After a successful six game road trip that saw the Bruins go 4-0-2 and climb to the top of the Northeast Division, they returned home Thursday night hoping to carry some of that momentum with them. Unfortunately, the home crowd simply saw more of the same.
Tuukka Rask played more than good enough to win against Minnesota but his teammates neglected to play as well, or even half as well, in front of him and long stretches of lazy, uninspired play ultimately cost the Bruins. A stellar performance by Wild goaltender Jose Theodore certainly did not help the Bruins cause, but neither did allowing Martin Havlat to stroll in on Rask uncontested early in the second period.
Getting a gauge on just how good the Bruins are is hard considering their up and down efforts. Some nights they look like one of the best teams the NHL has to offer but then follow up those efforts by coasting and seemingly looking forward to just going home.
Bruins look to finally get something going against their rivals.
Boston’s upcoming schedule will not allow them to wallow in uninspired defeat for too long, however. Their schedule over the next week will severely test the Bruins mettle and could be a big step towards finding out whether or not they have the ability to compete under pressure with the class of the Eastern Conference.
Saturday night the team will travel to Montreal for the third game of the season against their hated rivals. Montreal is not exactly a conference powerhouse but they are battling the Bruins for first in the Northeast and after already giving away four points to the Canadiens, Boston needs to come out and pad their division lead with a solid victory.
The Bruins have had trouble rising to the occasion or showing any emotion against their rivals this season, a common theme for this year’s edition of the black and gold. Boston has two games in hand over Montreal but dropping a third straight came to their division rivals could cost them important playoff seeding, should they make it that far.
Surrounding a game against the Ottawa Senators, the Bruins face-off against the Flyers and the Penguins, the two teams that have dominated the top of their conference all season.
The last time the Bruins saw the Flyers, Marc Savard was making an errant pass to Mike Richards as Philadelphia was sprinting towards Tim Thomas for a 3-on-1 in overtime and once again disappointing the TD Garden crowd as they left the ice celebrating.
The Flyers are one of the NHL’s better teams, deep on both offense and defense, and would surely provide a challenge for Boston. A twenty minute effort or lazy play will likely spell a quick and decisive defeat for the Bruins, regardless of which one of their stellar goaltenders is in net.
Boston also faces Pittsburgh twice in the coming week, Monday in Pittsburgh and then Saturday at the TD Garden. Monday’s game will mark the first time Marc Savard and Matt Cooke have faced each other since Cooke’s elbow concussed Savard, an injury Savard arguably has still not fully recovered from.
Those still calling for Matt Cooke’s blood will likely be disappointed, as two points in each game is still more important than any lingering thoughts of revenge, but it will be interesting to see if the Bruins try to make a statement to Matt Cooke and the Penguins with their play on the ice. Boston maybe luck out a bit, as Sidney Crosby is expected to miss about a week with a mild concussion. Pittsburgh has other weapons but this is an opportunity the Bruins need to seize.
Will the Bruins use the emotion of facing another top team to fight for victory, or will they fail to rise to the occasion as they have often done this season? The reaction of Savard’s teammates if Cooke even breathes on Savard should also be interesting, however, as everyone on the bench will surely be keeping an eye on the Penguins pesky forward just in case.
The question for the Bruins is whether or not they will seize the opportunity to send a message or once again fall flat. Several times this season the Bruins have wilted under the pressure when facing “statement” games or rivalry games but this stretch of their schedule could tell if the Bruins are truly Stanley Cup contenders or pretenders.
