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The Boston Bruins have hit the point in the season where even the off nights seem busy.
Idle on Monday night, the Bruins -- or maybe better yet, their fans -- were left to watch both the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers ditch one of their games in hand over the Bruins (though Philadelphia still has one fewer game played than Boston entering Tuesday) and come through with nail-biting victories that moved each club back within one point of the Black and Gold.
For this race, the Bruins have nobody to blame but themselves, as their recent five-game losing streak gave life in the Atlantic Division race to the Wings (and the Flyers in the wild card picture). At the same time, it’s worth noting the impressive run both the Flyers and Wings have been on of late, with each team posting wins in six of their last ten (the Flyers are 6-2-2 while the Wings have gone 6-4-0 over that stretch). But while both teams’ runs bring up memories of last year’s Ottawa Senators group that rode hot goaltending en route to bumping the B’s out of the playoff picture, this year is a bit different.
The Flyers, while they skate with the momentum a bit similar to last year’s Sens group, cannot catch the Bruins in the Atlantic Division based on the league’s playoff format changes a few years back. So, in a sense, the Bruins really only have to worry about the Red Wings catching them for third.
And neither the B’s or Wings schedule seems particularly favorable to one team.
The Bruins square off with the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, while the Red Wings do the same against the Canadiens in Montreal. Detroit finds a favorable weekend stretch compared to that of the Bruins, however, with a Friday-Saturday combo against the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs, whereas the Bruins have road tilts with the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks that weekend.
Boston takes on the Carolina Hurricanes on Apr. 5, and the Wings square off with the Flyers on Apr. 6, but there’s not a game that seems bigger than the head-to-head between the B’s and Wings on Apr. 7.
Based on history and head-to-heads, I think you can expect the Bruins to win in New Jersey, lose to the Blues, and win or suffer an overtime/shootout loss in Chicago. They should win that Carolina game, too. So, a best case scenario of sorts puts the Bruins at 2-1-1 heading into that Detroit game. On the Wings side of it, the Canadiens and Maple Leafs contests should be wins for Detroit, while it’s fair to expect losses and/or overtime defeats in Minnesota and/or Philadelphia. So maybe, like Boston, you’re looking at a 2-1-1 run for the Wings before that pivotal head-to-head at the Garden on the 7th.
For that game to mean anything, the Bruins and Wings have to keep pace with the other ‘til then.
But let’s not act like this one isn’t going down to the absolute wire.
Or in other words, the 7th.
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.