Bruins On Five-Day Break
If you are a frequent rider on the MBTA, you probably have a Charlie Card. If you are a follower of the Boston Bruins, you may want to add a second Charlie Card to your possessions…namely that of Bruins defenseman, Charlie McAvoy. This young man is making great strides as a franchise defenseman for Boston. In McAvoy’s latest game versus the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, he played a major part in the 5-2 victory for the locals, notching the first two goals of the game, the first two-goal game in his young career. His week continued on the bright side, with the NHL announcing McAvoy as the Second Star of the Week, for the week ending November 14th. A well-deserved honor, as his week’s work for the four games played, was a solid seven-point effort, moving him up to the fourth spot in points on the Bs stat sheet.
Already being touted as a Norris Trophy (Top NHL Defenseman) candidate, it’s not just because of his impressive start to the season, but rather to the consistency he is showing while doing his job. Head Coach Bruce Cassidy has been asking McAvoy to work on his contributing more to the offense this season, while he is a solid playmaker, and he appears to be responding to that request so far in the initial 13 games of the season. For the 23-year-old defenseman, McAvoy can feel pretty good to be mentioned as a possible Norris Trophy candidate, since the last Bruin to win the trophy was Zdeno Chara in the 2008-09 season.
With the oddity of the ‘NHL Regular Season Schedule,’ the Bruins will be without a scheduled game until Saturday. The five-game break between the Montreal and Philadelphia games will serve a positive purpose for Boston’s winger Craig Smith, who has been out injured, and is eyeing a possible return to the lineup following the break. Also out, but not expected back soon, is Trent Frederic who continues to heal from an upper body injury. Game wise the Bruins will return to the ice on Saturday (11/20 at 7:00pm), hosted by the Philadelphia Flyers for a single road game. The Flyers currently hold the fourth spot in the Metropolitan Division, with a 6-3-1 record for their last ten games. The second half of Boston’s back-to-back schedule continues with a single home game on Sunday (7:00pm), as they host the Calgary Flames on TD Garden ice. The Flames are presently in third place in the Pacific Division with 4-2-4 record for their last ten games. The schedule craziness continues with a two-day break, after which Boston is back on the road for another single road game in Buffalo (Wednesday at 7:00pm), where they will take on the Sabres who are tied with the Bruins for fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres have a 4-5-1 record for their last ten games. The Bruins are currently riding a two-game win streak with a 6-4-0 record in their last ten.