WILL A MATINEE ON HOME ICE BRING THE BRUINS 2 MORE POINTS?

If you were drawing up a blueprint for how the Boston Bruins could stop a 2 game losing streak you would probably include the where, the when and the who.  Although the Bruins are one of the best road teams in the NHL this season, if they want to get back to their winning ways a home game is just what the doctor ordered.

This season day games have been kind to the Bruins.  They are 11-2-1in games commencing by 3pm.  Today's game has a 1:00 start, so the time is right.  If given the opportunity to pick an opponent to play to end a losing streak, you would probably pick someone who you have beaten or isn't playing very well at the moment.  We can go ahead and check off those boxes too.  The Bruins are 2-0 against the Flyers this years and the Flyers have gone 1-3-2 in their last six.

While the Bruins have a lot going for them before they even take to the ice, they still need to play the game.  Ideally, they will play a full 60 minutes of hockey and refrain from penalties of the lazy variety.  The other place where they need to make good decisions is when clearing the puck during line changes and at the end of periods.  In my opinion, they seem to get caught with their hand in the cookie jar an awful lot with little time left on the clock.   

Another thing I've been noticing lately (even during the winning streak) is the fact that we've been having all kinds of stick problems lately.  There's been at least two time I can think of off the top of my head where our play was effected by part of a stick setting on the ice.  Once was in our defensive end where the stick was preventing us from clearing the puck.  The other day a stick was in front of the net which prevented us from having a shot from the right side. In addition to having sticks on the ice at inopportune times, we have also had a ton of broken sticks lately. 

Although neither team has announced goalies for today, I'm going to assume Tuukka Rask will be in net for the Bruins and Steve Mason will be in for the Flyers. If you are into zombies or cool goalie masks, you need to check out Mason's mask today.

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