Bruins Head West for Three-Game Road Trip

BOSTON - After a lengthy - and successful - seven-game homestand (5-2-0), the Bruins are headed back on the road for a three-game swing through Colorado, Arizona, and Dallas. The trip begins on Wednesday night in Denver against a high-powered Avalanche squad that is tied with Florida and Tampa Bay for the top spot in the National Hockey League with 61 points.
Colorado, which has three players (Nazem Kadri, Mikko Rantanen, and Nathan MacKinnon) in the top 16 of the NHL's scoring race, has won seven in a row overall and 16 straight on home ice.

"They have won whatever it is, [16] in a row at home, playing well and has played well for years. We've had good games against them, just come up a little bit short in crunch time. In that regard, we'd better be ready to go," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, whose club has not met the Avalanche since a 4-1 loss at TD Garden on Dec. 7, 2019.
"That is the one positive about playing a team like that who has been hot…let's hope we're able to respond. I think we have in the past. Some good road games recently. We had a long stretch at home. Played well in Washington, played well in Tampa, Detroit, so we hope that that continues, our ability to win both in Boston and on the road."

Maintenance for Marchand

Brad Marchand did not practice on Tuesday as he continues to manage the upper-body injury he suffered last Thursday against Washington. Marchand has not missed a game, though Cassidy acknowledged that the winger "is still fighting his way through."
"There's no doubt that he's playing hurt," said Cassidy. "And there are guys that have a higher pain tolerance that can play through it and other guys need maintenance…little things - guys are rarely truly 100 percent. I think guys just learned to play through certain injuries over the years. Some nag on longer than others, right?
"I think you can go through the whole locker room, probably find three or four guys that don't feel 100 percent, but good enough to play and help the team win and give them some minutes."
Cassidy added that Nick Foligno, who suffered an upper-body injury on Monday night against Anaheim, will not travel with the club during the road trip. Matt Grzelcyk returned to practice after missing the B's loss to the Ducks and, according to Cassidy, "felt better, so we'll see on him [Wednesday]" if the blue liner will be able to suit up against Colorado.
Anton Blidh and John Moore, both out with upper-body injuries, practiced in full on Monday. Cassidy, however, said that only Blidh will make the trip.
Forwards Steven Fogarty and Jesper Froden and goalie Troy Grosenick are all with the team after being called up to the taxi squad from Providence.

Some Legendary Advice

Marchand was just 19 years old when he sat down with Bruins legend Ray Bourque for dinner at a charity event. The Hall of Famer imparted plenty of advice that night, but nearly 15 years later, one particular tidbit has stuck with Marchand.
"I'll never forget what he said - and I've come back to it a lot," said Marchand. "It's very easy when you get comfortable in the league or comfortable in the organization to kind of forget where you're at, forget how fortunate we are, how lucky we are to be in the position we're in, to be living our dreams and living other people's dreams. And you kind of take it for granted at times.
"He said when every kid that wants an autograph, every kid that approaches you or wants to talk to you, just remember, enjoy it, don't take it for granted. Enjoy those moments because when you retire and nobody cares anymore, nobody cares about, what you've done or who you are, you're not relevant, essentially. It's always the new players that are in the league, the superstars that are in the league at that point that they care about.
"It's something that I've come back to a lot and I think it just keeps you grounded, keeps you humble and makes you understand how fortunate that we are…that's coming from one of the best players ever to play the game. When he's talking like that, it hits home. I thought that it was good advice to learn at a young age."
It was that advice that the Bruins' leading scorer had in mind last week when he snatched the phone of a young fan that was dangling over the tunnel by the Boston bench. As he walked back toward the B's dressing room, Marchand left a selfie-style message to the youngster that later went viral across social media.
"I was coming off the ice and we always give fist bumps to the kids coming off, and at times stop and sign some stuff," said Marchand. "A kid got out a phone and was hanging over the glass, so I kind of took it just joking around. I was taking it and then I saw that it was recording a video, so I figured I'd just leave them a little message that'd be pretty cool when you got the phone back and look back at it to kind of have those keepsakes from the games.
"You have to get prepared to the job and everything, but I remember being a kid, the Bruins and I think it was Tampa played in Halifax growing up, and I remember hanging over the walkway and how amazing it was to see the players and have them interact.
"It's always good to do, the kids remember that, enjoy it. I thought it would be a pretty cool keepsake."