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The Boston Bruins is that they’re basically in must-win territory in February.
Put this into perspective, for just a moment: The B’s enter tonight’s head-to-head with the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 37 percent chance of making the playoffs. A win bumps their percentage up over 40, and a loss bumps it under 30. Woof. The B’s are in no position to piss any more points away in the standings. That’s especially true against Toronto, a team that’s beaten the Bruins in two meetings this season and one of several teams chasing the B’s for their playoff spot, tonight at TD Garden.
There is some good news for the Bruins, and that comes with the anticipated return of both No. 1 center Patrice Bergeron and ace goaltender Tuukka Rask, who both missed missed Friday’s practice, Bergeron because of a lower-body injury and Rask for some good old fashioned maintenance.
“We’ll probably have to make a game-time decision, but they both look fine,… Bruins coach Claude Julien, whose team does not play again until Thursday after tonight’s game, said after today’s skate.
“I felt better today,… Bergeron admitted this morning, “it was a lot of better than it was in the third period when I tried to go back out there. There should be a good chance [that I play].…
The 31-year-old Bergeron has tallied 12 goals and 26 points in 51 games this season, but has finally found some offensive luck in recent games, with seven goals and 16 points in his last 17 games.
A rested Rask (he had two days off between Wednesday and tonight) is good news for the Bruins, too, as he enters play with 15 wins and a .932 save percentage in 21 career starts against the Maple Leafs.
On a separate lineup note, Austin Czarnik is expected back in action tonight after sitting for the last four games as a healthy scratch. Czarnik will center a B’s third line with Matt Beleskey to the left and Riley Nash on the right. That aligns Ryan Spooner as the expected healthy scratch.
The Leafs come into this game on a three-game losing streak but still just three points behind the Bruins with five games in hand.
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.