High-flying Bruins face Flames, aim to feast during long homestand.
With a view of the top of the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins prepare for lots of home cooking during their NHL All-Star break.
Tuesday night marks the first game of a seven-game homestand for the Bruins, who lead the Calgary Flames by five points in the conference standings.
Boston is aware of the enormous challenge that awaits them over the final two months of the regular season and beyond, particularly after controlling the opposition en route to a Presidents’ Trophy before losing in the first round of the playoffs in 2022–2023.
“When you start playing for real, everything picks up,” remarked Brad Marchand, the captain of the Boston Bruins. Every few games, it gets harder, and clubs begin to calculate their playoff positions and other things.
“It’s the best time of year and I’m really looking forward to getting back at it.”
Moving forward Before the Bruins’ recent participation in the NHL All-Star Game celebrations in Toronto, which included David Pastrnak, goaltender Jeremy Swayman, and coach Jim Montgomery, the team had only lost one regulation game in a 12-game stretch (8-1-3).
Pastrnak entered Monday as the third-leading scorer in the NHL in both goals (33) and points (72). He logged three goals and two assists across Boston’s wins over Ottawa and Philadelphia prior to the break.
As a busy stretch of games at home begins, Montgomery hopes that his team can go back to its previous level of play. The Bruins’ next road trip starts on February 21 in Edmonton and lasts for four games.
“I believe that we have truly discovered who we are since Christmas. We frequently discuss how to play to our strengths and what makes us successful,” Montgomery remarked. “We’re going to be able to get into a little bit of a rhythm (during the homestand), but we just go game-by-game and stay in the moment.”
Forward Matt Poitras is listed as doubtful for Tuesday’s game following an unexplained injury that kept him out of the Bruins’ most recent game, a 6-2 victory in Philadelphia on January 27.
With a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on January 27, the Flames ended a four-game losing streak. However, they are currently five points behind St. Louis and Nashville for the second Western Conference wild-card berth.
After three goals in his last six games, Yegor Sharangovich became Calgary’s second player to score 20 goals. The other, with a team-high 40 points, is Blake Coleman.
The most notable of the numerous new arrivals in the locker room is right winger Andrei Kuzmenko, who was signed last Wednesday in exchange for Elias Lindholm from the Vancouver Canucks.
“There’s no doubt about his offensive potential,” Flames coach Ryan Huska stated. “One thing we like about him is he’s very strong on pucks and he’s able to do a job of holding people off once he has that puck.”
Huska also anticipates Kuzmenko to pose a threat when Calgary converts at a meagre 13.8 percent (ranked 29th in the NHL) on power plays.
Furthermore, defenseman Brayden Pachal was grabbed off waivers by the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, and the forward combo of Jakob Pelletier, Kevin Rooney, and Cole Schwindt was called up from the AHL.
The 24-year-old Pachal scored his first NHL goal over a 17-game stretch this season after playing in 10 games with Vegas the previous year.
“To see what it takes to reach the pinnacle moment in hockey, that’s something I’ll take on as a learning experience and hopefully take that to the new team that I’m joining now,” Pachal stated.
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