After a disappointing 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins are hitting the road for a key three-game road trip, which begins on Saturday afternoon against the Washington Capitals.
Boston will begin the trip one point behind the Detroit Red Wings, who are dealing with injuries, for the first wild-card spot and one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. It's no secret that the Bruins have struggled away from the TD Garden, and it might end up costing them a Stanley Cup Playoff berth.
“We have good sequences on the road. In the Pittsburgh game, for example, we were playing well, and then we just made mistakes and let the teams get back into the game. It’s not like we’re not playing good hockey, it’s just more mistakes,” David Pastrnak said. “I think dial in, focus more on the details for a full 60, 65 minutes, whatever it takes. We have a big road trip coming up, and we have to get on a winning track on the road.”
After playing the Capitals, the Black and Gold will visit the New Jersey Devils on Monday night before heading to Canada to play the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Six valuable points are up for grabs for Boston.
Bruins power play continues to falter
Since returning from the Olympic break, the Bruins' power play has been, well, not good. Once a strong point earlier this year, it is just 4 for-28 since the break, and it really let them down in their losses. The penalty kill has been outstanding, but the power play has been an issue the last couple of weeks.
"Since the break right, we haven't been clicking honestly,'' said Pastrnak. "We have to turn it around. It's a big part of our game. We won so many games because of it before the break and we know we need to be better. We have to get the team the momentum, and we are all proud guys, so we know we need to be better for the group, and hopefully turn it around on this road trip.”
After losing to the Sharks, head coach Marco Sturm didn't sound like someone who was pleased with the effort while on the man advantage.
“More on the outside than inside,” Sturm said. “We wanted to be more inside today. We did it once or twice, and that’s about it. So again, that’s something we have to be better at, because that’s a big part of our game, our power play. We need them big time. Going back to our best players, right? Those guys just have to get it done.”
Former Bruins forward recalled by Oilers
When the Bruins traded Trent Fredric to the Edmonton Oilers last season as part of a three-team trade that also included the New Jersey Devils, also going to the two-time Western Conference champs was forward Max Jones. He ended up playing in 19 games in the regular season for Edmonton with a goal and two points.
He's back in the NHL after the Oilers recalled him from the American Hockey League (AHL) on Friday when they placed Colton Dach on long-term injured reserve.