Bruins Notes: Boston Facing ‘Reality’ Amid Push Toward Contention
BOSTON — The Bruins haven’t exactly hit the panic button, but there’s no shortage of motivation as they approach two key dates on the calendar.
The 2025 4 Nations Face-Off will be held from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston, with Finland, Sweden, Canada and the United States competing in a round-robin tournament — with those not selected to play getting a break from the action. The NHL will then resume play for a couple of weeks before the trade deadline rolls around on March 7.
The B’s need to rack up wins before those events roll around, and are playing like it.
“I’ve said it, we’re desperate,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov said Saturday. “We know our desperation level is going to be higher than other teams because of where we’re at in the standings — there are a lot of teams pushing for a playoff spot… We got to put ourselves in a good spot in the standings.”
Boston kept things on the right track Saturday, earning a comeback victory over the Colorado Avalanche at TD Garden. It’s been a nice little stretch for the club, which has gone 5-1-1 over the last two weeks.
“You got to face reality every once in a while, right?” Zadorov continued. “… I’m not here to miss the playoffs. I’m here to play playoff hockey. I want to see (TD Garden) buzzing during playoff hockey. I think that’s extra motivation for us, and you guys do a good job of writing us off, which is extra motivation, as well. We have a lot of characters. We have a lot of guys who want to compete every day and play on a big stage. It’s our mindset every day.”
More Bruins
Bruins-Avalanche produced some other noteworthy items on Saturday:
— Boston recorded a victory despite seeing just 15 shots get through to Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood, which is the club’s least amount of shots in a win this season.
— The Avalanche made a relatively shocking trade just hours before puck drop, shipping Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. Martin Necas and Jack Drury, who were both part of the return, debuted for the club with the former finishing as a minus-three.
— David Pastrnak has assisted on two-thirds (10-of-15) of Morgan Geekie’s goals this season, including two in the victory.
“It’s growing, for sure,” Geekie said of the chemistry between him and Pastrnak. “We’ve played together for a while now, which is always easier when you learn the habits of the guys you’re playing with. It’s always fun to play with guys who have tons of skill — for me, I’m kind of in awe with some of the stuff he’s able to do with the puck. I just try to get open. It’s lots of fun right now, so just want to keep having fun.”
— The Bruins will head back on the road Tuesday, as they’re scheduled to take on the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. It’ll be the second matchup between the two sides this season, with things scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.