Boston Bruins: 4 Keys to Wednesday's Matchup with the Phoenix Coyotes

The Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes will face off on North American ice for the first time since Oct. 17, 2009, when they convene at Jobing.com Arena Wednesday night.

Save for Rich Peverley, who is still sitting out with an undisclosed ailment, the streaking Bruins ought to have their lineup intact for the first installment of a rather slow-paced, three-game road trip. The same cannot be said about the Coyotes, who are missing top goaltender Mike Smith and could be without up to three of this year’s skating regulars (Adrian Aucoin, Boyd Gordon, Martin Hanzal).

On their end, though, a combination of abundant rest after a five-day hiatus from game action, plus a dramatic change of city and venue, leaves no room or reason for the Bruins to underperform.

Some of the prime areas of focus for what on paper ought to be a decisive Boston triumph―the team’s seventh in a row―are as follows.

Starting from the Top

The line of Radim Vrbata, Ray Whitney and Lauri Korpikoski has combined to insert 37 of Phoenix’s 95 goals. The seasoned Shane Doan is tied with Korpikoski for third on the team with nine strikes of his own.

Beyond those four individual forwards, the rest of the Coyotes skaters have aggregated 49 strikes, just barely more than half of the team’s total output. And remember that eight of those goals will likely be missing unless the aforementioned Hanzal, Gordon or Aucoin were to abruptly re-enter the lineup.

Vrbata, the team’s top goal-getter, happens to be nursing a three-game pointless skid, his longest drought in two months. Whitney has been arid his last two outings, and Doan has only one point to speak of in his last four.

The Coyotes have cultivated some supplementary scoring in that time, although not enough to prevent recent one-goal losses this past Friday and Monday to the Blues and the Kings, respectively. And if Boston can restrict Phoenix’s most leaned-on players and flex its own offense at the other end, business will run that much smoother for the visitors.

Trapping Torres

The Bruins ought to know this already from Game 1 of last year’s Stanley Cup finals, but Canuck-turned-Coyote Raffi Torres reiterated it twice in Phoenix’s last outing against Los Angeles.

The lesson, in short, is to always keep at least one backchecking body between Torres and the puck―or at least the net―so as to avoid getting burned. The hulking winger may have only six goals to his credit this season, but they almost always come when he is left unattended in the depths of the offensive zone.

And coming off a two-goal night could have Torres entering this game armed with extra conviction. But if someone makes a point of monitoring him, staying with him and keeping the puck off his blade, that conviction should be cancelled out.

Other sources of secondary scoring for the Coyotes include point-based playmaker Keith Yandle, who is currently in a bit of a cold spell but could perk back up if and when permitted.

Opening the Gap

Each of Phoenix’s last five games, two wins and three losses, has been decided by a single goal. They led at least once in three of those games, trailed at one point in four and faced only one two-goal pothole, which lasted for a mere 69 seconds against Carolina.

That 3-1 deficit, planted with 7:45 remaining in the second period, ultimately morphed into a 4-3 victory, but that was against a Hurricanes squad whose defensive backbone, Cam Ward, is having an uncharacteristically flimsy season.

Not to encourage Boston to sculpt a quick two- or three-goal advantage and then hand it all over to Tim Thomas or Tuukka Rask by any means. But with their legs fresh from a holiday respite and their minds fresh from their first visit to Arizona in over two years, the Bruins should have all the means to put the Coyotes away early.

Firepower Rekindled?

Bruins top gun Tyler Seguin is fostering his first point-getting streak since the first half of November, having compiled a goal and four assists over his last three outings. He along with fellow sophomore and linemate Brad Marchand (6-4-10 totals in his last six games) are among the few individual Bruins who might have wished the recent respite could have come at a different time.

But while the team in general vies to cash in on a hard-earned recharging period, Marchand and Seguin will have to take it upon themselves to resist any possibility of rust and work to keep their personal momentum going. How they perform on Wednesday in Phoenix, as well as Saturday in Dallas and next Wednesday in New Jersey, could prove a great barometer as to their professional athletic maturity.