With all the negativity surrounding the Boston Bruins lately, it’s probably a good time to bring out those old clichés about not letting the lows get too low and things never really being as bad as they seem.
Because let’s face it, despite the losses, it’s not like the Bruins have been getting completely run out of the rink. In their just-completed road trip, they gave away two goals on “mind-boggling” mistakes in Vancouver, blew a 3-0 lead in Calgary and lost in overtime, outshot the Oilers 41-30 only to lose in a ridiculous shootout, held the Blues to 15 shots but had a rookie goaltender between the pipes, and won 6-2 in Chicago.
While it’s hard to defend how they played against the Canucks, and blowing a 3-0 lead is pretty inexcusable, there were elements of bad luck on that trip.
“Obviously, we struggled during this road trip, but it was a good, convincing win [over the Blackhawks],” Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said Sunday. “Again, it’s not up to where we should have been on the overall road trip, but if you look back to the last period of the Edmonton game, I think our legs and hands are coming around. I liked the way we skated with the puck in the St. Louis game, and [in Chicago], too — so some promising signs.”
The B’s have a good opportunity to build on those promising signs in their next few games. Tuesday they host Vancouver, Friday they’re in New Jersey, Saturday they host Arizona, after which they get four days off to prepare for visits from the Flames and Flyers.
Even without David Krejci, Boston should be the betting favorite in all five of those games.
Related: Krejci’s injury is reportedly to his knee, might be long-term