Bruins Extend Win Streak, Avalanche Sign Three-Year Extension with Berra

On Thursday with their 2-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes (31-25-11), the Boston Bruins (44-17-5) extended their win streak to seven and now own the top spot for the Eastern Conference. They sit ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins (44-17-4) by one point (93 vs. 92).

For the Coyotes, the loss ended their hopes of moving into a playoff position. They remain in the Western Conference’s ninth spot, sitting one point behind the Dallas Stars (32-23-10), who own the eighth spot and a two-game advantage.

Phoenix found themselves behind by two goals on Thursday and in the third quarter, they finally grabbed a goal but enter Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask who put a stop to a possible game-tying goal with under four minutes remaining in the game. For the night, Rask had 21 saves. This followed his 35 saves against the Montreal Canadiens (35-25-7) on Wednesday.

Tuuka Rask

Rask said of the team’s recent play via ESPN, “We’re just playing Bruins hockey day in and day out and not trying to do too much. The schedule’s tough and we’re trying to keep things simple. We pretty much know we’re going to make the playoffs and we just want to get our game to a level we think it needs to be going into the playoffs.”

Zdeno Chara and Jarome Iginsla scored for Boston, both in the first period, while Coyote goalie Mike Smith had 18 saves and Lauri Korpikoski got the sole goal for his team.

The Coyotes will look ahead and play the Calgary Flames (26-33-7) on Saturday. Phoenix sits at 33/1 to win the 2014 Western Conference.

Along with Boston’s extended win streak and their top spot, coach Claude Julien grabbed his career win No. 300 with the Bruins. Through his 762 career games coaching, his overall record is 419-249-10-84. He is humble about his accomplishments but has been vocal about his desire to win another Bruins Stanley Cup.

Boston will look for win No. 8 against the Carolina Hurricanes (29-28-9) on Saturday. The Bruins have 2/1 odds to win the 2014 Eastern Conference and 7/1 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup.

Avalanche Signs Three-Year Extension with Berra 

On Friday, the Denver Post reported that the Colorado Avalanche (43-18-5) have signed a three-year extension with goalie Reto Berra. This comes as he was on his way to becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer. He is yet to take the ice for Colorado but from his Flames days with 29 games, he had a  a 2.95 GAA with .897 save percentage, reported NBC Sports.

Reto Barra

Berra sits in a goalie pool that includes Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who suffers from back problems. On March 19 against the Winnipeg Jets (30-28-9), Berra is supposedly set to take the ice for the Avalanche.

Meanwhile on Friday, Colorado will play the Anaheim Ducks (43-18-5), who are currently undergoing a four-game losing streak. While they still sit atop the Pacific Division, they’ve gone 3-5-2 over their last eight games and are at risk of losing this to the San Jose Sharks (43-17-7).

It’s hard to remember this is the same team that had an 18-1-0 run earlier in the season. Its coach Bruce Boudreau said of the recent play via the Associated Press, “I don’t really know what to say. It’s trying to understand how that can happen in a race like we are in, in a game that is so important against a team that is beneath us in the standings. Now going on the road to Colorado and LA (on Saturday). … We better do some soul searching.”

Good luck going up against Colorado who has gone on a  a 6-1-0 run and is nipping on St. Louis’ (45-14-7) heels for the top Central Division spot. They are coming off a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks (38-14-14) on Wednesday.

On Friday, Colorado is even at -5 o/u to get the win and 18/1 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup.