Real Boston Bruins Should Emerge After Break Against Montreal Canadiens

If there’s ever a favorable—or at least comparatively favorable—time for a funk of inconsistency, and a good time for an unusually lengthy break from game action, it’s when they coincide.

The Boston Bruins have just that scenario to work with as they are in the midst of a full, four-day window to recover from Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks and gear up for a home-and-home with Montreal.

At 3-5-0, and in the wake of a third failed attempt to construct consecutive victories, the Bruins desperately need a breather—and more than one moment to assess what’s hindering them.

The break is all the more timely considering what lies on the immediate horizon. Beginning with Thursday’s visit from the Canadiens, and continuing through next Saturday, Boston will engage a divisional rival in four straight ventures. So far, they have had only one Northeast Division contest—that being their latest victory at the expense of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In other words, there have not yet been many opportunities to chase after those phantom “four-point” packages, but on the other side of the respite, they will be coming in droves. In turn, the Bruins will have a radiant chance to revise the tone that they are still setting for the rest of the 2011-12 season.

As of Monday morning, the Bruins are third in their division and hold the No. 11 spot on the Eastern Conference leaderboard, ahead of the last-place Canadiens and Ottawa Senators but more than a few strides behind Buffalo and Toronto.

And of late, there has been a growing concern amongst the New England fanbase as to the prospective repercussions of an underachieving October.

Many have pointed to a fascinating revelation on HockeyBuzz.com from last Wednesday. The study notes that in each of the last three seasons, seven of the eight teams who were in the Eastern Conference playoff picture on Halloween were still playing when the actual postseason commenced.

Granted, the past has no direct bearing on the active season, but this is tellingly indicative of a nearly-nonexistent margin for error. The Bruins will simply have to perk up without delay in order to spare themselves a more laborious struggle down the stretch and their fans a collective cardiac episode.

But the good news, again, lies within the four divisional bouts right on deck and the 23 total divisional games yet to come. In fact, a whopping 31 percent of Boston’s remaining schedule is against Northeast cohabitants.

With that, the Bruins can make up what they have squandered so far by directly repressing the four teams vying for the divisional crown and the automatic first-round home ice that comes with it.

When the Canadiens visit TD Garden on Thursday, they will have had only half as much time to groom themselves for the rivalry game, having hosted Florida on Monday. But if they beat the Panthers, they will come in matching the Bruins’ bushel of six points, though Boston will have a virtual tiebreaker by virtue of one more win.

Regardless, it is on Claude Julien’s pupils to use this extra soul-searching and refining time to their advantage. They claimed the top seed in the division last season on the strength of points cultivated at the expense of a dense variety of adversaries, which made amends for all of the fits Montreal and Buffalo gave them.

They cannot afford to lean on that again—not after being at a .500 winning percentage or lower since their opening game. They will probably need to compose a better transcript than the 2-2-2 split from last year’s season series with Buffalo. They will indubitably need a better upshot against Montreal than 2-3-1, especially if the Habs are going to continue to flounder with a rash of key injuries.

Some of those ailing Canadiens ought to be back in action relatively soon, but not as soon as this weekend, at which point two-thirds of the Boston-Montreal season series will be played.

Unlike Montreal, the Bruins’ roster is fully intact at this time. Unlike Montreal, Boston still has a full three days to catch a second wind before the rivals converge with conflicting hopes of reversing their respective struggles.

The obvious question: Will the Bruins be ready to pounce?

The answer, slated to arrive at the second half of this week, just might be the first real sign of where this team is going in 2011-12.