Morning Skate: Summit

Mar 31, 2023 - 10:15 AM

Happy Friday, folks!

We’ve reached the end of March, believe it or not. Time flies when you’re having fun.

It certainly wasn't the most entertaining of games, but the Bruins had some fun last night, beating Columbus in overtime and clinching the Presidents’ Trophy in the process.

The latter point has been all but a foregone conclusion for about two months, but it’s nice to finally get it settled, I suppose.

Now, the team literally has nothing to play for over the last couple of weeks of the regular season, making it an ideal time to rest, rotate, “maybe don’t try to block that shot,” etc.

While the Bruins will be spectating for the rest of the regular season, there’s still plenty of intrigue to go around.

The Devils beat the Rangers last night, 2-1, while the Hurricanes lost to the Red Wings. That puts New Jersey just a point behind Carolina in the Metro, though the Canes have a game in hand.

Two straight wins for the Panthers have them right back in the wild card mix, a point behind Pittsburgh, though they also have a game in hand.

Ottawa is gunning for first place in the “Pain” sweepstakes, in that they’re not going to be close enough to really have a shot but are close enough to not get a great draft pick out of the season.

The Western Conference has some great races too, including Winnipeg, Seattle, and Calgary all within three points of one another for WC2.

Should be fun to watch!

Today’s discussion topic

We haven’t had a Morning Skate in a couple days, so in case you missed it:

• Assistant GM Evan Gold was named GM of the P-Bruins, though he’ll continue in his B-Bruins duties as well.
• The B’s signed Boston College Eagle Trevor Kuntar to a two-year ELC, which will begin at the start of next season.
• Charlie Coyle received the Eddie Shore Award (hustle), Patrice Bergeron received the John Bucyk Award (charity), and David Pastrnak, Linus Ullmark, and Brad Marchand were named first, second, and third stars of the season (home performance).