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It’s been 24, mostly agonizing, nights at the TD Garden for the Boston Bruins.
With just 10 home wins to their name through almost four months of hockey, the latest blow came with a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the mediocre-at-best Vancouver Canucks (down captain Henrik Sedin for this game, mind you) on Thursday night, and has continued the club’s search for home ice answers.
“I think when you look at a lot of our games for the most part we’ve had good starts to our games. The biggest issue in our home record has been the inability to sustain that game plan and that start,… B’s coach Claude Julien said earlier this morning. “We seem to drift away at times and kind of stop doing the things that we’re doing well. Or maybe sometimes we get off to a good start and we get success and we get comfortable and you know for some reason that’s happening at home. We just have to make sure that we have a little bit of the same mentality that we’ve had on the road.…
And tonight, the Bruins will have yet another chance to get back on track at home, as they play host to the league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus, with just 17 wins and 38 points in 48 games this year (including a 9-16-0 mark away from Nationwide Arena), come to Boston with two straight losses to their name, and down two NHL goaltenders and head coach and Massachusetts native John Tortorella (injured with two broken ribs sustained in a fall during Friday’s practice in Columbus).
In essence, this sounds every bit like a scheduled win for the Black and Gold.
But Julien doesn’t want his club sleeping on the problems the Blue Jackets can present to a team.
“They really are hard, they’re gritty, they’re aggressive in their forecheck and in closing gaps, and so that’s what you’re going to get,… said Julien. “You’re going to get a team that’s in your face tonight. If they’re on their game, that’s what they’re going to give you.
“We just have look at our home record - that should tell us that we need to be at our best here. You know and struggles or whatever they want to call it I still see a team that plays hard,… Julien continued. “And they’ve had a lot of things happen to them this year. It’s been a tough year for them but it doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re not as bad as their record and I know that.…
This will be the first of three head-to-head meetings between the Bruins and Jackets this season.
Starter Sergei Bobrvovsky suffered a groin injury in the Jackets’ loss to Calgary on Thursday, and with Curtis McElhinney injured as well, the Columbus crease goes back to Joonas Korpisalo. The 21-year-old Korpisalo stopped 12-of-14 shots in relief of Bobrovsky on Thursday, and comes into action with three wins and a .906 save percentage in nine NHL games this year. The Finnish netminder comes into tonight’s tilt with one win and an .893 save percentage in four road games this season.
With Jonas Gustavsson the lone goaltender on ice for the B’s optional skate today, the Bruins are expected to counter with Tuukka Rask. This will be the fourth straight start for the 28-year-old Rask, and his first since Thursday’s loss that came with a 23-of-26 showing. In total, Rask has four wins and a .931 save percentage in six career games against the Blue Jackets.
- B’s center Patrice Bergeron has 11 goals and 26 points in 24 home games this year.
- Winger Loui Eriksson has 10 goals and 18 points in 33 career games against Columbus.
- Torey Krug has been held without a point in 13 of his last 17 games played.
- Columbus winger Scott Hartnell has 10 goals and 18 points in 25 road games this year.
- Seth Jones has five assists in his last four games played.
Other news and notes
On a lineup front, Matt Beleskey (flu) did take part in today’s optional skate, but remains a gametime decision for the Bruins. If he’s unable to go, you’d think that Joonas Kemppainen would draw back into the B’s lineup after a one-game breather as a healthy scratch.
Forward Tyler Randell one of the expected healthy scratches, while defenseman Colin Miller has been a healthy scratch in favor of Joe Morrow for three straight games.
Meanwhile, the Jackets will welcome both Matt Calvert and captain Nick Foligno back to the lineup.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.