The NBC Sports group will continue its coverage of the 2016-17 NHL season with a doubleheader on Wednesday night. In the first game, the Boston Bruins travel to Washington to take on the Capitals at 8:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online by clicking here.
The Boston Bruins enter the Verizon Center having won each of their last three games, including last night’s 4-3 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Bruins find themselves in third spot in the Atlantic Division with 58 points in 53 games this season. Everyone is quick to point out that they’ve played five more games than Ottawa and Toronto, but with the condensed schedule set up the way it is, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing for Boston.
“I think the schedule lends itself a little bit more to that with not playing three in four (nights) all the time. Or if there’s a back-to-back, like there is to start out, then we get a couple days to fill the tanks back up again,” David Backes said, per the Boston Herald. “That said, it’s a necessity now, you’re fighting for your life, and you need to gather the points, and now’s the time.”
Unlike the Bruins, the Caps were unable to win their first game back from the break, as they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Islanders. Backup goalie Philipp Grubauer was between the pipes in that one, so expect Braden Holtby to get a crack at Boston tonight.
On a positive note, the Capitals didn’t drop a home game in the month of January. Their last home loss came in late-December, when they dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to the Devils. Their last regulation loss at the Verizon Center happened on Dec. 17 against Montreal (they lost 2-1 in regulation).
Heading into tonight’s action, Washington finds themselves at the top of the NHL standings with 72 points in 50 games. They’re one point ahead of Minnesota, who have a game in hand.
After that game comes to an end, NBCSN will turn its focus to the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings. Puck drop in that one is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. You can also watch the game online by clicking here.
The Colorado Avalanche are one of the few teams that won’t have to worry about competing for a playoff spot. As you’ve probably figured out already, that’s not a good thing.
No team has collected less points than the Avs this season. No one is even close to being as bad as they’ve been. Colorado has accumulated just 28 points in 47 games. The team directly above them is Arizona and they’ve managed to pick up 10 more points than the struggling Avs.
Last night, they got blown out 5-1 by the Ducks, and extended their losing streak to eight games in the process.
“Like every other game, we don’t really score much and (Anaheim) is one of the best defensive teams. Just par for the course,” forward Nathan MacKinnon said, per the Denver Post. “It’s obviously tough to find positives.”
Whenever teams struggle this badly, talk about potential changes ramps up. Right now, the entire hockey world is aware that Joe Sakic could blow his team up at any moment. It’s no secret that names like Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog have been floated in trade rumors, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Avs part ways with them before the deadline.
The Kings are in a much better spot than the Avalanche because they’re currently in a playoff spot, but things can get away from them pretty quickly if they don’t find more consistency.
Los Angeles is sitting in the first Wild Card spot in the West. The only issue is that there are five teams that trail them by just two points or less.
They looked good coming out of the break, as they took down the Arizona Coyotes, 3-2, on Tuesday night, and they extended their winning streak to three games in the process.
