Boston Bruins Try To End Offensive Drought Against Washington Capitals
The Boston Bruins have had some up and down years during the past decade. They’ve won a Stanley Cup but they’ve also been very ineffective at times. The mood this year heading into the season was that the Bruins were going to have a ‘down year’. Most specifically, they lacked any proven scorers on their roster. Despite this perceived deficiency on the offensive end, Boston has done a good job putting the puck into the net this season. In fact, they’re currently the #1 goals per game team in the National Hockey League.
The Bruins are averaging nearly four goals per game but that probably doesn’t give them much confidence heading into tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals. The Capitals beat the Bruins three times in three tries last year–but it gets worse. The Bruins didn’t score a goal in those three games as the Caps outscored them by a combined score of 10-0. The Bruins haven’t scored a regular season goal against Washington since March of 2014.
Is it weighing on them mentally? David Krejci says it isn’t but it would be nice to score on the Capitals: “It would be nice to score a goal against those guys, it’s been a long time, but last year is a long way gone and it’s a new season. We’ve been feeling pretty confident up front; we’ve got some good offense going, so we’ve got to keep it going. On the other hand, they have a really good team. They have some fast and skilled forwards up front, so we’re going to have to take care of our own end and get some chances from there.”
Part of the problem is that Caps goaltender Braden Holtby is really good–and especially against the Bruins. Krejci understands how to beat Holtby–in theory at least: “I don’t think we should focus too much on Holtby, just treat him like every other goaltender, put pucks on net, get some traffic, create some rebounds. If he doesn’t see the puck, he can’t stop it. We’re going to have to do a pretty good job at it tonight.”
At this point its Montreal and everyone else in the Atlantic Division–the Habs lead the second place Lightning and Senators by 9 points. The Bruins are one point behind Tampa Bay and Ottawa.