After bouncing back from Tuesday’s poor effort in a 4-1 loss to Calgary, the Bruins bounced back Thursday and trounced Western Conference-leading Vancouver to regain a share of the best record in the NHL two games out of the All-Star break.
Are the power rankers impressed? The Bruins are at or near the top of each national outlet’s power ranking
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To keep power ranking lists from becoming repetitive, the different outlets usually include a different side angle for each team too.
Here’s where the Bruins landed on the lists and what the different sites said about them:
Rank: 1
The Athletic chose to pick a player from each team who should be better than they’ve been. Here’s what they wrote:
“James van Riemsdyk is on a 58-point pace, so it’s probably a small shock that he’s our choice to begin with. Is it really possible to expect him to do even better in the second half? Maybe not “better” per se, but we do expect him to put more pucks in the net. At five-on-five, he has 21 points, but only three of those are goals — a far cry from his eight expected goals.
The Bruins generate a lot of chances when he’s on the ice, and he’s getting his apples for the trouble. We’re just expecting more to actually go in for him. Either way, he’s been an incredible story for the Bruins.”
Rank: 2.
The Bruins stayed 2 on the ESPN rankings behind the Canucks despite Thursday’s win. For each team on this list, ESPN chose to highlight one fantasy standout for each team. The choice for Boston was unsurprising.
“David Pastrnak, RW (3.31 FPPG since Jan. 1): Any surprise here? Put your hand down, we all know Pasta is the best — fantasy or otherwise — that the Bruins have to offer. And it’s not that close, especially with the goaltenders splitting time.”
Rank: 2
NHL.com’s rankings came out before the Bruins skunked the Canucks at TD Garden on Thursday, so Boston dropped to No. 2 after Tuesday’s stinker against the Flames.
This week’s power rankings featured what each team needs at the deadline. Amalie Benjamin wrote:
“Unlike many teams in the NHL, the Bruins are set at arguably the most important position: goalie. Their defense is more than solid too, especially once they get a little healthier. Where they could use some help is on offense. I was talking to someone in an opposing front office recently and he described their team as having three second lines and a fourth line. I can’t say he was wrong. So, with a little boost — preferably at the center position, but a wing would help as well — they could be in business to try to capture the Stanley Cup that eluded them last season.”
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