Markstradamas Predicts Bruins Future

Behold, it is I, Markstradamus, here to predict what will be happening with the Bruins at the end of the season.  I will preface these predictions by saying Bruins fans should have nothing to fear.  But time are tough right now.  There has not been a lot to cheer about.  The Bruins play has been described as inconsistent at best, injuries have plagued them, and they haven’t won back to back games since January 10th and 12th.

Yes, it’s true.  A lot can happen in a month and a half.  At that time, The Bruins were arguably the best team in the league with a record of 28-11-1 and fighting with the Rangers for the top spot in the Conference.  Since then, the Bruins are still seeded second in the conference, but the Rangers have pulled away.  The Bruins are now 38-23-3, 12 points behind the Rangers.

All one would have to do is look at the lineups just a week later.  From first line to fourth, on January 19th:

• Krejci-Lucic-Horton
• Bergeron-Marchand-Seguin
• Kelly-Peverly-Pouliot
• Campbell-Thornton-Paille

The defensive pairings were:

• Chara-Boychuk
• Seidenberg-Corvo
• Ference-McQuaid

The goalies were Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask.  This was the lineup B’s fans had come to be familiar with.  Tonights game against Toronto, just a month and a half later, the lineup will likely be:

• Krejci-Lucic-Seguin
• Bergeron-Marchand-Rolston
• Kelly-Caron-Pouliot
• Campbell-Thornton-MacDermid
• Chara-Boychuk
• Seidenberg- McQuaid
• Corvo-Zanon

A recent leg injury to Tuukka Rask has forced the Bruins to go out and sign veteran net minder Marty Turco to back up Tim Thomas.

Even Markstradams couldn’t foresee such a rash of injuries.  But what can I see in the upcoming future?

I predict that at the end of the season. the Bruins will still hold the #2 spot in the East.  As of now, the Bruins are up 3 points on the Ottawa Senators for the division lead with three games in hand.  Although the remaining schedule is against mainly weaker teams, there are many games to play, with the B’s playing just about every other day.  Only once do they have more than one day off between games (two days), and thats just before a three game west coast road swing.  Three times they play on back to back days. This could be beneficial.  The Bruins often show rust with extended breaks.

Let’s look at what the Bruins have to accomplish to clinch the division.  In their final 18 games, if the Bruins gain just half of the available points to them (18), they will finish the season with 97 points.  Ottawa would have to gain 21 points in their final 15 games to catch the Bruins.  That record would look like 10-4-1 or 9-3-3.  Its possible, but it would be tough.

If the Bruins win 11 of their games (I picked 11 because thats how many remaining games the B’s play against teams that are currently outside of their playoff bracket, so 11 seems like a good number), and go, say 11-7-0, they will finish with 101 points and Ottawa would need 25 points to catch them (12-2-1 or 11-1-3).

So don’t panic Bruins fans.  Take a look at the schedule and the team.  As the new Bruins find their place on the team, they will click on the ice.   They have proven they can put struggles behind them and turn it around.  There is still a month to do so.  And a lot can happen in a month.