How Jim Montgomery Plans To Handle Bruins During Final Stretch
BOSTON — The Bruins won their 10th straight game in a victory over the New York Rangers at TD Garden on Saturday, but Boston knows there’s much more to accomplish.
The clash between top Eastern Conference teams didn’t necessarily deliver a playoff-like atmosphere, at least according to Linus Ullmark, but the Black and Gold got the job done as they continue their historic regular season.
The Bruins have 103 points, which is 15 more than the next-closest team behind them, the Carolina Hurricanes, as of Saturday night. The goal is a Stanley Cup title, and with the closing stretch of the season drawing near, Boston knows it can take advantage of this upcoming stretch of rest days.
“Yes, the last 20 games, we will look to rest certain players, for sure,” Jim Montgomery said. “But these next four days, it allows us a break to recover.”
Boston is off until a Thursday matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, which means newcomer Tyler Bertuzzi will get more practice time with the team as Montgomery continues to tinker with his lineups.
“That’s gonna be put in a blender here — a think tank blender — because we got to get better,” Montgomery said. “We’re not creating enough scoring chances. That’s something we’re gonna look at.”
Bertuzzi filled in for Nick Foligno on the second-unit power play, but the power-play unit as a whole went 0-for-3 against the Rangers. Boston commands the best penalty-kill in the NHL, but there’s clearly more work to be done before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.
“It’s fine tuning our game, getting better at what we think we have to get better at,” Montgomery said. “There are areas of our game we have to improve in order to be better in the playoffs. You can get away with a lot of turnovers. You can get away with giving up odd-man rushes when you’re playing non-playoff teams, but when you’re playing playoff teams, you can’t get away with it.”
It would be a shocker if the Bruins didn’t win the Presidents’ Trophy this season, but Montgomery knew after Saturday’s win that the team, if you can believe it, still has ways to get even better.
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