the Boston Bruins in a Wednesday night matchup of two teams looking to right the ship in their first action after the NHL’s three-day holiday break.
Both sides suffered road losses on Saturday night. A 3-2 loss at Minnesota extended Boston’s skid to a season-long four games (0-2-2), while Buffalo is in a 1-2-1 stretch following a 4-3 overtime loss to the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
The break came at an especially opportune time for the Bruins, who still have a four-point lead in the Atlantic Division and sit second in the conference despite their worst slump since December 2019.
“Christmas is a beautiful holiday, so we have to … recognize that, appreciate it, and come back and be ready to work, and get better because we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Boston forward David Pastrnak said.
Saturday’s effort was better than what they put forth in a 5-1 loss at Winnipeg the previous night, but even Pastrnak’s team-leading 20th goal of the season providing a 1-0 lead and Linus Ullmark’s 33 saves were not enough. Morgan Geekie netted his third in a six-game span in the third period.
One pain point during Boston’s recent skid has been discipline, going short-handed 15 times and allowing five power-play goals.
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