Canes in Boston to take on Bruins.
The Carolina Hurricanes are back at it tonight in Massachusetts to face off against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. The Canes have lost two of their last three games, conceding five goals in each of the contests. Pyotr Kochetkov seems to be getting closer to game action but newly acquired, Spencer Martin, may make his Canes debut this evening.
The host this evening has the second most points in the NHL right now with 67, only second to the Vancouver Canucks who have 68 with one more game played. Nothing out of the ordinary as the Bruins have been at the top of the league for the recent past.
More bad news for Carolina is that the Bruins have the best record at home and the Canes have struggled on the road with a 12-10-1 record this season.
For the Bruins, this season has been somewhat of a changing of the guard as Brad Marchand became the captaincy following Patrice Bergeron’s retirement. David Krejci also retired, in addition. In the past ten years, both have made significant contributions to the team, including the Stanley Cup victory.
With 30 goals and 67 points, David Pastrnak is still leading the way for the Bruins. For most players, this would be a terrific season, but Pastrnak still has the second half to play. The new captain has 44 points and 21 goals, as was previously reported. He can score as well as penetrate any opponent’s defense.
Centers Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle have provided solid secondary support to this forward group. Both play an all around style to the game while having 27 goals scored combined.
On defense, Charlie McAvoy leads the way with 6 goals and 30 points. Having missed some time with an injury, the Long Island native is shaking off the rust and anchoring the power play with 4 goals.
The backbone of the team is goaltending and that is plural. Boston has the best goaltending tandem with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. Swayman has played 26 games and Ullmark has 22 games played.
It is expected to be a low-scoring game given their combined 29 victories, 2.61 goals against average, and.918 save percentage.
The Canes will need to score quickly and play well in the offensive zone in order to calm the home crowd early. With Boston’s goalkeeper, it will be
crucial to have traffic in front of the net. The true test will be preventing the Bruins from scoring. Despite having his hands full, Martin will gain by having a much stronger defense in front of him than he did in Columbus.
Leave a Reply