Bruins’ week ahead: Busy schedule brings chance to start a new streak
COMMENTARY
After seeing their season-high, three-game winning streak snapped Saturday night with another ugly loss to the New York Rangers, the Bruins will look to start a new streak on Monday in what is a busy week for the Black and Gold.
After a win over the New Jersey Devils in their 2016-17 home opener, the Bruins have lost three in a row on Causeway Street, where they have been outscored 14-4. With two home games on the docket this week, the Bruins hope to end the week with a .500 winning percentage on home ice as they try to once again make TD Garden a difficult place for opponents to visit.
With five games in four different cities over seven days, the first full week in November looks to be a big one for head coach Claude Julien and company.
Let’s take a look at the Bruins’ week ahead:
Monday: Buffalo Sabres, 7:00 p.m.
The Bruins will meet their Atlantic Division rivals for the first time this season. The two teams are tied for sixth in the division with 12 points. The Sabres have been stellar defensively this season, allowing just 2.2 goals-against per game, good enough for fourth in all of the National Hockey League. Like the Bruins, Buffalo has had major issues scoring goals: Their 2.3 goals per game ranks 23rd in all of hockey.
The Sabres are still without Chelmsford, Mass. native Jack Eichel who is nursing a high ankle sprain suffered in training camp. Without Eichel, Buffalo has been led offensively by Kyle Okposo and Ryan O’Reilly, both lead the team with eight points. Goalie Robin Lehner has surprisingly gotten off to a hot start with four wins in eight tries. He is off to the best start of his career with a 2.14 goals-against average and .929 save percentage
The Bruins took three of four against Buffalo last season.
Tuesday: @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, the Bruins will travel to Centre De Bell for the first time in 2016-17 to take on the red-hot Montreal Canadiens. Despite their 10-0 loss in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Friday night, the Canadiens are playing some of the league’s best hockey, with just one regulation loss. The Bruins saw that two weeks ago in a 4-2 loss to their longtime rivals at TD Garden.
Regardless of how Monday’s contest against Buffalo goes, a win north of the border Tuesday could provide a huge confidence boost for the Bruins. Not only are the Canadiens the top team in the NHL, but they are a team that has had their rivals number the last few years.
Bruins’ killer Carey Price allowed four goals in Saturday’s 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, the first time he has allowed more than two goals in a single game all season. The Bruins will need to find an answer for Alex Galchenyuk, who has six points in his last five games.
Thursday: Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:00 p.m.
The Bruins and Blue Jackets will meet for the second and final time this season. You may remember the Bruins kicked their season off in Columbus with a 6-3 victory, a game that saw Boston erase a pair of two-goal deficits.
Since meeting in mid-October, the Blue Jackets haven’t played as bad as people expected them to. At 5-3-2 to begin the week, the Jackets sit sixth in the Metropolitan Division and have won three of their last four. Nick Foligno (4-8-12) and Alexander Wennberg (1-11-12) have fueled the Blue Jackets’ offense. Goaltending certainly has not been an issue for the Jackets as former Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky has a 1.79 goals-against average through nine starts, good enough for fourth in the league among goalies with five appearances or more.
Saturday: @ Arizona Coyotes, 8:00 p.m.
On Saturday, the Bruins will head to Arizona to take on the Coyotes. Arizona sits in the NHL’s basement with eight points and really has looked sluggish this season. A contest against the Coyotes could be the Bruins’ offensive coming out party as the “Yotes” have allowed a league-worst 3.82 goals per game.
Offensively, the Coyotes are not much of a threat. The Coyotes and Bruins join the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks as the only four teams who have converted on less than 10 percent of their power play opportunities this season.
The Bruins swept the Coyotes a year ago, outscoring them 11-3 in two games.
Sunday: @ Colorado Avalanche, 7:00 p.m.
In what will be their second back-to-back contest of the week, the Bruins will end their daunting seven-day stretch with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.
For a team with as much young offensive talent as Colorado, one would think the Avalanche would be in better shape than they currently are. Colorado ranks 29th in goals for per game with 2.1. Offensive stars Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon have combined for just four goals and 12 points, while former Bruins Carl Soderberg and Jarome Iginla have combined for just four points.
The Avalanche have been dealing with goalie issues of late. Starting goalie Calvin Pickard has gone 0-3 in his last three starts, allowing 15 goals in that span.
The Bruins and Avalanche split their two games last season with the road team winning each contest.
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