By: Jason Cooke | Follow me on X @cookejournalism
Just when the Boston Bruins look like they are down, they get right back up. A pair of lifeless losses to the tumbling Buffalo Sabres and high-flying Winnipeg Jets positioned Boston in a spot with which the club has grown familiar amid a season filled with extreme highs and lows.
But they bounced back, earning two convincing wins over the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild on home ice. Boston surrendered just three goals in the two-game salvo and netted nine. And on Wednesday night, Boston (27-22-6) gets another crack against New York (25-23-4) on the road at Madison Square Garden.
The Bruins have begun to slowly right a sinking ship as of late. The Bruins are 6-3-1 in their last ten games and will look to find success on the road in a season where winning away from the friendly confines of TD Garden has been a struggle (9-14-3). If the Bruins want to solidify their postseason hopes — and potentially avoid a retool — they will surely have to pick up the slack on the road.
Keep an eye on These Bruins
Charlie McAvoy has goals in his last two games and is looking like his signature self following his return from injury. He’s looked good quarterbacking the top power play unit and was rewarded for it against the Rangers, one-timing a laser to light the lamp and open the scoring in Boston. On 5-on-5 play, he even recorded an unusual deflection goal on a net-front tip against the Wild.
David Pastrnak will also be worth keeping an eye on as he continues his rampant stretch that originated in the month of January. He is riding an 11-game point streak into Wednesday night’s matchup, and he’s been the engine of Boston’s offense as of late. In his last five games, he’s amassed 10 points.
Matt Poitras has made his return to the NHL ranks in style. While he hasn’t lit the lamp in his 10-game stint back with the Bruins, he’s pitched in with seven assists and is looking like a player who belongs on an NHL ice sheet. He’s dished four assists in his last two games, including a heads-up feed to a trailing Trent Frederic on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s win was keyed by Jeremy Swayman, who stopped all 33 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season. After a subpar start to the season on the heels of his prolonged offseason contract negotiations, Swayman has been sharp as of late. In 39 games played this season, however, he still boasts a sub-.900 save percentage (.898). If Joonas Korpisalo gets the net on Wednesday, he’ll look to regroup from the Winnipeg loss in which he allowed five goals.
Prediction: Bruins 2, Rangers 1
It’s the second night of a back-to-back, but I think the Bruins will return home to TD Garden on Saturday with two more points to the win column. The Rangers, who Boston recently bested in a 6-3 romp on Saturday, have proven to be inconsistent this season, making Wednesday the perfect opportunity to capture pivotal points in Boston’s quest to secure a playoff bid come April.
It starts on the defensive end for the Bruins, though. If they allow New York’s highly capable group of forwards to roam free, they will run into trouble in The Big Apple. Artemi Panarin (22-34-56) and the newly acquired J.T. Miller (11-28-39) are dangerous.
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