The NHL season is in full swing and action around the league is heating up. Teams are now realizing the moves they have to make going down the stretch in order to fight for Lord Stanley’s glory.
Claude Julien and the Boston Bruins have put in the work to get themselves in a prime position to have a high seed going into the playoffs. The B’s have notched wins in five of their last eight games, improving to 32-15-3 (67 points) on the season. That record puts them in first amongst those in the Atlantic Division, trailing the high-powered offense of Pittsburgh by seven points for rights to the conference.
The system is really starting to click for this year’s team as they learn to cope with the loss of their second-best defenseman, Dennis Seidenberg. The penalty kill for the Bruins has become derailed as of late, dropping them out of the top 10 in terms of best penalty killing teams in the league. The team is now starting to come together and kill penalties in the fashion that they are used to, always finishing amongst the best short-handed teams in the NHL.
Surprisingly enough, the power play has improved just as much, if not more than the P.K. Since the devastating concussion Marc Savard suffered in the year he inked a seven-year contract, the power play has been short of impressive. We all remember how incredible the drought was during the Stanley Cup run in which the Bruins failed to score time and time again on the one man advantage.
Skilled players such as David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Zdeno Chara have put the Bruins in sixth place in the Eastern Conference on the power play, and eighth overall in the NHL. This may be shocking for Bruins fans, but having the 7 foot tall Zdeno Chara patrolling the crease certainly cannot hurt your chances. In fact, Chara leads all Bruins in power-play goals with eight.
In matinée action this past Sunday, the Bruins took part in a Stanley Cup Finals rematch with the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. After going back and forth through three periods, the Bruins found themselves tied at two-a-piece with the defending champs. Brad Marchand led the way with two goals in regulation, but the Bruins failed to convert in overtime with Gregory Campbell missing an open net in overtime. The high-skill of Chicago’s forwards proved to be too much as Patrick Kane tallied the shootout winner.
The B’s flew home the next day to dress in the alternate black out jerseys they often wear on afternoon home games. This time the B’s took on the Los Angles Kings, who recently put up four goals in a victory at the Staples Center. This time the Bruins would get out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by a red-hot Brad Marchand and a power play goal off the stick of Torey Krug. The kings would score the next two goals to even things up. But just 18 seconds after, the Kings did tie it in the third; Marchand once again struck and netted the game-winner for the Bruins.
After the Martin Luther King Jr. day game, the Bruins had the week off until they took on the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. This game would be the third straight matinée game for the black and gold, which their record indicates, they don’t mind (6-1-1). Simply put, the Flyers didn’t show up for this one as the Bruins routed the Broad Street bullies 6-1. Chara and Iginla both buried two goals each, with Iginla tacking on two assists as well. The Bruins power play converted three times, improving their success as of late.
The next game would be one of revenge for the Bruins, as they were to face off against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum Tuesday night. Revenge was the name of this game as the Isles have taken the first two of three games on the schedule this year. This being the last matchup, the Bruins wanted to leave their mark. The Islanders have been playing well as of late with stars as John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. This would be a back and forth contest as seven goals were scored through the first two periods, with the Bruins never trailing, but never leading by a two goal margin. Heading into the third, the B’s had a goal advantage of one. 4-3 would be the score until Patrice Bergeron worked his tail off behind the net after a penalty kill, eventually getting the pass from the still on fire Marchand and knocking it off the post and in. After the Bergeron goal, Chara added another to extend the lead to 6-3, sealing up two points on the island.
The Bruins have a short three-game home stand, taking on the Panthers Tuesday, Hab’s Thursday, and Oilers Saturday. This TD Garden set will include the return of Tim Thomas, Andrew Ference, and the first match-up of the year on home soil against Montreal.
