As a Boston University freshman, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this phrase uttered.
Whether it be on the BU Facebook page before the school year started, or from friends and peers who live just a bit further down Commonwealth Avenue, “West is Best” seems to be one of the most repeated sayings uttered by freshmen living in West Campus.
Who knew that such a phrase could also apply to the NHL?
The Boston Bruins recently took to the opposite side of the country to take on four Western Conference opponents — the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings, the San Jose Sharks and the Arizona Coyotes.
Teams in the Eastern Conference use this trip every year as a measuring stick for their season, to see how they stack up against some of the heaviest competition in the league. Boston’s hometown team did almost as bad as they could, returning home with a record of 1-3-0 on their trip. What exactly happened?
First, the Bruins arrived at the Honda Center in Anaheim to take on the Ducks, a formidable team with a former Hart Memorial Trophy winner in Corey Perry.
The Ducks had a change in goaltending this season, letting go of Jonas Hiller, now a member of the Calgary Flames, and instead relying on a young John Gibson. However, injury and poor play have sent Gibson to the AHL, with the Ducks having to turn to former backup Frederik Andersen in net. The change between the pipes for the Ducks did not negatively affect Anaheim, as Andersen stopped 32 of 34 shots in a 3-2 win.
Watching this game, I actually didn’t see anything wrong in terms of the Bruins’ effort. The Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand-David Pastrňák line clicked very well, generating a goal for Marchand and Pastrňák’s first NHL point.
The much-maligned fourth line, a squad that hasn’t posted the same level of play since days of the “Merlot Line” over the past campaigns, showed their first signs of promise, as veteran Simon Gagné scored for the second time in a Bruins uniform. The B’s rolled four lines all night, but they couldn’t establish any net-front presence. Even if they could, Andersen was just too good that night.
Less than 24 hours later, the Bruins headed about an hour north to the city of Los Angeles to take on the Kings at Staples Center. Entering the season as the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Kings have to prove themselves every game.
They did just that, shutting down the Bruins offense in a 2-0 victory. Jonathan Quick stopped all 31 shots in the game, while Tanner Pearson scored the only goal against Niklas Svedberg, the other one being an empty netter from Tyler Toffoli. Pastrňák continued to show promise, getting off four shots in 15:34 time on ice, but otherwise, the Bruins seemed to be dominated all night. It was a tough pill to swallow, but the Bruins quickly turned their sights to the Sharks.
The game against the Sharks was completely different than the previous two contests, as the floodgates opened as soon as the first goal was scored. After Reilly Smith put the B’s on the board, Gregory Campbell later potted the puck past Antti Niemi to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Finally, it looked like the Bruins had life.
My hopes were completely dashed, however, as the Bruins got a taste of their own medicine and the Sharks scored seven goals over the final two periods to come away with the 7-4 win. For once, I was impressed with the Bruins offense, with points coming from the top and bottom of the forward corps and even the blue line. But when the offense stepped up, the defense seemed to disappear, as Tuukka Rask couldn’t catch a break at all. Hope seemed all but lost on the road trip.
Arizona was the Bruins’ last chance. If the Bruins couldn’t beat the Coyotes, I don’t know if they would have the fortitude to beat a pee-wee team. Luckily for the Bruins, they took the game easily. Marchand scored 58 seconds into the game, and the goals kept on coming, forcing Arizona to pull their starting netminder, Devan Dubnyk, after giving up four goals. The Bruins would eventually win by a score of 5-2 — a much-needed win before coming home.
Even with this win, the Bruins got a major wake-up call on this road trip. This team is very different without David Krejci and Zdeno Chára, both left in Boston to rehab lingering injuries. Even with the two of them in the lineup, the Bruins just haven’t looked the same.
Right after the game in Arizona, rumors started to swirl that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli had re-opened trade talks with the Edmonton Oilers, news that was hot earlier in the season. Chiarelli needs to shake up this team, or the Bruins will have one of our university’s maxims engrained into the locker room for the rest of the season: West is Best.
