The Need to Knows
- The Time: 7pm PST
- The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in beautiful Seattle, Washington
- Place to Watch: KONG, KHN Networks, Amazon Prime, NESN, SportsNet
- Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Game Preview
The Boston Bruins are not the Boston Bruins of old anymore.
Well, in one specific way they are historically…they just aren’t in a playoff spot.
Boston’s lifeblood now as they retool into…whatever they think they are now, is that of David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie; who account for just about 31% of all Boston Bruins goals scored, and have almost doubled up on the third best players on their team. By all accounts, the B’s have returned to their roots of having game warping talent that has to help get a infinitely less talented roster around them to respectability. It’s just extremely pronounced this time.
They do have some help. Fraser Minten appears to finally be rounding in to form, Pavel Zacha always finds a way to wow people when he’s on his horse, and while Jeremy Swayman has taken up the torch of “We had to pay this goalie and he disappointed me once, so he’s dead to me until he retires” that Tuukka Rask once wielded, reports of his demise in specific are greatly exaggerated, and while he didn’t start his year great he’s still a very, very tough goaltender to beat.
And he’s had to be, because the team that keeps priding itself on defensive skill is cheeks at it this year. From Mason Lohrei’s comically poor turnovers to Hampus Lindholm turnstilings, if the Kraken can keep the pressure on, they will be able to make life incredibly difficult for Boston simply because their best are geared towards one aspect of the game, and with very specific exception it’s not defensive play.
Oh yeah, and you’d better not get suckered into taking any penalties against them. While they’re struggling to maintain an offensive balance, their power play is a demon in waiting; 4th in the NHL with a 29.1% success rate.
Back-to-backs are always tough, but if the Kraken can apply themselves and get up quick, they have a great chance of beating the B’s.
LET’S GO KRAKEN, LET’S GO SQUIDS!