The Boston Bruins take their playoff chase to the road for a key back-to-back this weekend, beginning with a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.
Five consecutive one-goal losses (0-3-2) have dropped the Bruins to four points behind the final Eastern Conference wild-card position. A 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday will send the team out looking for answers.
“It just shows how tight the margins are right now,” Boston captain Brad Marchand said. “This time of year, everything tightens up, and it just shows that little mistakes cost games. So, we really have to limit the amount of mistakes we make.”
A bruised roster has not helped.
Forward Trent Frederic is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, though Matthew Poitras could play after practicing the morning after suffering his own lower-body ailment on a check into an open bench door by Brock Nelson. A forward call-up from Providence of the American Hockey League still is expected.
Inconsistencies aside, David Pastrnak is riding a league-best run that Marchand believes should have him firmly in the MVP race.
Pastrnak scored the Bruins’ lone goal on Thursday, giving him a 16-game point streak and 800 career points. Again, it was not enough, but Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco saw more that his team could build upon moving forward.
“We had probably five or six scoring opportunities before (the Islanders’ first) goal. We weren’t able to capitalize, but in the short term, that’s how we want to play,” Sacco said.
The Bruins will look to bring their winning ways at home (18-10-5) to the road (9-15-3) for crucial upcoming games. They visit the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
“We have no time to think about what we can do better. We have to do it,” defenseman Nikita Zadorov said.
However the stretch run turns out, Marchand knows the Bruins will fight.
“At the end of the day, we may not achieve what we want to this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t build to achieve something greater and bring it back next year,” Marchand said. “We’re going to work every single day to build our game, and we’ll claw and fight every single game to get into the playoffs.”
The Penguins snapped a four-game skid on Thursday, overcoming a three-goal deficit to beat the Philadelphia Flyers. Evgeni Malkin scored the tying and winning goals to punctuate his second four-point effort of the season.
“I hope it gives me confidence, gives confidence to the team,” Malkin said. “We all understand we’re not perfect here, but (the) next couple games, we play at home. Just use momentum, have fun, just try to win.”
It was a historic night for Malkin and captain Sidney Crosby. The duo became the first in NHL history to win 400 games in which they both recorded points.
Coach Mike Sullivan also believes that the effort can inspire his and the team’s game, as it now looks for its first regulation win since Feb. 7.
“Just like a team builds on momentum throughout a game, I think players are the same way,” Sullivan said. “When (Malkin) scores, when he produces offense, he becomes a confident guy. When he does, he feels good about himself and his contribution (to the team).”
Perhaps another inspiration for the comeback win was Alex Nedeljkovic’s stick-slamming outburst after a goaltender pull that Sullivan hoped would change momentum in the game. It was mission accomplished.
“For me, that’s just an indication of how invested he is. He cares. He’s competitive. He wants to win. That’s raw emotion,” Sullivan said. “Quite honestly, I thought he inspired the group to want to compete for him.”
The Penguins’ lone meeting with the Bruins this season was a 2-1 win in Boston on Nov. 29. Philip Tomasino scored the game-winning goal in the third period.
–Field Level Media
