BOSTON – The Bruins know that Saturday afternoon is a big game for them.
If they can somehow get past the best team in the Eastern Conference in the New York Rangers, they have the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs as three of the next four potentially winnable games on their schedule. There’s also a road game against the Detroit Red Wings mixed in that will prove to be a challenge for the Black and Gold.
That would leave them with a difficult three-game trip through Washington, Tampa Bay and Florida as the potential testing ground for their playoff worthiness, and a make-or-break stretch at the end of seemingly endless make-or-break stretches for the Black and Gold. Still, it all comes down to playing up to the level of New York on Saturday, and perhaps showing some of the same toughness, work ethic and defensive responsibility that they showed in Thursday night’s loss to Anaheim.
It will come down to scoring a few more goals obviously, as the Bruins have only 15 goals in their past seven games amid a six-game losing streak. They’ll need to create more 5-on-5 while keeping the power play cranking (five goals in the past four games) if they hope to have a chance against the Blueshirts.
To that point, the Bruins have scored only six 5-on-5 goals in their past six games. That’s been a real problem for them all year after being a tremendous strength to them in year’s past.
"Obviously, when we get our chances offensively we've got to find a way to bury them more. Obviously, against a team like the Rangers -- who have a lot of firepower and are playing really, really well as of late -- we're going to have to find ways to score some goals,” said Milan Lucic. "Everyone's really going to have to step up and score some big goals here. We just have to try and find that confidence in ourselves and in our game, and believe in each other that we can come out with some wins, and get ourselves in the playoffs."
The belief has taken a hit over the past six games with the losses starting to pile up and perhaps understandably so. But maybe a win over the Rangers on Saturday afternoon can start to bring back some of that belief.
Notes
*Henrik Lundqvist was the Rangers' backup goalie to Cam Talbot in a big win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night and will make his first start in a couple of months today as he comes back from a blood vessel issue in his neck.
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*Dan Girardi needed stitches to close up a cut suffered in the Rangers big win over the Senators, but he’s expected to play on Saturday afternoon in Boston.
*Ryan Spooner leads the Bruins with five goals and 10 points in 12 games during the month of March, and scored a power play goal in Thursday night’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
*David Krejci returned to the B’s lineup on Thursday against Anaheim after missing 15 games with a torn MCL in his left knee, and registered a pair of PP assists in 19 plus minutes of ice time.
*Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask is 8-2-0 with a 1.84 GAA in his past 10 games against the Rangers, including the playoff series against the Blueshirts in 2013.
*Injuries: Bruins – Kevan Miller (shoulder), Dougie Hamilton (shoulder) and Brett Connolly (right index finger) are out, but Connolly skated on Saturday morning as he continues to rehab from his injury. Rangers - Kevin Klein (arm) and Martin St. Louis (knee) are the only two significant injuries for the Rangers.
