Bruins arrive late to Buffalo following holiday break and skip day-of-game skate, but ‘ready to go’ against Sabres
BUFFALO — The long ‘n’ winding road of the NHL’s 82-game regular season was made a touch more circuitous Saturday for the Bruins. Their morning-of-game flight out of Bedford/Hanscom was delayed a couple of hours because the club’s charter plane had to be de-iced and, per team president Cam Neely, there was an inordinate amount of traffic awaiting takeoff.
“You beat us here!” a smiling, animated Marco Sturm shouted toward a Boston reporter as the team bus arrived at KeyBank Center at 12:15 p.m.
The delay meant none of the Bruins, last seen Tuesday night on Causeway Street, hit the ice for the customary day-of-game skate. Instead, they remained out of equipment and stretched for 5-10 minutes before making their way on foot to an adjacent hotel for food and rest.
“These days are always kind of tough. Same-day travel, sort of like travel in the preseason,” noted defenseman Charlie McAvoy some 20 minutes after getting off the bus. “There’s just things that are going to be out of your control. We’ll be fine. We’ll try to pick up the schedule like a normal day — eat something, get a nap, and get back here ready to go.”
Get Starting Point
The Bruins hoped to use Game No. 39 as a means to get their game right after dropping four straight (0-3-1) on home ice. They looked mentally flatlined in giving up four goals to the Canadiens in the third period Tuesday.
“I think the time off was good. Everyone should be excited to come back,” added McAvoy. “We talked a little bit about where we are, what our goals are for what I call the second half of the year. It’s all right in front of us and I think we’re excited about it.”
Per the language of the collective bargaining agreement, teams weren’t allowed to travel until Saturday morning, once the NHL’s three-day holiday break concluded. It allows players extra time to celebrate the season, but it typically also causes the kind of unexpected twists and turns that faced the Bruins.
“Mentally,” said Sturm, musing over the day’s interrupted plans, and the 7:08 puck drop, “it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge, that’s for sure.”
Korpisalo takes a turn in net
Joonas Korpisalo was back in the Bruins net, his first start since giving up five goals on 17 shots (27:31 total) in last Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the Senators … The ever-feisty Tanner Jeannot was injured (undisclosed) in Tuesday night’s 6-2 loss to the Canadiens and was not in the lineup … Injured defensemen Jonathan Aspirot and Henri Jokiharju (the former Sabre) are on the trip. “Slowly,” said Sturm, “guys are coming back.” Though he noted it’s an encouraging sign they are inching ahead in their recoveries, Sturm said it’s uncertain if either will play on a trip that includes stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Seattle. “Too early to say, but it’s gone from week-to-week to day-to-day.” … Young Rhys McAvoy, who just turned 11 months old, found a pair of hockey gloves under the Christmas tree. “Tiny things,” said his smiling dad. “Honestly, he didn’t know what they were. He kinda whacked at ‘em, tore the paper off, and that was about it.” All in all, added the future defenseman’s dad, “it was a wonderful Christmas.”
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at [email protected].
