RALEIGH — Not many expected the Boston Bruins to be atop the Eastern Conference standings at the midway point of this season. The retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci left the B’s thin at center and in veteran leadership, with Brad Marchand — who has been suspended more times, eight, than any player in NHL history — to guide the team as its new captain.
When the Hurricanes enter TD Garden on Wednesday, they’ll still be looking up at the Bruins in the standings. Boston is 29-8-9 with 67 points heading into the game, 12 points ahead of the 25-15-5 Hurricanes and leading the Atlantic Division by seven points over the Panthers. It presents Carolina with an opportunity to make a statement against the East’s best team.
1. Coach Rod Brind’Amour said the plan was to start Spencer Martin in goal in one of the two back-to-back games, either Wednesday at Boston or back home Thursday vs. the Devils.
Martin had a net to himself at Tuesday’s practice, while Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov — still on injured reserve — shared the opposite goal. That would indicate Martin will make his Carolina debut Wednesday.
Brind’Amour wasn’t concerned about the goalie adapting to playing with a new team.
“Goalie is probably the easiest guy to come in fresh, if you will, and new and just fit in because you just got to stop the puck, right?” the coach said. “The systems and all that, the players have to understand that a lot more than the goalies. They’ve got one job for the most part, so it’s a little easier for them to adapt to what’s going on.”
Martin said “it’s been an easy transition so far” coming to Carolina.
“It’s a charismatic, like fun, group to be around,” Martin said after Tuesday’s practice,” but they’re also super competitive, and I think it probably starts with the coach, from what I can tell. They’re also super welcoming (to) me.”
Raanta will back up since Kochetkov still has to pass concussion protocol tests to be cleared to play. But the rookie goalie was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice.
“He certainly looks ready to go,” Brind’Amour said.
2. In the Metropolitan Division, the Islanders fired coach Lane Lambert on Saturday and replaced him with Patrick Roy, the mercurial Hall of Fame goalie who won the Jack Adams Trophy in his first of three seasons with the Avalanche in 2014 but had to wait more than seven years for his second chance to be an NHL coach after he abruptly resigned from Colorado in August 2016.
Martin was a third-round pick of the Avalanche in 2013, just after Roy was hired, and went through a few training camps with the coach at the helm.
“I don’t know how he’s running his ship now, but he was super intense and that training camp was pretty tough,” Martin said. “That’s kind of what I remember.”
The Islanders are 1-1-0 since Roy took over, beating the Stars 3-2 in overtime at home Sunday before losing 3-2 to Vegas on Tuesday at UBS Arena. His first road game with the Isles? Thursday night in Montreal.
3. Former Hurricanes defenseman John-Michael Liles posted on X that he had received a nice keepsake from the Bruins.
My time in Boston was short, but I truly loved playing for such a first class organization. My family and I enjoyed every second, and made so many great friends/memories in the city. Thank you @NHLBruins for this special gift! pic.twitter.com/qHbZnodisf
— John-Michael Liles (@hoosierjm26) January 22, 2024
Liles played his final 53 games with Boston over two seasons after Carolina traded him there at the 2016 deadline for third- and fifth-round draft picks along with prospect Anthony Camara. The 2016 third-rounder became goalie Jack LaFontaine, while the 2017 fifth-round pick was traded to the Golden Knights as compensation for Vegas taking Connor Brickley in the expansion draft.
The Knights selected Jack Dugan, who is playing in the ECHL this year after three seasons in the AHL, with the pick. In a “it’s funny how things turn out” factoid, Dugan played eight games with the Chicago Wolves last year when Carolina traded for him March 10 in exchange for Zack Hayes.
It’s a nice gesture that the Bruins, in their 100th year, are honoring every player who ever wore the Spoked B. That includes Dmitry Orlov, who told me he also received the keepsake from the team after playing a combined 29 regular season and playoff games with Boston last season after being acquired at the trade deadline.
Wednesday with be Orlov’s first game against the Bruins since they were eliminated in the first round of last year’s playoffs after a record-breaking regular season.
Orlov has never scored a goal as a visitor at TD Garden, and his one goal there came in his home debut with the Bruins. Orlov has been snake bit this year — only four defensemen in the league have hit the post or crossbar more than Orlov’s combined five — but he scored in his return to Washington earlier this month and maybe has something in store against Boston.
4. This year’s mentor trip is with the women in the players’ lives, and they traveled with the team to Boston for the game after taking in practice Tuesday. With many of the players’ moms in the stands on Wednesday, does Brind’Amour expect an inspired effort?
“Well, it’s not usually in question with our group,” Brind’Amour said. “But yeah, this is always special when you have the moms or the dads around. Yeah, you’re right — they don’t want to disappoint Mom.”
Even Martin’s mom, Karen, was able to join the group on short notice after the goalie was claimed by Carolina last Friday.
“About a half an hour after I found I was getting picked up here that they’re like, ‘Hey, there’s a moms trip if she wants to go,’” Martin said.
Martin’s father went on the dads trip earlier in the season with Columbus — also to Boston — earlier in the season. Now his mom also gets to go to Beantown.
“She’s pumped to be here, and I’m happy to have her too,” Martin said.
Martin played in the dads trip game with Blue Jackets, a 3-1 loss Dec. 3 during which Marchand had a natural hat trick in the third period for the Bruins. Martin’s final game with the Blue Jackets was also a loss to Boston, 4-1 in Columbus on Jan. 2.
5. One person not making the trip is Andrei Svechnikov, who missed Sunday’s game against the Wild with an upper-body injury and stayed back in Raleigh.
“I wouldn’t say day to day,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday of the timetable for Svechnikov’s return, “but it’s nothing major. … I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to bounce back quickly.”
Brind’Amour confirmed the injury is unrelated to the one that kept him out of the lineup in mid-December.
Michael Bunting has jumped onto the top line centered by Sebastian Aho and opposite Teuvo Teravainen in Svechnikov’s absence, and he scored Sunday against the Wild (albeit during a partial line change).
“With Svech out, it definitely leaves a big hole up in our top end, so we need we need Bunts or whoever we throw in there to fill it,” Brind’Amour said.
