One of six teams within four points from the last Eastern Conference Wild card site, Boston Bruins goes into a make-or-Break Five-game Road Trip, which starts Thursday evening in Las Vegas against Pacific Division-Leading Vegas Golden Knights.
Boston (30-30-9, 69 points), seventh in the Atlantic Division, is four points behind the Montreal Canadiens (33-27-7, 73 points), which has two matches in the hand for the last playoffs. Bruins have dropped three in a row and are only 11-18-3 on the road.
Nevertheless, Interim’s head coach Joe Sacco is optimistic on the way into the car journey, which also includes a weekend back-to-back at San Jose and Los Angeles followed by a Wednesday competition in Anaheim and a game on Detroit on March 29. Rangers (72 points), islands (70), Columbus (70) and red wings (70) are also in Rangers (72 points), islands (70), Columbus (70) and red wings (70) are also in The Logjam for the final wild-card.
“We are still in the thick of things here, and nothing changes for us or in our way of thinking in how we prepare or get ready for games,” Sacco said. “There is still something to play for here. You stroll a couple of victories together and you’re back in it. You never know.”
Bruins enters a bitter 3-2 overtime loss to visit Buffalo on Monday. Alex Tuch made the game winner on a power play with a redirection of the Owen Power shot with only 11 seconds left in the extra period to deny the bruins a crucial second point.
“Very frustrating, but we have to get ready for the big trip,” said right wing David Pastrnak, who leads the team with 34 goals and 83 points. “Overall, the effort was there today. I guess we can build on it. We have to get better because we go on a heavy western coast trip, and if we do not show up with effort and hard work ethics will not be beautiful.”
First up is Vegas (39-20-8, 86 points), which is in a playoff dogfight with second place Edmonton (40-24-4, 84) and third place Los Angeles (36-21-9, 81) for first place and also home advantage in Pacific Division.
The Golden Knights comes from a disappointing (1-1-2) four-played eastern road trip which ended with a 3-0 loss on Detroit on Sunday afternoon. They have lost four of their last five matches (1-2-2).
The good news is that their next three matches are at the T-Mobile Arena, where they are a glittering 24-7-3 this season, and they follow a much needed three-day break.
“We had two training days,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. “After Detroit (loss) I thought rest was more important. I think so. (Men) We entered a decent hour (early Sunday evening) (and) we decided to practice (Tuesday). It was one we went back and forth on.
“I just felt that we needed to get a beat exercise to get some elements,” Cassidy continued. “This is where I thought we left games on the table all week, playing as our guys usually do. So we’ll see how it plays this week.”
Center William Karlsson, since January 20 with a lower bodily injury, was a complete participant in both practice. Cassidy said that Karlsson could be cleared to play on Thursday.
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