The Boston Bruins will look for their fifth straight win Tuesday night when they host the Carolina Hurricanes in the teams’ second meeting in less than a week.
Boston (46-17-15, 107 points) capped its recent six-game road trip with a 4-1 win over Carolina (49-22-7, 105 points) last Thursday and has played just once since, beating the Atlantic Division rival Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
Recent wins over playoff competitors have led to growing confidence for a veteran Bruins roster.
“It makes you feel good,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “It gives you confidence as a group to win those ones, first off, but just to do it and play the way we want to play and know how to play. … There are still things we can learn from, but to be able to come back when little lapses happen, it shows we’ve learned.”
Boston got the winning goal from the speedy Jesper Boqvist on Saturday. It was his sixth of the season, extending the team’s lead over Florida in the divisional standings to five points.
The Bruins’ wins in this stretch have come in different ways — one in overtime and one in a shootout, with convincing wins over the Hurricanes and Nashville Predators in between.
“I (like) the way we’ve grown and matured as a team here throughout the year and how we’ve been able to win games in the last stretch here,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’re just sticking with the process, we’re staying in the moment, we’re on to the next shift.”
Montgomery has liked how Boqvist — the 25-year-old who is in his first season with Boston — has teamed up on a line with Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic.
“We like the speed of JD and Boqvist together,” Montgomery said. “We think that can be an added weapon on our third line.”
Since last week’s loss to Boston, Carolina has won two home games — 4-2 over the Washington Capitals and 3-0 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Those results have moved them within five points of the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division lead.
“We’re trying to do our job, we’re trying to get ourselves going,” said Teuvo Teravainen, who registered a goal and an assist against Columbus to reach the 50-point mark this season.
Sunday marked Carolina’s final home game of the regular season, preceding the start of a four-game road trip.
The Hurricanes have gotten excellent goaltending from Frederik Andersen since returning from a 50-game absence due to a blood clotting issue. He is 8-1-0 with a 1.22 GAA in that span, including a 23-save shutout against Columbus that marked his second in three games.
“He’s been really solid since he’s come back,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’s steady. He’s very calm back there and I think that certainly helps.”
The Hurricanes have recently added players on entry-level contracts, including forward Bradly Nadeau and defenseman Scott Morrow, who finished their respective college seasons at Maine and UMass.
Nadeau joined the team for practice on Monday, just a day after signing. Morrow did the same last week.
“I think they’re all for potential (NHL games down the stretch),” Brind’Amour said. “We’ll see where it all kind of shakes out here.”
–Field Level Media