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After back-to-back seasons in which the fate of the Boston Bruins was determined on the last day of the season, the Bruins seemingly find themselves on death’s door a little earlier this season.
On the heels of back-to-back losses to two Eastern Conference bottom-feeders in the Islanders and Red Wings -- the first of which a total no-show and the second a calamity that saw the Bruins blow a three-goal lead en route to a 6-5 shootout loss -- and with defeats in six of their last nine games, the reality that the Bruins aren’t even close to out of the woods should setting in.
Dipped down into third place in the Atlantic Division, the Bruins have largely stayed afloat thanks to having played the most games in the league to date, but they need more wins (keyword: wins instead of just points), which will not be an easy ask beginning tonight against the perennial powerhouse Blackhawks and Sunday road head-to-head with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Oh, joy.
The Bruins are desperate. This weekend seems unlikely to change that.
It’s left the club with two choices: the team could let that desperation take hold and make a short-sighted trade or fire head coach Claude Julien, or they could ride it out. The Bruins have tried to be patient this year, but understandably so, the patience has worn thin after back-to-back playoff misses and the look that the number will hit three by the time April rolls around. That’s put the pressure on Julien, who has done a marvelous job of coaching this as-advertised team up, to deliver.
(READ: My WEEI.com column on why it seems inevitable that the Bruins will fire Claude this season.)
“I’m thinking about Chicago,” a curt Julien, channeling his inner Bill Belichick’s infamous Cincinnati comment, said following the club’s morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena. “That’s where the focus is. Chicago. We have a game here to play tonight, and that’s what we gotta do.”
“We have to take it one game at a time and get that focus back on what’s ahead of us,” Bruins forward David Backes, who moved back to his natural center position and was a minus-3 Wednesday night against the Red Wings, said. “We can’t sit in the past or we’re bound to duplicate it.”
One boost the Bruins will get for this matchup? The return of Matt Beleskey, who has missed the last 23 games with a knee injury, as he’s set to rejoin the team and will begin the night on a fourth line with Dominic Moore and Austin Czarnik. That aligns Anton Blidh as the healthy scratch and/or demotion to the P-Bruins, as the Bruins will be at the roster limit when Beleskey is activated. (The Bruins could also move one of Colin or Kevan Miller to the injured reserve and keep Blidh up.)
“You just gotta keep it simple, do what I do well and be hard on pucks, get on the body, and just try to find your groove,” Beleskey, who has two goals and five points in 24 games, said. “You can’t expect too much in your first game back. You just want to keep it simple and be able to contribute.
“It’s time to start fresh and put together a good second half.”
Tuukka Rask gets the start in the Boston crease. The 29-year-old Rask allowed five goals on 25 shots against the Wings on Wednesday, and has allowed 11 goals on 64 shots over his last three starts. It’s a slump that’s seen Rask’s save percentage dip under .920 for the first time in a
looong time. Still, Rask takes respectable career figures against the Blackhawks into this game, with three wins (including one shutout) and a .920 save percentage in seven career matchups against Chicago.
The Blackhawks counter with Scott Darling. The 6-foot-6 Darling has 11 wins and a .924 save percentage in 17 starts this season, and stopped 39-of-40 shots against in his last start, a 2-1 victory over the Hurricanes back on Jan. 6. This will be his fourth career game against the Bruins.
This is the first of two meetings between the Original Six foes this season.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), can also be found in the New England Hockey Journal magazine, and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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