Boston Bruins: Penguins, Travel to Winnipeg Will Pose New Challenges

In the ongoing midst of what is now a 14-game unbeaten streak, what can Boston Bruins fans possibly ask for besides more of the same?

The answer is anything but the same, of course.

Since the start of last month, the Bruins have answered a densely mixed array of tests, getting the better of 13 and one half of them. They have surmounted deficits, defended brittle advantages, sculpted loftier leads, tangled with fellow NHL heavyweights, resisted their own complacency, avoided fatal fanciness at home and quieted crowds on the road.

And most recently, they may have stunted the surprisingly rapid rise of the Toronto Maple Leafs upon sweeping a home-and-home set and supplanting the Leafs for first place in the Northeast Division.

But a certified contender can’t live out on growing teams alone. Nor can one just stay strong strictly within the divisional radius, as the Bruins have done for each of their last three away games and five of their last six.

Moving forward, the best bet for prolonging this streak and the momentum that fuels it is akin to what every team needs to sustain their edge in any individual game.

Just as the Bruins prefer to rotate every line and every defensive unit in and out of action as regularly and smoothly as possible, they need to keep encountering fresh challenges to stay alert and stave off a subconscious decline of interest.

The next two nights ought to suffice in that department, with a venture into Sidney Crosby’s domain on tap for Monday followed promptly by a Tuesday night stop in Winnipeg.

This will mean facing the top dogs of the Eastern Conference, who are 5-1-1 since Crosby returned two weeks ago, then playing two games in two cities in two nights for the first time this season.

The last time the Bruins needed to deal with two hostile audiences with only one sunrise and sunset in between was over the final weekend of February last season, when they conquered the Canucks and Oilers.

The forthcoming slate is not all that different. Just like last year’s Western excursion, the first half of this trip will entail an engagement with one of the NHL’s established elite groups, complete with a celestial lineup in all positions. Once that is over with, Boston will face a presumptive playoff no-show, but on short rest and on top of a travel day.

Well, there will be two fundamental discrepancies. Last year’s back-to-back road swing involved a roughly 90-minute, 500-mile flight across a single provincial border from Vancouver to Edmonton. This one will include a hasty dash over a national border from Pennsylvania to Manitoba, which will cover more than 1,000 miles and take more than two hours.

In addition, whereas last year’s Oilers were bound for the bottom of the NHL standings, the Jets command a little more respect with their even .500 (11-11-4) record. As it stands on Sunday, Winnipeg trails three teams each by a single point for the last playoff spot in the conference.

Regardless, hungrier and more capable adversaries needn’t hurt, nor should the always taxing task of traveling long distances in a narrow window be overwhelmingly daunting for this club. If anything, the Bruins ought to embrace this itinerary as something they have dealt with before, but not too recently.

Boston’s core group, including almost every returnee from last year’s banner team, ought to be comfortable enough visiting two uncharted venues in as many nights.

Since the advent of Claude Julien in 2007, the Bruins have swept pairs of games like this nine times in 20 tries. Only twice (Dec. 28-29, 2007 and Feb. 21-22, 2009) have Julien’s Bruins endured two regulation losses over two road games in as many nights.

Boston swept all three cases of back-to-back road games last season. That would include two occurrences in the latter half of February, shortly after general manager Peter Chiarelli had finished assembling the final roster for the homestretch with the import of Tomas Kaberle, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley.

A total of 16 skaters and both goaltenders from that team figure to be in action at both the Consol Energy Center on Monday and again at the MTS Centre some 23 hours after the horn in Pittsburgh.

The best-case scenario for starting the rapid road trip would have the Bruins effortlessly letting their active 13-0-1 run float out the window upon takeoff to Pittsburgh.

New frontiers are waiting.