Preview: November 1st 2022: Boston (8-1-0) @ Pittsburgh (4-4-0)

    The Boston Bruins look to extend their five game winning streak and league leading record as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow evening at PPG Paints Arena.  Boston has sprinted out of the gates this season, breaking the franchise record for most wins in the opening nine games with an 8-1-0 record.  Depth scoring, stellar goaltending, and a new head coach have all greatly contributed to the team’s success; and with Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy soon expected to return to the lineup, the Bruins are looking to elevate their game even further. 


    Coming off two days of rest, a killer Halloween Party, and a seemingly effortless 4-0 shutout over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston looks poised to take two points out of Pittsburgh tomorrow night.  Pittsburgh finds themselves 7th in the Metropolitan division, and 14th in the Eastern Conference with their 4-4-1 record.  It’s been a tough week for the Penguins.  They enter tomorrow’s game on a 4 game losing streak, including a 3-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken, and even more embarrassingly, a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.  Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan described the locker room as being discouraged, and a quick peek into the online forums of the Penguins fan base shows an equally disheartened viewership.

    

        Across Pittsburgh’s last four games, they have been outscored 18-6 despite their 3.56 goals per game average, good enough for 6th in the NHL at the moment - guess who’s in first place, wink wink.  I do believe it’s worth noting how incredibly dense the Penguins’ schedule has been lately, playing 7 games in 10 days - including two back to backs, the second of which kicks off tomorrow against Boston.  This may be contributing to their struggles as of late, as they had started the season 4-0-1.

    

        It’s easy to look at the Bruins’ success so far and believe that they’ll crush anyone in their path, because so far that’s mostly true.  But given that the Penguins are returning home after a lengthy road trip filled with frustration and defeat, I think they’ll be a particularly dangerous squad tomorrow evening.  However…given that their defense and goaltending have been sub-par this season (21st in goals allowed, 28th in penalty killing) , they might still be facing a hill too steep to climb with the Boston Bruins.  Boston leads the league in, and let me take a deep breath before I start: Most wins, fewest losses, points, points percentage, goals, goal differential, second in penalty kill percentage, and third in goals allowed, shooting percentage, and save percentage.  Good lord.   Even in my wildest dreams about this season, I never expected (nor did literally anyone) the Bruins to come out swinging just this hard. 

        

        Look for Boston to try and bury the downtrodden Pittsburgh Penguins early in the tilt tomorrow night.  And keep an eye out for the returns of Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand - both of which are ruled out for tomorrow but are traveling with the team.  David Krejci will be out until at least Saturday night against Toronto, but given the team’s record and depth, I say let him rest.  Let’s keep this freight train rolling, and holy hell can we extend Pastrnak already before we have to pay him $20 million a year?


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