Outscoring their opponents 40 to 15 over their last 10 contests, the Boston Bruins have won, you guessed it, ten games in a row. They’ve had exceptional goaltending, balanced scoring throughout their forward core (this is probably the most consistent four-line attack they’ve had this year), and a steady defensive rotation that’s allowed Claude Julien to get a different look at players such as Andrej Meszaros, Matt Bartkowski, and Corey Potter.
Warm it up, that’s a ten.
But even in the midst of the longest winning streak in the NHL this season (the Anaheim Ducks had a 10-gamer earlier this season), you wouldn’t be wrong if you suggested that the Bruins, for all their scoring and balance throughout this streak, aren’t really playing their best hockey right now. In fact, if there’s still one glaring area of concern for Julien’s squad, it’s on its oft criticized point.
The B’s just aren’t nearly as tight as they’d like to be on defense.
Much of that is undeniably due to the loss of Dennis Seidenberg, Adam McQuaid, and most recently Johnny Boychuk, the players plugged in to stop the bleeding on any given night have had their moments where their inexperience or lack of own-zone skill is on full display for the opposition. And then taken advantage of shortly after.
That’s why you saw Bartkowski take a seat as the team’s healthy scratch on Tuesday night.
The 25-year-old Bartkowski, a player that Julien’s relied on heavily in the absence of No. 44 and been given the vote of confidence for top-four minutes in the postseason by general manager Peter Chiarelli, absolutely struggled in his defensive zone on Monday night against Minnesota. But with Bartkowski, that’s how it seems to go as he adjusts to life as a full-timer in the National Hockey League (his 53 games played this season are an obvious career-high, the previous high being 11.
One night he’s as sound as they come, and the next night he’s an adventure.
For Bartkowski, it seems as if the right pairing partner is a must. Like Boychuk. And with Boychuk out and instead paired with the 28-year-old Meszaros against the Wild on Monday night, he was exposed. (That was a painful pairing.) Bartkowski is expected to draw back into the lineup tonight. Potter likely sits in his place. Boychuk, on the other hand, remains a game-time decision.
The Bruins, who could clinch a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a win tonight, aren’t going to waste time in rushing him back from his ankle injury when there’s absolutely no need to.
There’s also still some concern as to just where Meszaros fits into the B’s lineup. It’s no secret that No. 41 played his best hockey when paired alongside Zdeno Chara on the Bruins’ top pairing, but that’s probably not an ideal role for Meszaros come playoff time. When push comes to shove, the Bruins will want Chara out there for every shift against a Steven Stamkos, Rick Nash, Phil Kessel, Alexander Ovechkin, etc. etc. in round one or two. Putting Meszaros on his opposite side for 25-30 minutes a night over a seven-game series seems dangerous.
But when put on the second or third pairing, Meszaros hasn’t exactly blown the doors off your expectations. In that situation, he’s what he was sold to the Hub as: a middle of the road defender. Seidenberg, he is not. Still, Meszaros has been a solid contributor in his brief stint with the Bruins, tallying a goal, three points, with a plus-6 rating, a hit, and nine blocked shots in five games. For a third rounder, you’ll take those contributions no matter the situation or role, I suppose.
Aside from some questions in the d-zone, it’s been all smiles throughout Boston’s 10-game winning streak, and tonight, against the Colorado Avalanche, they have the chance to make it 11 in a row. But Colorado is a club that’s won 23 of 36 in their building this year, tamed the B’s by a 2-0 final back in October, and enter play with 13 of a possible 20 points in their last ten contests.
The toughest test of this entire streak? The toughest test of this entire streak.
That’s obvious, though. From win one to win ten, the B’s haven’t really had a nightmare of a matchup. They’ve beaten bubble teams like the Capitals, Coyotes, Wild, Rangers, and Devils. They’ve taken care of bottom of the barrel clubs like Florida and Minnesota, and their biggest wins came against two divisional rivals in their buildings against both Montreal and Tampa Bay. None of those teams have the starpower or sustained excellence throughout the 2013-14 season like the Avs do.
And again: This is a Black-and-Gold squad that knows they can improve.
"Even though we've won 10 in a row it doesn't feel that way,… B’s winger Brad Marchand told NHL.com after the club’s victory in New Jersey on Tuesday. “We're not really judging ourselves by the amount of games we've won. It's more about our play and we know we've gotten lucky in a few games. We're doing the right things and focused on cleaning it up a little bit playing even better."
They’ll need to do some more cleaning too if they plan on making it 11 straight tonight.
Unlike many of the Bruins’ opponents over this run, the Avalanche have a core of speedy forwards that can (and will) cause chaos in and around Boston’s crease. Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly have formed one of the league’s best one-two punches, while second line players Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon play with the smarts and skill of seasoned veterans. And that’s without mentioning vets like Paul Stastny, Jamie McGinn, and a steady (and active) blue line that’s not afraid to jump into the offensive mix.
Read as: Goaltender Chad Johnson will certainly have his work cut out for him.
The first goalie off at this morning’s skate, the 27-year-old Johnson has been riding one of the quietest streaks you’ll see this year. It’s been 12 games since Johnson’s last regulation loss (that came all the way back on Dec. 28), and he’s posted a 9-0-1 record and .927 save percentage since that night. Johnson stopped 22 of 24 in a win on Tuesday night, and continues to emerge as one of the league’s best value signings (the B’s paid just $600,000 for him) in 2013-14.
Colorado counters with Semyon Varlamov.
Tonight will be Varlamov’s first start since Sunday, and his fourth career nod against the Bruins. A goaltender that’s flown under the radar when on the ice this season, Varlamov enters tonight’s game with 34 wins and a .925 save percentage in 51 starts this season. He stopped 38 of 39 in his last game.
Hey, here’s a crazy idea…
Wanna hear something bordering on insane? The Boston Bruins have not ruled out the possibility of Dennis Seidenberg returning from a torn ACL by this year’s playoffs. That’s nuts. In every sense of the word, too. I love Seidenberg as much as the next guy, but Seidenberg injured his knee just before New Year’s, and while it’d be great to hear those T-Blades out there, it’s incredibly naive to think that his knee (and the rest of his body for that matter) would be ready to absorb the punishment of the physical play that comes with the Eastern Conference Final or beyond.
It’d be equally crazy for the Bruins to consider letting him suit up, too. This is a player that you made a four-year commitment to earlier this season, and one that you consider part of your core. You can’t have him come back too soon, re-tear his knee up, and then expect him to come back in another six months anywhere even close to the player he was before the first torn ACL.
It’s a suicide mission, I tell ‘ya. Especially when you remember how quickly Marco Sturm’s career deteriorated after major knee injuries around the same age.
God love ‘ya, Dennis, but the focus for both parties should be on getting ready for next season.