The Boston Bruins have lost two straight games and will aim to end that skid Friday night in a city where they made some fantastic memories in 2011.
The B’s are at Rogers Arena, the site of their Game 7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. It’s Boston’s only trip to Vancouver in the regular season and the first in a five-game road trip that includes matchups against four teams currently in a Western Conference playoff spot.
This road trip is of the utmost importance to the Bruins because their lead over the Florida Panthers for Eastern Conference’s second and final wild card playoff spot is just four points. Florida also has a game in hand on Boston.
Vancouver has exceeded expectations this season. The Canucks sit in third place in the Pacific Division and have an 87.4 percent chance to reach the playoffs in what many expected to be a rebuild/transition campaign for the franchise.
Here’s a quick preview of Bruins-Canucks.
TV, Radio Information: NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub
Season Series: First meeting
Record: Boston (28-19-7, fourth in Atlantic), Vancouver (30-20-3, third in Pacific)
Bruins Player To Watch: Reilly Smith has been moved up and down the lineup over the last two weeks — including some ice time on the fourth line — in search of the line that will help him end his goal scoring drought, which currently stands at five games. Smith also has scored just one goal in his last 17 games. The Bruins will need Smith to break out and provide scoring because four of the five opponents on this road trip rank in the top 15 in goals against average.
Canucks Player To Watch: Radim Vrbata signed with Vancouver in the offseason as a free agent and has made a smooth transition to the top line alongside Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Vrbata leads the Canucks with 20 goals scored (seven more than any teammate) and ranks third in scoring with 39 points. The Sedin-Sedin-Vrbata line also helps Vancouver control more than 53 percent of even-strength shot attempts.
Key Stat For Bruins: Boston is just 6-for-37 on the power play in the 16 games since the start of January. The Bruins’ struggles with the man advantage cost them at least a point from Tuesday night’s loss to the Dallas Stars. The B’s went 0-for-3 on the power play and tallied just nine shots in nine minutes of ice time with the man advantage. The Canucks have the league’s sixth-best penalty kill with an 84.9 percent success rate.
Key Stat For Canucks: Vancouver is not a good puck possession team, with a 49.46 Corsi-for percentage at even strength. So, how are they in a playoff spot in a tough Pacific Division? Well, the Cancucks are 13-2-3 in games decided by a single goal, good for the third-best win percentage (.722) in those games.
Thumbnail photo via Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press
