitras.
Throughout his first four NHL games, Poitras had yet to actually score a goal of his own, and had not picked up a point since the first game of the season against Chicago. The 19-year-old decided it was about time when he put the Bruins on the scoreboard at the 6:29 mark in the third period with his first NHL goal.
The teenage phenom put Boston up for good with his second goal just under four minutes later. The goal would serve as the game-winner, as Marchand tapped-in an empty-net goal later in the period to put the final nail on the Ducks’ coffin.
The two goals for Poitras, just about cemented his place in Boston past the nine game mark, at least in this reporters mind, but it remains to be seen what they do.
The Bruins have one game left on their road trip and it’s a rematch of the first game of the season against the Blackhawks, a game they took 3-1. Puck drop is at 8:30 p.m. EST televised nationally on ESPN/ESPN+ and locally on NESN.