The Bruins have one game left before the three-week Olympic break to get rid of the taste in their mouths from the blown four-goal lead in the Stadium Series game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
They will be facing a team that’s even more desperate than they are. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are nine points behind the B’s, who own the second wild card spot, with four teams between them and the Bruins. The B’s, meanwhile, have a five-point lead on the closest team outside of the playoff bracket, the Washington Capitals.
Both the B’s and Panthers are wounded. The B’s will still be without their top two centerman, Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha, while the Panthers’ Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell are all questionable.
“The message today is that this is a one-game mission for us. It’s two big points,” coach Marco Sturm told reporters in Florida. “I know a lot of guys may have the Olympics in their heads a little, which is normal. But somehow we have to find a way to steal two points from Florida. They’re in the same boat. I don’t know who is going to be in the lineup for them and they have another game left. It’s more like a mental game but we’ll do our best to make this happen.”
The B’s used Monday as a travel day with no practice and, after the crazy game at Raymond James Stadium, Sturm felt a little decompression was needed.
“It’s an emotional event and I think it’s a good thing to have a day in between,” said Sturm. “Guys were excited for a good practice and hopefully for a good game (Wednesday).”
The coach said he did address where he felt his players’ performance was lacking against the Lightning.
“They dragged us in for some stupid penalties,” said Sturm. “We gave them life, we gave them hope, we gave them momentum. That’s something we have to learn from and move on.”
If Sturm was looking for another challenge for his players not to take stupid penalties, he couldn’t find a better team to play than the Panthers….
With the injury to Buffalo Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka-Luukkonen, Joonas Korpisalo was named to Team Finland for the Olympics, joining Bruin defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
“It means a lot,” said Korpisalo. “Obviously, I feel bad for Luukkonen. (Bad) time for an injury just one week before the Olympics. But I’m happy to jump in and it’s a great honor.”
Korpisalo was 4-0-1 in January for the B’s.
“It’s great news today,” said Strum. “He really stepped up his game probably since the Buffalo game (a loss on December 27). He deserved to be in there and I’m very happy for him.”
That makes eight players going from the Bruins varsity, plus Dans Locmelis (Latvia) from Providence, going to Milan.
Sturm admitted to having some mixed feelings about all those players going.
“Yes and no. A lot of guys, and it’s a big month for us (in March),” said Sturm. “But again, I’ve been in the Olympics and I know how great it is and how important it is to some players. I’m just happy they have a chance to go. We’ll figure it out. We may do some off days for the guys coming back and try to help them to go through this once and be our best players.”
Sturm believes Elias Lindholm (Sweden) and Zacha (Czechia) are still a go for the Games, but that decision is not in the B’s hands.
“As of right now, yes. But again, they’re still not here so that’s not good. So that means they still have issues,” said Sturm. “But up to this point, it’s probably more up to the (the respective federations’) doctors than ours and their decision moving forward. I don’t know when (the deadline) is but hopefully both will be OK to go.”…
Speaking of goaltenders, Providence’s Michael DiPietro was named the AHL’s Goalie of the Month. He posted a 8-1 record, a 1.34 goals against average and a .949 save percentage. On the season, DiPietro has a 1.67 GAA, .940 save percentage and 18-5-0 record.
Considering the success of former prospect goalie Brandon Bussi in Carolina, it will be interesting to see the lengths that the B’s will go to hang on to DiPietro. The 26-year-old netminder passed through waivers to go down to Providence at the start of the season but it would seem doubtful that he would clear again next season. He is under contract for one more season while the 30-year-old Korpisalo has two more years left on his deal….
A trade free goes into effect at 3 pm on Wednesday and runs through February 22.
