The teams with the two highest point totals in the NHL will face off on Saturday night when the Winnipeg Jets visit the Washington Capitals. The Western Conference-best Jets recorded their fifth straight win and eighth in their last 10 games with a 6-2 romp over the host Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm had goals for the Bruins, who have lost two in a row. Joonas Korpisalo finished with 21 saves.
Before the Western Conference leader Winnipeg faces the best team in the Eastern Conference on Saturday, the Bruins will give them a pitstop in Boston.
The current playoff odds don't favor the Bruins. But even with Boston looking at an arduous road, they're embracing the challenge.
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers face off in Eastern Conference action. Boston is 25-22-6 overall and 16-8-3 in home games. The Bruins rank first in league play serving 11.0 penalty minutes per game. New York is 12-11-2 on the road and 24-22-4 overall. The Rangers have an 18-7-3 record when scoring three or more goals.
The Winnipeg Jets will look to continue their winning ways on Saturday when they take on the Washington Capitals. To kick off February, the Jets will be the top team in the NHL, taking on the #2 team, in Washington, on Hockey Night in Canada. That game should be all types of fun as we near the break.
The St. Louis Blues are in an interesting position in the standings. At this point in the campaign, they have a 23-24-4 record and are five points behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Bruins have fought the injury bug while battling to remain among the NHL’s playoff contenders with under three months remaining in the regular season.
Boston was thumped in Buffalo on Tuesday, and the return of McAvoy – out since Jan. 11 with a wrist injury – will certainly help.
The Boston Bruins announced today that longtime partner SCORE Boston has been selected as the recipient of a grant under the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association Industry Growth Fund (IGF) with additional support from the Boston Bruins Foundation.
Plus a Colorado high school basketball coach is suspended after refusing to shake a Jewish day school's coach and more in our weekly sports report.