When visiting Boston, you need to know what a Grinder is, who has the best Frappes, stop in at Dunks and when walking the streets you need to know where the cleanest water Bubblah is. The fans are wicked passionate, and some Bruins fans might say Zdeno Chara was Pissa. I might shy away from using wicked, as it likely sounds more authentic coming from a Bostonian and my Boston insider, Ryan Whitney, told me only trashy people say pissa. He used it once at the dinner table when he was in middle school and his father snapped and said don’t use that word again. He hasn’t.
Boston is home to the first public beach (Revere Park) and the first subway system in America, and it’s one of the best sports cities in North America. They’ve won 13 championships, most of any city, since 2000 between the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins, which explains why so many Boston fans have a strut in their step right now. Sure, some of the fans are Massholes, but they are proud of it and Boston is a must-visit for any out-of-town fan.
They have great pubs and restaurants, and some amazing history spread across the city you can visit taking in a game. They are also home to some of the most hilarious laws. Many of them aren’t enforced, but it is hilarious to think at one time they were made a law.
- Goatees are illegal unless you obtain and pay for a license to wear your goatee in public. So awesome. Let’s be real, this might be the greatest law ever put in place.
- You can be fined $50 if you yell profanities or curse at a player or professional during a sports event. This law isn’t typically enforced, but wouldn’t it be hilarious if it was enforced in all sports arenas/venues?
- It is illegal in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts to scare a pigeon. This is meant for the birds not some of the tools worthy of the nickname.
- Defacing a milk carton is punishable by a $10 fine in Massachusetts. This has likely saved Elias Lindholm from being drawn on milk cartoons around the city. He has produced a point in only 15 of the Bruins’ 42 games this season. The Bruins aren’t getting much bang for the $7.75m AAV this season.
- It is illegal to give beer to hospital patients. I get the premise, but when the Red Sox ended their 85-year drought I’m guessing loved ones brought in flats of beer to celebrate with their dying loved ones.
- A woman may not be on top during sexual activities. This is just wrong. While the goatee law is hilarious, this is, without question, the worst law ever recorded.
Boston is a must-visit city in the United States.
HOCKEY SUCCESS…
They love their Bruins. The Bruins joined the NHL in 1924. The first NHL game ever played in the United States happened in Boston on December 1st, 1924. The Bruins defeated the Montreal Maroons 2-1 and thus began a love affair for hockey fans and their team. The Bruins have won six Stanley Cups starting in 1929 and again in 1939, 1941, 1970, 1972 and 2011. They’ve lost in the Final, an NHL record, 14 times.
Bruins last won the Cup in 2011, but since hoisting Lord Stanley’s mug in 2011 the Bruins have the most regular season wins and points. In fact, in the 2000’s the Bruins have the most wins, 1,016, followed by Dallas (977), Washington (973), Colorado (968) and Pittsburgh (965). Their arch-rival the Montreal Canadiens rank 23rd with 861 wins.
The Bruins have rarely iced a non-competitive team. From 1927 to 1959 they missed the playoffs three times. They’ve only had one stretch where they were terrible. They missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons between 1960-1967. They didn’t miss again until 1997. They missed again in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2007. They last missed the playoffs in 2015 and 2016, but those seasons they had 96 and 93 points — two of the best non-playoff seasons in NHL history.
The Bruins continually find ways to stay competitive. I thought they’d take a step back last year when Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci both retired. They didn’t. They aren’t a dominant team this season, but they are once again battling for a playoff spot. They are in third spot in the Atlantic division with 45 points, three up on Tampa Bay and four ahead of the suddenly surging Canadiens. Tampa has five games in hand while Montreal has two, so the Bruins are far from comfortable. But they are also far from a bottom feeder.
SNAPSHOTS…
— Boston enters tonight losers of four in a row. They lost on the road to the Capitals, Rangers and Maple Leafs and at home in OT to the Islanders on Sunday. Tonight is their third game in four nights.
