Boston returns home after long trip to battle Washington, Ovechkin
BOSTON – The Bruins are finally back on home ice after their five-game, 12-day road trip to battle the league-leading Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin on Tuesday night at TD Garden. Boston has dropped eight straight games.
“It’s about getting our mindset focused to win a hockey game, No. 1, as a group, and how we go about doing it,” said interim head coach Joe Sacco. “But also, the part about the pride and the privilege. I’ve talked about those two things. I think that’s huge for our guys.
“There’s a lot of opportunity here for some of our players that have come up now, players from different teams. There’s the opportunity factor, but then there’s the pride. The pride of being a Boston Bruin. The pride of being a good teammate, trying to win hockey games.
“And then the privilege to play in this league. You can’t take it for granted. You just can’t. You never know in this league how things work out. Those two things are real important for our guys.
“We want to play a good hockey game. I thought that in Detroit we played a pretty good hockey game for the most part and that’s what we want to see. We’re looking for effort, we’re looking for guys to play with pride and to understand the privilege that it is to play in this league.”
Ovechkin enters the matchup with 890 career goals, four shy of tying – and five shy of breaking – Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record. For the season, the 39-year-old ranks sixth in the league with 37 goals.
“That’s the one thing that jumps out to me is just his consistency,” said Sacco. “And the ability to still be able to produce after all these years, knowing that you put a game plan in place to try to stop that. It says a lot about the individual.
“It’s an incredible milestone that he’s trying to get to here.”
David Pastrnak, who leads Boston with 35 goals this season, shared the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal scorer (48) with Ovechkin in 2019-20.
“It’s very, very impressive, obviously,” said Pastrnak. “We all know how hard it is to score in this league and he’s been doing it for over two decades. The way he found a way every year, he scores different goals.
“You see way less one-timer goals from him, guys taking him away, and he still finds a way. It’s impressive and motivational to see him keep scoring all those goals. Definitely a special goal scorer.”
Washington, meanwhile, has gone from sneaking into the postseason as the East’s bottom seed a year ago to being the conference titan. The Caps are 47-17-9 with 103 points so far this season.
“We know the opponent we’re facing here tonight,” said Sacco. “They’re one of the top teams in the league. We’re gonna have to be really solid in our game all around here tonight. It’s a big, strong team that plays a heavy game. We have to be willing to match it.
“With Ovi and the race that he’s in…it grabs everybody’s attention, no question.”
Sacco talks ahead of BOS vs. WSH
Charlie McAvoy, who rejoined the team for practice last week on the road, shed his red non-contact jersey for Monday’s session as he continues to progress in his recovery from a shoulder injury suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. While the blue liner was a full participant the past two days, Sacco said there is “still no timetable” for McAvoy’s return.
“Today, he was able to start some initial contact with the group,” Sacco said after Monday’s practice. “Obviously, it’s exciting. We had him back on the road trip, a portion of the road trip, and then had him back today joining us in a more competitive environment.”
Sacco added that if McAvoy “is ready and he’s cleared to play” the defenseman could get back into the lineup before the end of the season.
“When he’s ready, if he’s healthy and cleared by our medical team, he’ll be in the lineup more likely than not,” said Sacco. “That’s the way players are wired.”
McAvoy said that in addition to getting fully healthy, he is also aiming to fulfill his role as a leader around the dressing room.
“We’re going one day at a time, I think that’s how I’m approaching it and how our staff is as well,” said McAvoy. “Just doing every day what we can to try and improve my shoulder…what I’m trying to do right now is just rehab the best I can, try to work every single day to put myself in a position to potentially play this year.
“What will happen will happen, but to be a part of the group every day to try and set an example, try to get closer every day with these guys, try to build relationships, that’s what I’m identifying right now as really what I’m trying to accomplish.”
McAvoy speaks with media at WIA on Monday
Pastrnak speaks with media at WIA on Monday
FORWARDS
Morgan Geekie – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
Marat Khusnutdinov – Elias Lindholm – Fabian Lysell
Cole Koepke – Casey Mittelstadt – Vinni Lettieri
Jakub Lauko – Johnny Beecher – Patrick Brown/Jeffrey Viel
DEFENSEMEN
Nikita Zadorov – Henri Jokiharju
Parker Wotherspoon – Andrew Peeke
Mason Lohrei – Ian Mitchell
GOALIES
Jeremy Swayman
Joonas Korpisalo
Andrew Peeke goes 1-on-1 and talks Women in Sports
