Event: Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - 7 p.m. EDT.
Location: Air Canada Centre (Capacity: 18,819), Toronto, ON.
Broadcast Info: Wednesday's game between the Bruins and Maple Leafs will be broadcast live on NESN, as well as TSN in Canada. The game can also be heard on the 98.5 the Sports Hub Radio Network, with Dave Goucher providing play-by-play, and Bob Beers providing analysis.
Last Time Out: It’s been a couple of days, but the Bruins are back in action after taking a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Chris Kelly had two goals, and Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand each netted a goal to extend Boston’s point streak to 12.
The Leafs have also been doing a little bit of scoring. In their three-game win streak, they have put up 16 goals, including a 7-1 bombardment over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their most recent win was against the Anaheim Ducks. A 5-2 victory put them in first place above the Boston Bruins in the division. Tyler Bozak had two goals in that game, and has five goals and two assists in his last five games.
Storyline: The winner of tonight’s game will claim first place in the Northeast Division. Toronto currently has sole ownership at the top, but will be put to the test tonight against the Black and Gold. In both matchups between these teams this year, the Bruins have managed to slap the Leafs around, outscoring them 13-2 and obviously taking two wins. The wins came at crucial points in the first two months of the season too. The Bruins were in a slump back in October (I know, can you remember that?) and the Leafs were on an undefeated run. The B’s came out that game and beat them 6-2.
The second meeting between these two resulted in a 7-0 victory for the Bruins, after the Maple Leafs recovered from their last meeting and put together another little winning streak. Tyler Seguin scored a hat trick as well. Leafs fans (and Phil Kessel) are just lucky it happened in Toronto and not in Boston because there’s no way Bruins fans wouldn’t have engraved that into his psyche forever. Now, 25 days later, the two teams are neck-and-neck in the divisional standings, and tonight’s game will award the winner with top honors.
Players To Watch: Phil Kessel. There, I couldn’t go a game without mentioning his name. But seriously, he claimed the lead in the All-Star Ballot yesterday. Though he has been notoriously quiet when he plays against the Bruins, his talent is bound to break out one game against them and until it happens, I would certainly keep my eyes on him. Also Bozak has been on fire as of late--not streaky, but still has put up some crucial points for the Maple Leafs.
For the Bruins, the first line has to start contributing. There have been David Krejci trade rumors looming across hockey nation, though nothing has even been suggested by the Bruins. That first line has had a couple of assists the past few games, but none of the three have netted a goal since the first period of a 6-0 win over the Islanders on November 19. That would be 287 minutes and 36 seconds without a goal from that top line. They are due, but also keep in your peripheral the second and third lines too. Patrice Bergeron has been contributing, as well as Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley.
Prediction: Toronto is on another three game winning streak and I don’t think the Bruins are going to blow them out of the water like they have done the past two games. Instead, I think this will be a close, tough, hard-fought battle. Final Score: Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT).
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