— Leon Draisaitl has 12 goals and 27 points on his 14-game point streak. If he picks up a point tonight, it will be the longest scoring streak of his career. He’s having an incredible season leading the league in goals with 29, the most even strength goals with 22 and he’s second in 5×5 points with 29. He’s been on the ice for 34 goals 5×5 and has a point on 29 of them. He’s only been on for 19 goals against despite playing the fifth-most 5×5 minutes (642) among all NHL forwards. He has a 1.77 GA/60. Aleksander Barkov, who many consider the best two-way centre in the game has played 422 minutes and has a 1.99 GA/60.
— Draisaitl is a legitimate candidate for the Hart Trophy and the Selke. He’s also the leader by six goals for the Maurice Richard trophy. He’s been outstanding through 39 games.
— The Oilers have dominated the Bruins in Boston during the Draisaitl and Connor McDavid era. The Oilers are 7-1 and have outscored them 25-18. Draisaitl has six goals and 11 points while McDavid has 2-7-9 in seven games.
— Six of the Oilers next seven games are on the road, but the Oilers have the fifth best road P% in the NHL at .647. The Oilers rank fourth in GF/GP at 3.41 and they are fourth in GA/GP at 2.71. They have played the second fewest road games thus far one ahead of Dallas (16).
— The Bruins are tied for the 11th best home P% at .643 (12-6-3). They rank 23rd in GF/GP at 2.76 while they are 6th in GA/GP at 2.48. They’d prefer to keep it low scoring.
LINEUPS…
Oilers
RNH – McDavid – Brown
Podkolzin – Draisaitl– Arvidsson
J. Skinner – Henrique – Hyman
Kapanen – Janmark – Perry
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – J. Brown
Kulak – Emberson
Skinner
On paper the Skinner-Henrique-Hyman line should be able to produce. Between them they’ve produced 13 seasons of 20-29 goal seasons, seven 30-39, one 40 goal campaign and one 50+ goal season. That is 22 seasons of 20+ goals with Skinner having 10, Henrique seven and Hyman five. Hyman will eventually return to McDavid’s right wing as he’s a better finisher than Connor Brown, but I’m intrigued to see what this line can do. Skinner has three goals in his last 17 games. He’s tried adjusting his game to how Kris Knoblauch wants him to play — protect the puck better and move it quicker.
Josh Brown will play tonight. It isn’t clear what the pairs will be, but I suspect we will see Nurse split time with Brett Kulak and Brown.
If he is ever going to play in the top-six again, he will need to move the puck quickly to Draisaitl or McDavid. But this is his 15th season in the NHL. It is difficult to change how he plays. He’s trying, which tells me he wants to remain with a contending team. He scored a nice goal in Seattle, and he’s had some decent chances the past seven weeks, he just hasn’t finished as often as he’d like. We’ve seen many players get one goal and it frees them up a bit, and we’ll see if that goal gives Skinner the confidence he needs to bury more chances. He’s never had much success v. the Bruins with six goals in 50 career games, his lowest goals/game against any opponent.
Bruins
Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak
Marchand – Lindholm – Coyle
Wahlstrom – Frederic – Brazeau
Beecher – Kastelic – Koepke
Wotherspoon – McAvoy
Zadorov – Carlo
Lohrei – Peeke
Swayman
David Pastrnak scored 12 goals in the Bruins’ first 37 games, but he has five in the last five including consecutive two-goal performances. The Bruins sit 27th in goals/game at 2.64 and desperately need Pastrnak to get rolling. Parker Wotherspoon moved up to play with Charlie McAvoy last game and they will start as a pair again tonight. Wotherspoon missed 22 games with injury this season, and has mainly played with Brandon Carlo, but he’ll play his second game with McAvoy tonight. They’ve played a total of 39 minutes together at 5×5 this season and 21 of them came in the OT loss to the Islanders. They will likely see a lot of McDavid’s line tonight.
TONIGHT…
Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk at Handmade by Tom
GAME DAY PREDICTION: Edmonton continues their solid play in Boston and defeat the Bruins 4-2.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: McDavid picks up a point. He’s only gone three consecutive games (never four) without a point five times in his career. He doesn’t make it six tonight.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: RNH does something tonight he’s never done in his previous 919 games: score a goal in four consecutive games. He’s scored in three-consecutive games seven different times, but tonight is the first time he snipes four games in a row.
