Big weekend for B's

It goes without saying, but with seven consecutive losses, the Bruins must get some wins this weekend to get back into the playoff race.

Off since a 5-1 pasting at the hands of the Lazarus-like Carolina Hurricanes last Sunday, the Bruins' task to get off the schneid isn't an easy one: they're in action against the Northeast Division-leading Buffalo Sabres, who have gotten stellar goaltending from Ryan Miller this season. He's well-positioned to capture the Vezina Trophy in June, and will likely carry his country's Olympic hopes between the Team USA pipes.

For the Bruins, center Marc Savard is expected back from his strained MCL, which is good news. How effective he'll be remains to be seen, but at least he'll be better than Drew Larman and Trent Whitfield...their presence conjured up memories of Davis Payne (now Blues head coach) and P.C. Drouin playing on the "DOPe" line with Adam Oates way back in 1997. This isn't meant as a shot at those guys, but Savard is an NHL All-Star while Larman and Whitfield are not. They gave it a good try, but the results speak for themselves.

My colleague Doug Flynn over at the New England Hockey Journal has a pretty comprehensive blog entry detailing the current Bruins situation up at the new-and-improved hockeyjournal.com website today. Check it out:

http://blackandgold.hockeyjournal.com/2010/01/bruins-drop-to-11th-as-atlanta-surges-to-sixth/