A game north of the border against the Kings!
Just the Facts
- The Time: 7pm EST
- The Place: Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Quebec
- Place to Watch: TVAS-2 (This will most likely change, keep an eye on it)
- Place to Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Know Your Enemy
- The Kings have had a productive preseason, having only lost to Utah at the very beginning of training camp.
- LA are experiencing a bit of a residency in French Canada this preseason; they’ll be facing the B’s tonight, and then the Panthers on Saturday.
- Jack Studnicka has been a bit of a mainstay through the preseason with the Kings, though time will tell if he’s going to get some time on the NHL roster.
Game Notes
Bienvenue to Quebec City! Try the cheese curds.
The Bruins and Kings generally don’t see each other in preseason, but the NHL has decided to grace French Canada’s government capital with an East vs. West match up that sees two teams who would definitely appreciate the road trip right about now to get away from the constant handwringing about their roster going on at home.
Even if it’s a preseason game, the B’s need to be ready; the Kings have actually had a pretty strong run so far, with young talent like Quentin Byfield, Alex Laferriere, and Alex Turcotte already meshing well with the Kings’ older talent like Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, and Trevor Lewis. Warren Foegele has also acquitted himself perfectly well to the roster, which is good; they’re gonna need him to help keep their depth honest.
If the B’s want to stymie these tinseltown tyrants, the biggest thing that they need to clamp down on will be LA’s net-front offense; which is usually facilitated by extremely strong play by the forwards hunting for rebounds or by drawing the opposing defense to the outside. Through the games that have been tracked by NaturalStatTrick, it’s clear they’ve honed in on a strategy that’s working against their Pacific Division foes.
If Boston can deny the Kings those net-front opportunities and block the exploratory point-shots, they’ll be able to cut a big part of how they’ve largely controlled their offense, and transition the game more towards the play of LA’s defense and goaltending, which are a little more of a question mark than you might think. Outside of a single shutout against Anaheim, most of LA’s wins so far have only come from a single goal game, and so far only Darcy Kuemper and Carter George playing half a game against Vegas have put up anything above a .900 SV% in Black and Silver.
Further, it wouldn’t hurt the B’s to try and take advantage of power play opportunities afforded to them; the Kings are good for about three or four minor penalties a game this preseason. After a game as overwhelming as the one they just put up against the Flyers, the B’s are hopefully showing that they’re more than bruisers and shots blocked; they can overtake an opponent in just as equal a fashion.
It will be a tough game, and the novelty of there being NHL games in QC again will likely bring a real passionate atmosphere, but there’s a good win in here for Boston if they trust their ability, and attack the Kings where they’re weakest.
We’ll see you there! Go B’s!