The Bruins are finding ways to win. They are 9-2 in the month of January, which has put them back in the playoff bracket as the second wild card, one point behind the Montreal Canadiens, who they vanquished in opportunistic style Saturday night with three power-play goals.
A week that started with a lopsided loss to the Dallas Stars wound up as a pretty decent week and has coach Marco Sturm feeling pretty good about his team with wins over the Habs and Golden Knights.
“We can play against any team,” said Sturm on Saturday. “After Dallas, a real playoff team, everyone came back and was disappointed. And then to play almost the same kind of a team, a Vegas team, and we beat them. Today, we had to beat a really good, high-end skilled skating team. Totally opposite of Vegas. So that showed us, that gives me the confidence that we can play different styles, too.”
The B’s hit the skies on Saturday night after their game to beat the pending blizzard and keep their date with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. As they attempt to get back to NHL .500 on the road, here are a few notes, quotes and thoughts:
Minten’s ‘it’ factor
Count this observer as someone who wasn’t so sure about the Brandon Carlo trade. Right-shot defensemen who cover a lot of ground, kill penalties and eat minutes are not that easy to find these days. And, truth be told, the B’s are still looking to bolster their right side, as evidenced by their pursuit of Rasmus Andersson.
But the trade now looks like a home run, even if it only included Fraser Minten. Throw in Toronto’s 2026 first rounder and it’s a grand slam. The 21-year-old may not bring a wow-factor to any one particular skill, but he has a certain “it” factor, where he has a knack for anticipating the play and where the puck is going instead of where it is.
There is some question concerning his offensive upside, but he is now up to 13 goals after his late third period equalizer.
“(His hockey sense) elite, even for a young kid like him,” said Marco Sturm on Saturday morning. “You can tell already when kids are coming in at a young age, because that’s something you can’t teach to a lot of them. And he just has it, he has that instinct. He’s smart enough, a two-way (player), and sometimes that hurts him offensively. But I’m good with that because what is he? Twenty-one years old? So we still have time and he’s doing the right thing right now and we want to keep it that way.”
Any smart, defensively sound centerman understandably draws an immediate comparison to Patrice Bergeron, especially one who comes through Boston. Offensively, Minten is not there yet. When Bergeron was 20, before his career-altering concussion, he notched 31-42-73 and had some spectacular moments in that otherwise lost season after the 2004-05 lockout.
But Minten can still add offensive tools. When Bergeron came into the league, he did not have that half-turn snapshot from the bumper that he lived on for a while. And it may be hard to believe but David Pastrnak didn’t have his one-timer when he came into the league. If Minten can add a go-to weapon, he can be quite a player.
Rangers up next
The Rangers have lost three straight, are 2-7-1 in their last 10 and have officially waved the white flag with The Letter 2.0. But if they can muster a competitive game against anyone, you would think it would be the Bruins. The Blueshirts were thoroughly embarrassed by the B’s on January 10, 10-2, on Causeway Street. And with the blizzard that has rocked a good chunk of the country, there may not be many of those mean fans that have caused the Rangers to go 5-13-4 at Madison Square Garden.
It wouldn’t be a shock if Ranger tough guy Sam Carrick would request a rematch with Mark Kastelic, who scored a knockdown punch on Carrick in that romp.
Zadorov injury
Though not totally a surprise, Nikita Zadorov did not practice with the Bruins on Sunday at MSG. The big defenseman suffered what looked like a serious injury when, in the second period of the B’s win over Montreal, he was checked into the boards by Montreal’s Zach Bolduc and elevated off the ice. When he came down, his right skate blade planted in the ice and, under the weight of his 255-pound frame, his knee torqued in an unhealthy way. He needed help to get off the ice and down the tunnel.
It was a surprise – a shock, really – to see him return to the game in the third period. But he was laboring and you got the sense he was running on adrenaline. Sturm said that he’ll be re-evaluated on Monday.
“He’s a big man, so that’s a lot of weight on his two legs there. We’ll see how (Monday) goes. We feel confident. We’re actually really healthy. We still have (Henri Jokiharju) ready to go, too. He’ll be a game-time decision,” Sturm told reporters in New York.
After a mercurial first season with the B’s, Zadorov (plus-16) has been a rock this season, no matter who his partner has been. The B’s have five games left before the three-week Olympic break. Depending on the severity of the injury, it may be prudent to see if they can get to the three-week hiatus without him. Along with the right-shot Jokiharju, left-shot D Jordan Harris is currently on a conditioning assignment in Providence. He hasn’t played an NHL game since suffering a broken ankle on Oct. 21.
While January was relatively light, March will be a challenge. They play 16 games in 29 days with four sets of back-to-backs.
Penalty-kill woes
Slowly but surely, the penalty kill has become an issue again. They have allowed seven power-play goals in their last five games and have dropped to 24th in the league (77.4%) after giving up a pair against the Montreal Canadiens. The B’s offensive output – ninth overall in goalscoring (3.31) and third overall in power play (26.6%) – has been a welcome surprise. But the PK is an area that was hoped to be one of strength. It has not been for a while now. If they want to stay alive in this ultra-competitive season, that needs to be rectified somehow.
