5 players to watch in a Bruins vs. Rangers showdown at TD Garden
The math is starting to work against the Bruins.
It’s getting downright depressing, actually.
With back-to-back losses, and with Thursday being the ultimate downer for the Bruins in the sense that pretty much every time around ’em won, the Bruins will begin Saturday’s head-to-head with the Rangers on the outside looking in in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Even beyond the raw math, current projection models from PlayoffStatus.com gives the Bruins a 72 percent chance to miss the 2025 playoffs, while MoneyPuck.com’s model gives Boston a measly 19 percent chance of qualifying.
It is all far from ideal.
And with the math being the math, the Bruins are by all means already in playoff mode. And Saturday’s contest will only further amplify that, as the Black and Gold will take on a Rangers club that begins the day just four points behind them in the East. This is a Rangers team that’s been surging of late, too, with 19 of a possible 28 points banked away over their last 14 games by way of an 8-3-3 record.
Here are five players to watch in today’s showdown at TD Garden…
Elias Lindholm
All year long, the Bruins have been desperate for more production out of Elias Lindholm.
Sure, Lindholm has done ‘the little things’ well this season, but when you’re paying a center almost $8 million per season, it’s fair to think you need something better than 40-point pace. And Lindholm, for what it’s worth, has shown some signs of breaking out offensively of late.
In addition to his shorthanded marker in Thursday’s loss to the Jets, Lindholm also had an assist on Brad Marchand’s power-play goal last Tuesday in Buffalo, and comes into this contest with two goals and seven points in his last nine contests overall.
And for what it’s worth, I actually thought that Lindholm’s performance against the Rangers back on Jan. 2 was one of his best of the season, with a goal, three blocks, and 13 faceoff wins in over 21 minutes of deployment.
David Pastrnak
When you talk about the Bruins and the sense of urgency and whether or not it’s been there to the level that it should be for this team, one player you won’t bring up there is David Pastrnak. That’s because Pastrnak brought it and then some in the month of January. On the board with 11 goals and 24 points in 14 games in January, Pastrnak ended the month on a nine-game point streak, and with seven goals and 19 points over his final nine appearances of the month. Just another level of offensive production.
And by now, it’s clear that Pastrnak basically is the Boston offense.
They’re going to need his best effort yet Saturday, and Pastrnak comes into this contest with 14 goals and 35 points in 35 career games against the Rangers.
Justin Brazeau
One of countless Boston players looking at an uncertain future with the club, the Bruins really need to get the big-bodied Justin Brazeau up and running again. Brazeau comes into Saturday’s game with just one goal in his last 13 outings, but has one goal and an assist in two career head-to-heads with New York.
If there’s a time for Brazeau and Boston’s second power-play unit to get it firing again (especially with Mason Lohrei moved back to the second unit with Charlie McAvoy back in the lineup), it’s now.
Chris Kreider
Saturday will come with yet another homecoming for Rangers winger and Boxford, Mass. native Chris Kreider. At this point in Kreider’s career, coming back to Boston might be a bit old hat, perhaps. But there’s no denying that his eyes seem to light up when he sees the hometown Bruins on his schedule, with two goals and six points in seven head-to-heads with the Bruins over the last three seasons.
And though Kreider comes into this contest with four straight games of a 0-0-0 line, he does have five goals in his last 14 outings overall, while the Bruins have been surrendering a ton of high-quality looks from the high-danger areas of the ice this season. That might be a deadly combo in this one.
J.T. Miller
For the second week in a row, the Bruins’ opponent went out and made a gigantic trade the night before their showdown with Boston. Last week it was Colorado, this week it was New York. And for the second week in a row, that team’s newest acquisition will make their debut for their new team against the Bruins, with J.T. Miller on his way to Boston and expected to be in the lineup for the Rangers on Saturday.
Miller, acquired by the Rangers (this will be his second stint in New York) from the Canucks due to irreconcilable differences with then-teammate Elias Pettersson, is an absolute animal down the middle, and comes back to the Rangers with nine goals and 35 points in 40 games this season.
Spread it out over the last four years and Miller has 110 goals and 319 points in 282 games, with his 319 points standing out as the 13th-most among all NHL skaters over that span.
Miller comes into this game with seven goals and 22 points in 29 career games against the B’s.
