With just six games remaining before the NHL’s two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, every point in the standings feels especially valuable.
The Boston Bruins climbed back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture by banking points in six of their last seven games (5-1-1) and look to continue that trend during a visit to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
“It’s our job, my job, to make sure we … stay focused on the task at hand that’s in front of us,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “We can’t worry about what’s going on down the road.”
After being out of the playoff structure as recently as last Wednesday, Boston has used its current run to tie the Ottawa Senators for third place in the Atlantic Division entering Monday.
It is anyone’s game as of now, but holding a place in the mix is motivating.
“I’m not planning to miss the playoffs,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov said after a 3-1 win Saturday over the visiting Colorado Avalanche. “I want to see (the) Garden buzzing in playoff hockey, so I think that’s definitely extra motivation for us.”
The Bruins showed it in their last game, scoring three unanswered goals to finish a third-period comeback win.
Morgan Geekie played hero for Boston once again. The surging forward scored the tying and winning goals off assists from David Pastrnak, who added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.
Geekie has scored seven of his 15 goals in January, while linemate Pastrnak — who skates on the other wing with Pavel Zacha at center — is on a seven-game point streak with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in that span.
“It’s always fun to play with guys with lots of skill and I think for me personally, it’s like you’re kind of in awe of the things that (Pastrnak) does with the puck, so I just try to get open,” Geekie said. “It’s lots of fun right now, so just keep having fun.”
Geekie and the Bruins will try to maintain that mindset against Buffalo, which is seven points deep in the conference cellar and has lost six of its last 10 games after going 1-2-1 on a recent four-game Western road trip.
The Sabres took a 3-2 loss Saturday to the Connor McDavid-less Edmonton Oilers, falling despite piling up more than 40 shots for the second time in a five-game span. It was also their 12th loss of the season when scoring the first goal of the game.
Coach Lindy Ruff was pleased with his team’s late-game mentality, though, registering nearly half (19) of their total shots in the third period. However, a late tying goal from rookie Jiri Kulich was overturned and the score held. Call it a story of the season.
“We went after them, there was no sitting back,” Ruff said. “But the theme has kind of been — you can go back earlier in the year (too) — we’re having a tough time putting the puck in the back of the net in key opportunities to win a hockey game.”
The 20-year-old Kulich moved to the center position upon his return from a lower-body injury at the beginning of the recent trip. He looks to build upon a strong showing with goals in two of the last three games and a pair of assists.
Kulich’s goal against Edmonton was his ninth of the season.
“We knew how well he’d been playing before he went out,” Ruff said. “I think he’s proven now that he can play in the middle and he can carry the puck through the neutral zone, he can win key faceoffs for us and defensively he’s been really strong.”
–Field Level Media
