The Boston Bruins haven’t exactly been lighting the world on fire as of late, going 5-4 over their previous nine before beating the Rangers 6-3 in a matinee on Causeway Street yesterday. And while there were some good games mixed in, (wins over FLA TBL and COL) the B’s did get pumped in successive games by the Sabres (not a typo) and the Jets being outscored 13-4 in those losses.
I mean this was a gimme game right? A get right tilt vs. a team that’s a shadow of its former self. The New York Rangers are currently in 7th place for the Wild Card at 52 points (holy shit that’s horrible) whereas the Bruins are sitting in 3rd with 58 points. Neither team is in the playoff structure at this point, but the Bruins are at least are within striking distance. What’s that old saying: you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your slowest friend?
NY GM Chris Drury is doing what he can. He forced out of town traded Jacob Trouba and Barclay Goodrow to make room for long lost son JT Miller. I guess we know why Miller was linked to every NHL team in the league before going back to Broadway, that NMC was only getting waved for the NYR apparently. And yes, for once the insufferable Rangers fan in your life was correct, Miller actually WANTED to go (back) to NY. The Rangers finally have some grit and tenacity down the middle and if I was a Swedish DJ moonlighting as a hockey player, I’d be looking over my shoulder right about now.
And what does this mean for the Bruins? A nice win on national TV, 2 points in the standings and a confidence builder? Not to mention another hatty for David Pastrnak (18th career) and yet once again, Adam Fox ducking Brad Marchand. Nice preview of the 4 Nations Tourney?
Maybe the JT Miller move by the NYR will light a spark underneath the oh-so-comfortable seats that Don Sweeney and Cam Neely have been sitting upon? Maybe they will say to themselves, hey self: we need to add some jam and scoring touch? Maybe they’ll realize that the signing of Zdeno Chara to the front office (which he deserves and can only be a positive) seems a bit of a publicity stunt designed to take the focus off their combined incompetence?
I don’t know the answers to these questions, and I know that one game doesn’t fix all the issues the Bruins are dealing with, BUT:
- Mark Kastelic was back at practice on Friday
- Charlie McAvoy is back in the lineup
- Morgan Geekie is still white-hot
- Matty Poitras looks like he’s developing some chemistry with David Pastrnak
- Jeremy Swayman looked dialed in on Saturday
- David Pastrnak was on fire for January and based on the first game in February, he hasn’t cooled off yet
- No matter what: it’s better to be a Bruins fan today than a Rangers fan any day.
You can read more about Brownie in his bio down below or follow him on:
Bluesky: @abrow.bsky.social
IG/Threads: @a_brow28
Twitter: @abrow28
The Morning Skate 