Daily Bean: Bruins Gameday, Prospect Check In, Sens and Rangers Goalie Struggles

It’s a Boston Bruins (30-20-2) gameday; they are in New York City for their second-straight Original Six matchup, this one coming against the New York Rangers (21-25-6). 

Around the league, the Senators and Rangers are two teams that have struggled in the goaltending department this season. The first team’s starter took a personal leave, and the latter is without their starter due to injury. Without their starters, both teams have struggled to manage the workload. 

Two teams provided positive injury updates, with an Olympian hopeful to be healthy for Milan. Also, a funny story out of Toronto, which had one of their star players apologizing on social media. 

Happy Monday, everyone! It’s a Bruins gameday, and there’s snow on the ground. And hey, the New England Patriots are going to the Super Bowl!

Boston Bruins

The Bruins will visit Madison Square Garden tonight for a matchup with the Rangers. It will be the final one of the season series, and the first in New York. The Rangers have not been good at home this season, with a 5-13-4 record, and a 0-3-1 home record in January.

The Bruins’ pool of prospects has been busy throughout the season. Catch up on their stats in the Bruins Prospect Notebook. 

Providence Bruins (Video via 𝕏): Jordan Harris is in Providence on a conditioning stint. He has never played in an AHL game before this weekend. His first AHL goal came in overtime as the Providence Bruins beat the Toronto Marlies 4-3 on Sunday. 

The Providence Bruins rank first in the Eastern Conference; they swept their three-in-three over the weekend. 

NHL News & National Hockey Now

Forever Blueshirts: The New York Rangers have been short their star goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, due to injury. They have not seen too much success in that time; they are 1-7-1 without Shesterkin. In the meantime, they have rotated through Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin. Tom Castro dives into why the Rangers should give Dylan Garand, a 2025 AHL All-Star, a call-up. 

Sportsnet: One step closer. Senators goalie Linus Ullmark returned to the lineup; however, he did not play. He served as the backup goalie in Ottawa’s loss on Sunday, but it is the first time he has dressed with the team since he took a personal leave on Dec. 29. 

Sportsnet: The Senators have had a rollercoaster of a season. They sit seven points out of a playoff spot, and gave up as many goals as the Patriots allowed points on Sunday. Playoff odds have plummeted, saves have been hard to come by, but another glaring issue is the 31st-ranked penalty kill. Questions need answering, and if you are Steve Staios, are you close enough to go all in for the next two seasons, or should you shake things up to retool your roster? 

Colorado Hockey Now: Team Sweden has suffered some injuries to their roster ahead of the Olympic Games. One of them is Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog, who has been out of action since Jan. 4. Colorado coach Jared Bednar said that he is “getting better,” and that “the goal would be for him to be able to go play for the Olympics.”

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: During last night’s late game between the Penguins and Canucks, Evgeni Malkin collapsed on the Penguins’ bench. The Russian forward missed 15 games this season with a shoulder injury. The good news, though, in the postgame, Penguins’ coach Dan Muse said he believes that Malkin was fine. 

Sportsnet: This one is comical. Maple Leafs winger William Nylander caught attention from the press box during Toronto’s game on Sunday. Nylander, with the camera panned to him, flipped the bird and had to apologize for it after the game.