By the end of the night, the playoff picture could look different. In a way, it’s silly to keep track of this as it’s changing day by day. But when the Bruins were so far behind the top three teams in the Atlantic, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Toronto, that they didn’t have hopes to catch up and now they have.
The top 4 teams in the Flortheast have played the same number of games, 65, so it is down to the final 17 games to determine playoff seeding. Second and third place are in play; Florida is so far ahead that unless they go on a big slide, no one will catch up with them.
I think the three important things to remember are: Tampa looks vulnerable, Toronto needs 5 goals to win due to their defensive and goalie deficits, and the Bruins are better after the trade for Hampus Lindholm. I’m not just saying that because I have fallen hard for him, it is the truth. While he puts up some stellar stats with Charlie McAvoy, similar to the Grzelcyk-McAvoy combo in the past, his shoring up the top LD allows Grizz to go down in the lineup to allow him to use his puck moving ability alongside Brandon Carlo. The Bruins defense was good and stingy and will remain so, maybe getting even better. Only 3 teams in the NHL have allowed fewer goals than the Bruins’ 174: Hurricanes (157), Flames (160), and the Rangers (172).
Tonight, the B’s take on one of those division opponents for the penultimate time. Toronto sits in 3rd place, tied with the Bruins for points and only winning on a tiebreak of regulation wins. The two teams records are identical otherwise, 41-19-5. The B’s are riding a 4 game win streak while Toronto has a 1 game win streak against division leader Florida.
Tonight should be a fun tilt between these two teams.
Bergy discusses 1,200 games with the Boston Bruins!
Morning al. Based on the contents of the recycling bin, everyone in my building had a Newman’s Own Uncured Pepperoni frozen pizza for dinner this weekend…myself included!
We did a gluten free frozen pizza that was shockingly awesome! Jo adds some fresh tomato, extra cheese, and a bit of sauce.
That sounds good! I always throw on some garlic powder and crushed red pepper. Then wonder why I have heartburn!
The Pride won the Isobel cup last night! Yay!
I needed a win by proxy, and I felt they were fairly heavy underdogs, playing a team they struggled against,, so that was particularly cool.
Only watched bits and pieces. Talk about getting hot at the right time!
Morning folks,
Bruins-Leafs has become a superb rivalry. Probably not as much at stake tonight as it seems, but it will probably still be played with a playoff-type intensity. Bring it on!
Day off tomorrow. Spent last Wednesday afternoon largely in pub gardens, reading. Don’t that I’ll be doing that this week though! Brrrr!
Pub garden season should be back soon! What are you reading?
Currently reading a Beatles book called One, Two, Three, Four. About some of the well known Beatle anecdotes and the way their telling has changed over the years. Comparing different accounts of the same events. Quite interesting.
Got a short Stephen King lined up for after that, called Elevation, and I’m quite into Norwegian crime thrillers. Only the translated versions though – I’ll leave the multilingual stuff to you!
Good morning!
17 games! That’s still a lot of points on the table. I hope the Bs can continue their torrid pace.
The Western Conference has it’s fair share of drama, too. Six teams fighting for the last three spots! Vancouver, Vegas, and Winnipeg have played a couple more games than the rest, so their odds are not as good, but with 14 – 18 games left, they still have a shot.
13° this morn.. What the heck?
Not digging the cold today. Took Boomer outside and didn’t really have the right coat for temperatures this cold. On the plus side, there’s probably no activity from ticks & the like.
I woke up yesterday with one o them fuckers embedded in my neck. Bastard must have got on me while I was sleeping. I had a bruise form underneath it and it hurt pulling the POS off of me. So now I don’t know how long it’s been on me and the bite area is all inflamed, so I had to go to the doctor and get antibiotics (lime disease is endemic around here). Now I won’t fully be at ease using my own pillows & blankets for a few days. Yuck.
Yeah, I was wondering about Lime disease as I was reading that. Hope you got the head out. You have to burn ticks off, don’t you, or suffocate them in oil? Or is that a load of old cobblers?
I did get the head out and afterward, I burned the hell out of it while it squirmed.
I’ve always had good luck gripping them as close to the skin as possible and gently twisting and pulling. It’s a mess if the head breaks off and you have to dig it out.
I washed all of the bedclothes yesterday: the duvet, the blanket, the sheets, the pillow cases. Even Cookie. I know it’s the phantom feeling and paranoia but everything is good and clean.
I see ticks as soon as the temperature goes above freezing. Some trails go off limits in a hurry… trails with tall grass or lots of overhanging branches.