Tag Archives: San Jose Sharks

Bruins Journey Through California

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Holding a three game losing streak, things don’t get easier for Boston as they begin their California road trip. The Bruins kick off their trip tonight against the Anaheim Ducks, who they have yet to play this season. Following Wednesday’s visit to Anaheim, the Bruins rematch with Los Angeles on Thursday, and San Jose Saturday.  The Bruins finds themselves at a crucial point of the season, slipping away from the leaders of the league.

BRUINS VS DUCKS

Perhaps the easiest test of the trip for Boston, Anaheim currently sits in sixth place of the Pacific Division, ahead of only Edmonton and Arizona.  Like the Bruins, the Ducks have had their share of struggles lately, dropping five of their last six.  Along with that, Ducks’ stars Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler have missed some time due to injury, forcing exploration into their depth charts.  Boston knows this story too well.  They will play without Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork, just to name a few.  This opening match of Boston’s California trip is by far the most crucial.  If the B’s can break their losing streak  with a big win, it can perhaps translate into momentum against one of the best teams in the league.  If Boston fails to snap their losing streak, struggles will only plunge deeper for a deflated Bruins squad.

BRUINS VS KINGS

Just less than three weeks ago, Boston hosted Los Angeles in what turned out to be an overtime heartbreaker.  Boston snagged the early lead during the first period before Tyler Taffoli ripped the equalizer for Los Angeles moments later.  The second and third period were defensive jousts, eventually leading to an overtime match up at the Garden.  About five minutes into overtime, Taffoli recorded his second point of the game and the game-winner for the Kings.  Despite the loss, goalie Tuukka Rask had one of his best outings of the season, logging 28 saves on 30 shots.  But there’s good news for Boston.   Los Angeles is currently on a three game losing streak, all of which came at home.  The time for Boston to play the number two team in the Western Conference is right now.  The potential for the Bruins to take a huge leap following their trip to California is strong, especially if they can start off 2-0.

BRUINS VS SHARKS

A rematch with the San Jose Sharks rounds out the west coast trip.  In a game where Danton Heinen reigned supreme, the Bruins edged out the Sharks with a 2-1 victory.  The goaltending was sharp on both sides of the rink.   However, Anton Khudobin was between the pipes for Boston.  It will be interesting to see if Rask is sidelined for this matchup, given Khudobin’s exposure previously to the Sharks offense.  If Rask does well early in the road trip, it’s likely he will get the nod.  However, I would not be surprised to see Khudobin in net for this game, regardless of Rask’s performance.  As with the other two games of this California trip, Boston must capitalize on opportunities every chance they get.  Missing some key players will add to the struggles we’ve seen this year.   But now is the time they truly need to be overcome.

This west-coast road trip will set the course for the Bruins’ end to November.  The schedule upon their return home is hard enough in itself.  If Boston takes down Anaheim tonight, maybe the ball will finally start (and continue) rolling.  If they drop one to the Ducks, things will only get tougher, facing Los Angeles at home tomorrow night.

 

 

Heartbreaking Ending Overshadows Successful Boston Homestand

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SUCCESSFUL BOSTON HOMESTAND

As hard as it is to believe, the Boston Bruins homestand was actually a success. The Bruins earned 6 out of a possible 8 points during the 4 game stint at the Garden and showed signs of life. Boston kicked off the homestand with an impressive 6-3 win over the Canucks. This was followed by a 5-4 overtime loss to the Sabres, 2-1 victory over San Jose and finally a 2-1 overtime loss to the red hot Kings.

Just looking at the boxscores will not show the entire story, this was a rollercoaster ride. When the Bruins won, they did so in impressive fashion. The 2-1 win against San Jose was the best 60 minutes of hockey the team has played this season. Boston showed up undermanned and out-skilled, but still ground out a tough physical game against a better team. The best development from this game won’t show up on a stat sheet, it was the team defense in their own zone.

Boston Defensive Improvements

During the early part of the season, and most notably in that collapse against Buffalo, defense has been a major problem. The Bruins have had major issues communicating in the defensive zone, especially when a team uses a five man rotation in the offensive zone. This has forced the youth of the Bruins to switch along the walls and cover the seams between the face-off dots. Against San Jose and the Kings, it was astronomically better. In the Sharks game, there was only a handful of open looks from the slot. Against the Kings, the Bruins play behind their own goal, and in the corners was notably more physical.

Those developments alone should spark a glimmer of hope in the hearts of Bruins fans. However, when it comes to the Bruins there is always something to be negative about. While the Bruins looked sharp against the Kings, they somehow managed to give up the game winning goal in overtime off a set face-off play, with only 0.4 tenths of a second left. While it may seem like a fluke play (and it is to an extent), the Bruins are the only ones to blame for being in that position. The icing forced Pastranak to stay on the ice, take the face off against Anze Kopitar, and off the face-off win, the Bruins left Tyler Toffolie with to much space for a quick one timer.

Solid Goaltending

The best development from the Kings game, was the play of Tuukka Rask. Rask was excellent in goal, making 5-6 eye opening saves to keep the Bruins in the game, and get them a point. While Rask can be frustrating to watch, the Bruins need him to be at his best for them to have a chance at a playoff spot this year. A performance like that, while it may not show up in the win column, can do wonders for both Rask and the teams confidence.

While the Bruins had a couple gut punching losses, and should have won all four games, it’s hard to complain too much about the teams overall effort. This was the best weekend of the season for the Bruins, and they’ll look to build off of it going forward.