Bruins return to action with wins over Sabres, Red Wings
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Here’s how the Bruins fared in their return to the ice over New Year’s weekend originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Sixteen days after their last game and 21 days after their last win, the Boston Bruins returned to the ice with two games in as many days to ring in 2022.
Nine goal scorers and four points later, the Bruins (16-10-2, 34 points) have moved into possession of the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture after wins over Atlantic Division foes in the Buffalo Sabres (10-17-6, 26 points) and Detroit Red Wings (15-15-3, 33 points).
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Recapping the Bruins in 2021 and looking ahead to pivotal 2022
For as lackluster as the B’s looked prior the COVID-19 shutdown, their performances in a 4-3 overtime win over Buffalo at TD Garden followed up with a 5-1 win over Detroit just 24 hours later at Little Caesars Arena shouldn’t go overlooked, regardless of the quality of opponents — although it was the Wings whom the Bruins leapfrogged in the standings Sunday.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the weekend, which began a stretch of games in January in which the Bruins are scheduled to have as many as two days off between games just once.
Top line shuffle pays immediate dividends
For years, fans have clamored for coach Bruce Cassidy to shift things around when it comes to Boston’s top line as the rest of the offense goes cold.
For at least two games, Cassidy experimented with David Pastrnak playing away from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, and the results would seem to speak for themselves.
“When you split it up, the only thing I’d say is, there might be a little more oxygen in the room for the secondary guys at times,” Cassidy said. “They get a lot of O-zone draws because they’re good at them. They run plays from them, they score. A little bit of the onus falls on the rest of the group to learn from what they do well.”
In a weekend which highlighted what the team’s depth players are capable of when everything is clicking, Pastrnak…
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Source : yahoo
