One would think there would be blood tonight after the Chara hit, and all this animosity between these two teams, but I feel both these teams have too much to lose to get into too much of that. The Bruins are currently 3 point ahead of the Canadiens for 1st place in the Northeast.
The Bruins haven't been playing well of late, but looked very good last game out against the red hot Devils. What was the key to their success? Improved powerplay, and overall offense. This is because the Bruins defense pinched in to help the offense. Listen, the Bruins aren't going to be a great offense team at any point this year. Yet, when you get guys like Kaberle and Chara pinching in a bit, it opens up the whole offense and gives guys like Lucic room to score, and Bergeron room to make plays. It's really that simple. Sure, there is a chance they could get burned, but there aren't many other defensemen I trust to make the "right call" then Kaberle and Chara on when to help out on offense.
The Bruins are still turning the puck over way too much in their own zone. Guys like Ference really need to find a way to cut down on these mistakes, because those are the types of things that will cost you playoff games. I still don't like the Canadiens, and still don't think they are a good team, so even though I have been picking against the Bruins, and they have been winning I just can't bring myself to pick the Canadiens. It just seems wrong. Actually, I still feel awful for "picking" the Devils the other day, even if it was just to jinx them.
Bruins win 5-2
Player of the Game: Kaberle
Game starts at 7pm on NESN.
