Bruins vs Capitals Preview
Saturday night was the best win of the 2021-2022 campaign for the Boston Bruins. They controlled the game from start to finish and defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. The Bruins have another tough road test tonight in the Nation’s Capital against the Washington Capitals. The Bruins of course defeated the Capitals 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs last season, and also won the only meeting between the two teams this year by a score of 3-2. The Capitals currently hold a record of 20-7-9, good for third in the Metropolitan division. The Bruins come into tonight’s matchup with a record of 18-11-2, good for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Here are a couple things to watch for tonight.
Will Charlie McAvoy return? McAvoy skated this morning and looks like he will be returning after missing two games with a lower body injury. The last two games we’ve seen the likes of John Moore and Urho Vakakanainen skate on the Bruins number one D pair, and that is quite frankly a scary sight if you ask me. McAvoy is one of the Bruins most valuable players so getting him back will be a huge boost.
Will there be bad blood with Tom Wilson? Wilson has been one of the league's dirtiest players since the moment he entered the league, and of course injured Brandon Carlo with a dirty hit last year. Some of that might be water under the bridge at this point, but don’t be surprised if there’s still bad blood between Wilson and The Bruins.
Zach Fucale was the first goalie off the ice at the Caps morning skate today, so it looks like he will get the start in net. Amazingly Fucale will be the fourth different goalie to start against the Bruins in their last 6 meetings. Fucale isn’t exactly a household name yet, but he very well might be on his way. Fucale set an NHL record with a 138:07 shutout streak to start his career. Let’s see how he handles a team like the Bruins.
Bruins Capitals is always a fun game to watch, and I don’t anticipate this being any different. The game is at 7PM ET and can be seen on NESN as well as NBCSWA.
