Tonight the Jackets match up against the Boston Bruins who are statistically the best team in the Eastern Conference. Unlike their matchup against familiar division rival Detroit on Saturday, this game marks the first meeting of the two teams this season. Looks like the team will have a meeting with Antoine Vermette to find out the Bruins tendencies.
I would say the keys to the game are quite logical:
1 – Hit the net, and hit it often.. They were badly outshot by Detroit, but took advantage of a weak netminder in Chris Osgood. It is very unlikely that they will be that fortunate against any of the Bruins goaltenders. While most of their goals were impressive, those opportunities will decrease heavily with the big bodied defense that the Bruins have.
2 – Take advantage of the Bruins skid… Boston has lost four of their last five games, including a game against Phoenix. The one consistent number remains shots on goal, and the Bruins have had that advantage even in their losses. That means..
3 – Steve Mason, be A Mase Ing…. He looked confident against Detroit, and made some incredible saves. Consider that a warm up for what Krejci, Kessel, Savard, and co. can bring. Steve has been lackluster in the last month or so, fending off the after effects of mononucleosis and dealing with a few really poor defensive breakdowns, but tonight, first saves are key, and first saves without rebounds could be even more important.
The Bruins are not invincible, and their recent slide has proved that. It is time for the Jackets to show the rest of the conference they mean business in 6th place, and will not stop until they have secured 4th place.
Carry the Flag!
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