Boston Bruins: 5 Biggest Games on the December Schedule

The Boston Bruins will begin their December slate this Saturday with a rematch against the Toronto Maple Leafs in another critical four-point battle for tops in the Northeast Division. They will end it with a New Year’s Eve visit to the Dallas Stars, a team featuring not-so-old friend Michael Ryder and established villains Mike Ribeiro and Steve Ott.

Not a bad way to sandwich the schedule for this final calendar month of 2011, but still far from the most ornate highlights of the Bruins’ immediate itinerary.

In between the Toronto and Dallas contests will be a couple of rematches with traditional divisional and conference rivals as well as the icebreakers in a few more intriguing season series. And it is worth mentioning that on Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Bruins will pay their first business trip to Winnipeg since Dec. 31, 1995.

Of all the 12 games of Christmastime, the five golden rings on Boston’s December schedule are detailed as follows.

December 5 at Pittsburgh

The Penguins were lacking Sidney Crosby in the last three installments of their 2010-11 season series against Boston. Yet after spilling a 2-0 lead en route to a 4-2 defeat at home Jan. 11, they mustered a pair of 3-2 regulation victories at TD Garden.

This Monday’s battle of black and gold will fall exactly two weeks to the date of Crosby’s otherworldly return to extramural activity. Odds are the Pens, who first have to combat Washington and Carolina, will still be at the summit of the Eastern Conference standings when the Bruins venture into Pittsburgh.

But the visitors will still be close behind and have three games in hand. At this point, a road win over Crosby and Co. is one of the few coveted gems the Bruins can still crave as they try to maintain their certificate as heavyweight contenders.

December 8 vs. Florida

The Panthers’ most recent playoff game took place 45 days after the Bruins traded Ray Bourque to Colorado in 2000.

That mortifying drought could finally end this year as Florida, fueled by the likes of Kris Versteeg and Tomas Fleischmann, still sits atop the Southeast Division at 13-7-4.

Production-wise, Versteeg and Fleischmann are essentially giving the Panthers two Tyler Seguins on one bench. They are complemented by longtime Florida forward Stephen Weiss and prolific point-based playmaker Brian Campbell, who is finally justifying his hefty salary.

Oh, and they are backstopped by a vintage Bruins’ nemesis in Jose Theodore.

The revitalized Panthers will actually pay both of their regular-season visits to the Garden this month, the other being a rare Friday night home date two days prior to Christmas.

December 13 vs. Los Angeles

Last week, the Bruins finished half of their quest to redress their outlook against the Detroit Red Wings, mustering a 65-minute tie before conceding the extra point in a shootout.

There is one slightly lower-profile Western Conference team that also gave Boston two fits in as many regular-season meetings last year.

The Los Angeles Kings, who wrested a 4-3 shootout decision and a 2-0 shutout away from the eventual Stanley Cup champions in 2010-11, will drop in a week from Tuesday.

Along with the returning LA youth corps of Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick comes a couple of former Flyers in Simon Gagne and Mike Richards.

With those two and possibly Manchester Monarchs’ call-up Kevin Westgarth (a familiar foe to any Bruins fans in Providence), there is at least the slight possibility of a rare non-conference roughhouse night not unlike the Dallas’ last two visits to TD Garden.

December 17 at Philadelphia

One listless minute was all it took for the Bruins to miss out on the cherry, Cool Whip and Hershey’s that they hoped to put on their banner night sundae. In a matter of 47 seconds, a 1-0 advantage devolved into a 2-1 deficit that subsequently morphed into a 2-1 loss to the Flyers on Oct. 6.

Two-plus months later, these foil-fisted foes are again pushing for a spot in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, and that will likely remain the case when they cross paths again at the Wells Fargo Center.

December 19 vs. Montreal

How much attention this game draws will depend on what happens over the next eight Bruins games that precede it as well as where Boston and Montreal are sitting in the standings.

One thing is for sure: This will be Boston’s chance to pull even in the season series after a 1-0 victory at the Bell Centre Nov. 21 redeemed a little from the empty home-and-home that closed out October.