B’s currently at their best
Won nine of last 10 games
With trips to western Canada, Florida and the West Coast still on the docket in the Bruins’ final 22 games, it might be hard for them to continue this pace they’re currently on with wins in nine of their last 10 games.
BRUINS NOTEBOOK
But whether or not they keep it up and hold off the Tampa Bay Lightning, the B’s left Manhattan on Monday bound for Edmonton feeling pretty good about themselves. And deservedly so. Not only had they amassed 18 of a possible 20 points in their last 10 games, they are actually playing better hockey now than they were in the first two months of the season, when they ripped off a 19-3-5 record.
During this 10-game swing, they have allowed just 11 goals, with the 3-1 loss in Detroit the only time they’ve allowed more than two goals in a game (the third one in that lone loss was an empty-netter). Their commitment to the 200-foot game was illustrated well in Sunday’s 3-1 win at Madison Square Garden. In the second period with the B’s still clinging to a 1-0 lead, it appeared the Rangers were about to break in on an oddman rush when Jake DeBrusk, usually no threat for the Selke, hustled on the backcheck and snuffed out the threat with a terrific stick check
Things like that get noticed on the bench and, right now, the B’s are all-in on the buy-in.
“We’re playing complete games,” said Charlie McAvoy, who has goals in consecutive games. “Every game is not going to be perfect, you’re going to have lapses and mistakes. That’s natural. But we’re finding a way to play our game for a much larger percentage than when we have those lapses. Sometimes we’d play a good 40 and then a lousy 20. That would cost us. But we’ve been able to string together a couple of good games where we’ve played really well, our special teams have played well and we’re able to keep those mistakes to a minimum and find the result that we want.”
With four two-day breaks between games in the last two-plus weeks, the B’s have not only been afforded some rest but also practice time.
“We’re playing good hockey, really good hockey right now,” said Brad Marchand .“It just seems like everybody’s finding the chemistry on their lines and knows where they fit in. And we have a healthy team. That’s the biggest thing. When you’re group’s healthy, you’re able to practice a lot together and build that chemistry, work on things, get comfortable with the system and the changes that we make. We have a lot of depth in our group and when we play together a lot, it’s going to come out in the games.”
There was a time in November when the B’s relied on late comebacks and various other dramatics to pull out points, a habit that led to the inevitable doldrums of December and early January. But since blowing a three-goal lead in Pittsburgh on Jan. 19, the B’s seem to have taken an enough-isenough approach.
“We want to win games, but feel good doing it,” said Charlie Coyle. “Just details, details. Blocking shots for (Anders) Bjork. DeBrusk on the backcheck, great stick. Just those little things, and that’s what we need. Guys buying in like that every game, especially at this time of year and into the playoffs when its so crucial to do those things. It’s nice to see guys doing that and pitching in in different ways.”
Lightning get stronger
It’s not enough that the Lightning have just two regulation losses in 2020, the Bolts made themselves a little richer on Sunday. The cost was high, however. Tampa picked up Blake Coleman, a left-handed center who is working on his second straight 20-goal season, from the New Jersey Devils and they get him for another year at the very reasonable price of $1.8 million. But it cost them essentially a pair of first rounders, their first from last June in Nolan Foote and a conditional 2020 first rounder.
B’s GM Don Sweeney has stated many times that he hates having to sit on his hands on that Friday night of the draft, but he may have to part with a first rounder if he wants to keep up in the
Atlantic Division arms race and land a Chris Kreider (rental) or perhaps a Kyle Palmieri (one year left). Tyler Toffoli, long linked to the B’s, was dealt by the Kings on Tuesday to Vancouver for Tim Schaller, prospect Tyler Madden, a 2020 second rounder and a conditional fourth rounder in 2022.
And with the B’s tight against the cap, he may have to part with a roster, especially if he can’t move the David Backes contract.
The B’s have three young forwards — Danton Heinen, Bjork and Karson Kuhlman — who are similar in the impact they bring. Heinen is the most accomplished, but also the most expensive, with another year at $2.8 million owed to him. That could well make him the most likely to be moved if it comes to that.
Heinen, now in his fourth pro season and third in the NHL, has learned to block out the chatter.
“You know what? To be honest with you, I thought about it a lot last year and I was nervous,” Heinen said last week. “You hadn’t really gone through it before. It was stressful. This year, I just haven’t thought about it. I’m just working as hard as I can here and there’s no point in stressing. Whatever happens, happens.”