One team that should be looking forward to the three-day NHL holiday break it's the Boston Bruins. They stumbled into the break going 1-3-1 on a five-game homestand, which included losing the last four games after opening it with a win over the Utah Mammoth.
The four losses dropped the Black and Gold out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot as they stare at a five-game post-holiday road trip beginning on Saturday night in Western New York against the suddenly surging Buffalo Sabres, winners of seven straight.
As expected, the recent losing streak has dropped the Bruins in some of the most recent NHL power rankings, including by CBS Sports.
CBS Sports drops Bruins in latest NHL power rankings
Austin Nivison of CBS Sports released his latest NHL power rankings, and he dropped the Bruins six spots. He also noted what head coach Marco Sturm needs more of going forward.
"For the most part, the Bruins have been able to walk a narrow path to success with David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie carrying the offense and Jeremy Swayman playing well in goal. The final piece to that puzzle is getting elite defense from Charlie McAvoy,'' wrote Nivison.
McAvoy is back from his injury sustained from taking a puck to the face against the Montreal Canadiens back in November. Aside from McAvoy, Sturm, and the Bruins could also use more depth scoring and better play from their goaltending. They dropped from No. 11 in CBS Sports' latest rankings to No. 17 this week.
For reference, they also dropped on NHL.com's latest power rankings of the Super 16. They were No. 12 last week, but fell out of their rankings this week. Boston will be tested out of the gate on their upcoming road trip against the Sabres, who vaulted up nine spots amid their winning streak and are one spot ahead of the Black and Gold.