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The Boston Bruins knew this four-game road swing was trouble. A trip through California with dates against the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings brought the Bruins a whopping zero of six possible points, a finish that wasn’t exactly shocking. But in New York City for a date with the Rangers for the trip’s finale tonight, the Black and Gold will need all hands on deck to avoid this slump becoming something of legitimate concern for a B’s fanbase still all too familiar with last year’s collapse.
But I wouldn’t say that this mini-slump is anything like what the B’s went through a season ago.
The Sharks, Ducks, and Kings are among the league’s elite. And the Rangers are, too. But at this point last season, the Bruins were in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and without even a slightest bit of a compete to keep pace with the then-surging Senators, while this year they remain in third in the Atlantic Division (and with a three-point edge on the sliding Detroit Red Wings) and mediocre East.
With that said, the Bruins still need to find ways to win key games, and tonight’s ‘Wednesday Night Rivalry’ tilt with the Blueshirts is exactly that. In their season-series finale with the Rangers, the Bruins have recalled an extra scoring presence in Frank Vatrano for the second time in a week.
Vatrano, who leads the American Hockey League with 33 goals in 33 games played, has tallied six goals and 76 shots in 30 games for the Big B’s this year, but has not played in an NHL game since Jan. 19.
And it would appear that Vatrano could be in for tonight’s game, per the Boston Herald.
Connolly, Randell, Trotman and Morrow taking extra ice. Vatrano came off with rest of them
— steve conroy (@conroyherald) March 23, 2016
A loss tonight would be a season-high fourth in a row for the Black and Gold.
Despite missing Tuesday’s practice, and with Jeremy Smith returned to Providence just hours ago, it would appear that Tuukka Rask will be in net for the Bruins tonight. Rask took the loss on Saturday night behind an 18-of-20 showing, and comes into play with four wins and a .923 save percentage in eight starts this month. The 29-year-old Rask, 1-1-0 against New York this season, has nine wins (two shutouts) and a strong .933 save percentage in 17 career starts against the Rangers.
The Rangers counter with Henrik Lundqvist. The all-world Swede put an end to a five-game losing streak behind a solid 25-of-27 night against the Florida Panthers on Monday night, and comes into this game with 20 wins and a .921 save percentage in 27 home starts this year. But Hank has struggled against the Bruins of late, with just one win and 18 goals against in last six games versus Boston, but still has solid career figures against ‘em, with 22 wins and a .934 in 36 career games.
- Boston center Patrice Bergeron has 14 goals and 28 points in 34 road games this year.
- Loui Eriksson has two goals and 10 points in 15 career games against the Rangers.
- New York forward Mats Zuccarello has 15 goals and 33 points in 35 home games this season.
- Hurricane-turned-Ranger has just one goal and three points in 11 games with New York.
Other news and notes
If Vatrano is in, expect Brett Connolly and Tyler Randell to serve as the healthy scratches up front, while Joe Morrow and Zach Trotman remain the healthy scratches on the point.
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.