Morning Skate: Milestone
Mar 27, 2023 - 10:40 AMWelcome to another week, folks!
While we didn't have a recap for you, by now I’m sure you’re caught up on the Bruins’ 4-3 shootout win over Carolina in Raleigh yesterday.
It was a good weekend for the B’s, who beat two contenders in back-to-back games, the second of which came without three of their best players.
One can’t help but think that we might see a lot of that kind of lineup rotation as the next couple of weeks unfold — Jim Montgomery said that Hampus Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand were all dealing with nagging things, but “get some rest” can be a good reason too.
Both wins featured milestones of sorts as well, with Saturday’s win clinching the Atlantic Division title and Sunday’s featuring David Pastrnak’s 50th and 51st goals of the season.
It’s the first time Pastrnak has hit 50 and the first time a Bruin has scored 50+ in a season since Cam Neely, so...pretty cool.
The Bruins are now 16 points ahead of Carolina in the “first overall” (I won’t say the trophy curse name) race and the Hurricanes have 10 games left.
By my rudimentary math, a combination of a Bruins win and Carolina loss Tuesday would clinch first overall, meaning the B’s would literally have nothing to play for as we roll into April.
Sit everyone, play the entire Providence roster, etc.
The weekend unfortunately featured two scary-looking injuries too, with Mike Reilly going down hard into the boards in Providence and Jakub Lauko suffering an awkward collision yesterday.
Lauko was deemed to have an upper-body injury postgame and said to be available Tuesday (which is weird, as I thought he tweaked his leg), while Reilly was said to be up and moving around, feeling good after the game.
What’s on tap for today?
Today’s discussion topic
Mason Lohrei’s Ohio State lost to Quinnipiac on Sunday, ending their season. In the “Rumor Mill” file:
Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold on Mason Lohrei:
— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) March 26, 2023
"He's a special player. He's elite. He should probably be in the NHL right now and probably will be in about a day or two, is my guess"
With nothing to play for down the stretch, would now be the right time to get Lohrei in the professional mix?
Be the first!
Related News
- 2024 World Juniors PRIMER: Everything you need to know! Dec 25
- Public Skate: Bruins vs. Wild Dec 23
- Shattenkirk talks finding balance in his game Dec 23
- Preview: Bruins vs. Wild again, this time in Minnesota Dec 23
- Public Skate: Bruins vs. Jets Dec 22
- Preview: Bruins begin Christmas road trip with a visit to Winnipeg Dec 22
- Morning Skate: Missed Dec 20
- Recap: Bruins fall to rallying Wild, 4-3, in OT Dec 20
- Public Skate: Bruins vs. Wild Dec 19
- Affiliate Report: Providence pushes past Pennsylvania foes, Maine on the right track Dec 19
- Preview: Bruins look to capitalize on a tired Wild team tonight Dec 19
- Matthew Poitras joins Canada at the WJC! Dec 18