Two nights after TD Garden hosted the thrilling 4 Nations Face-Off finale, the Boston Bruins are going back to work on their Eastern Conference wild-card chase.
Boston begins the final stretch of the regular season Saturday with the first of a three-game homestand, facing an Anaheim Ducks team that surged into the NHL’s two-week break.
Bruins boss Joe Sacco knows how important it will be for his team to come out strong. The Bruins remain one point below the playoff cut line — with the three teams both above and below them holding games in hand.
“We have to play some good hockey here in the last 25 games to put ourselves in a position to compete for a playoff spot,” Sacco said. “I don’t know the exact number of (points) that it’s going to take to get in. … But let’s look short term here, two or three games (at a time) and try to take care of business.”
Captain Brad Marchand and goaltender Jeremy Swayman are both expected to play Saturday after concluding 4 Nations on opposite sides of the United States-Canada final. However, top defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm will not suit up.
While Lindholm has remained sidelined with a lower-body injury since November, McAvoy had “an infection in his right shoulder” and suffered “a significant injury to his AC joint” during Team USA’s 4 Nations opener last week, the Bruins said.
“(McAvoy is) such a gamer,” Bruins forward Charlie Coyle said. “He plays hard. Yeah, injuries and things happen, but he was a man possessed playing those games. He was so much fun to watch. It fired me up watching on TV.”
McAvoy was released from the hospital on Thursday and is reportedly on a week-to-week timeline.
The 36-year-old Marchand posted points in six of his final seven games before the break. Now, he looks to carry the momentum of a medal-winning week back to the Bruins.
“It means a little bit more being here,” Marchand said of winning the best-on-best tournament in Boston. “I care tremendously about this city and the people and the fans; have a lot of friends and family here. But at the end of the day, when you get on the ice, you don’t think about that stuff.”
The Ducks have much more ground to make up in the Western Conference, sitting nine points back of the eighth-best team. But they have at least one game in hand on every team in front of them in the wild-card race.
A 6-1-0 run before the break moved Anaheim back to the .500 mark on the season and put it in much better shape in the standings.
“We’ve demonstrated that we’re capable of beating any team in the league,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “I think we’re in a good spot. … We’re hunting down that eighth spot. This gives us an opportunity.”
The Ducks grinded out three one-goal wins prior to 4 Nations, including a 2-1 shootout decision over the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 8. Lukas Dostal made 44 saves in his career-high 15th win.
Maine native Brian Dumoulin scored his first goal of the season.
A veteran on one of the NHL’s youngest teams, Ryan Strome agrees with his coach in having seen plenty of improvement of late.
“We’ve been more consistent,” Strome said. “Other than that tough road trip we had (1-4-1 in January), we haven’t really had any slides. I think that’s the biggest thing. We’ve been able to rectify a bad game quicker than the last couple years where we (would) go on long droughts.”
Anaheim’s young core includes 2023 No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish. The 22-year-old McTavish entered the break with seven goals in his last eight games.
