Boston Bruins: 3 takeaways from successful 5-game road trip
By Justin Keene
The Boston Bruins return home tonight, after going 4-0-1 and getting 9 out of a possible 10 points on their longest road trip of the season.
The Boston Bruins have had quite an interesting week leading up to the NHL trade deadline. The dreaded West Coast trip has not been kind to the Bruins in recent years, but this year they return to Boston after extending their point streak to 13 games.
With just over a month left in the NHL regular season, points are at a premium. The Bruins need every point they can get if they want to keep home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
Speaking of the NHL Playoffs, the Bruins were able to go 2-0-1 against playoff teams on this trip (San Jose, Vegas, St. Louis). Let’s take a look at 3 takeaways from the road trip.
1.Secondary scoring has stepped up
Going into this trip, David Pastrnak was placed on injured reserve with a thumb injury. Losing the leading scorer on your team is tough, and questions arose of who would step up and provide scoring in his absence. A week and a half later, these questions have been answered.
Young players especially, have provided scoring. Jake DeBrusk had 7 points on this trip, with 4 goals and 3 assists. David Krejci had 7 points, all assists, including an assist on each of Charlie McAvoy’s game winning goals against the Kings and Sharks. McAvoy also provided an assist on Brad Marchand’s goal in the Sharks game. Seeing McAvoy and DeBrusk lighting the lamp is very encouraging with playoffs right around the corner.
The Boston Bruins also got production from some of the lesser names on the roster, including 1 goal and 1 assist from Noel Acciari, 3 assists from Sean Kuraly, and 3 big goals from Chris Wagner. If everyone can continue to provide scoring once Pastrnak comes back, the boys in black and gold could find their stride at just the right time.