You’ve got to hand it to the Boston Bruins. After making the postseason for eight straight seasons, the Bruins finally had an off year last season, finishing last in the Atlantic Division. This season, though, they’re right back in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Their 68 points through 56 games has them sitting in the second wild card spot, five points up on the nearest teams chasing them.
The question, though, is whether Boston can keep up their winning ways to maintain their playoff spot. Their roster is unlikely to impress. Sure, winger David Pastrnak is a bonafide star, as is defenseman Charlie McAvoy, but the rest of their lineup is composed of unproven youngsters and run-of-the-mill journeymen. They haven’t exactly been playing close checking, hold-on-tight hockey, either, as they rank 18th in the NHL with 3.13 goals allowed per game.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Jonny Lazarus and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed the possibility of the Bruins falling out of the playoff picture.
Carter Hutton: A bit of a stretch for me is the Boston Bruins. This is a team that’s played very well. They’ve got good goaltending, Morgan Geekie’s been a great story, Alex Steeves, all these other pieces. I just don’t know if they’re going to be ready enough to hold off what’s coming. What’s coming is the Columbus Blue Jackets, which is another team that is pushing, and there’s a couple other teams, with Toronto winning three straight.
Out of those teams on the outside looking in, there’s going to be a lot of pressure nipping at the heels of the Boston Bruins, and the fact that this team doesn’t seem to have the depth that I think they need to have to sustain the post-Olympic break push.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Wednesday’s episode here…
