The Boston Bruins went 2-1-1 last week and find themselves in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a 35-22-6 record, 76 points and a +12 goal differential. To start the new week, the Bruins will take on a pair of Western Conference opponents at home –– the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. Boston will hit the road for the final two games of the week, with matchups against the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils.
Boston Bruins’ upcoming schedule for the week of March 10:
- Tuesday, March 10 vs. Los Angeles Kings
- Thursday, March 12 vs. San Jose Sharks
- Saturday, March 14 at Washington Capitals
- Monday, March 16 at New Jersey Devils
Boston Bruins’ DraftKings Fantasy Preview
Tuesday, March 10 vs. Los Angeles Kings
- The Los Angeles Kings are in sixth place in the Pacific Division and 10th place in the Western Conference with a 26-23-14 record, 66 points, and a -22 goal differential.
- These two teams met once already this season, on Nov. 21, a game in which the Bruins won 2-1 in overtime. The Kings are 3-4-0 since the break, with wins over the Flames, Islanders and Blue Jackets. It has been a challenging season for this club, as it has faced numerous injuries to its forward group. This has resulted in allowing more goals than it has scored, and the special teams’ units rank among the worst in the NHL. The Kings rank 27th in PP% and 28th in PK%, and they’ve scored the second-fewest power play goals in the NHL. While Los Angeles has allowed the third-fewest 5v5 goals against per 60, it has also scored the fifth-fewest 5v5 goals per 60. Across all situations, the Kings have scored the fourth-fewest goals and are now slowly falling out of playoff contention.
- Perhaps the acquisition of Artemi Panarin (21G, 44A) can help steer this club in the right direction for the back half of the regular season. Panarin has averaged 11.6 DraftKings fantasy points per game (DK FPTS), which ranks first on the team, with Adrian Kempe (25G, 30A) not too far behind him with 11.1 DK FPTS per game. As for the forward injuries, three of the Kings’ top-ten point-getters face long stints on Injured Reserve and may not even play again this season. The goaltending has kept this club somewhat afloat in the standings, with Darcy Kuemper (2.72 GAA, .896 SV%) and Anton Forsberg (2.74 GAA, .903 SV%) posting nearly-identical stats. Both of them have been a bit shaky since returning from the break, however, and the Kings have allowed 4.1 goals per game across seven outings since Feb. 25.
Thursday, March 12 vs. San Jose Sharks
- The San Jose Sharks are in fifth place in the Pacific Division and ninth place in the Western Conference with an 30-25-6 record, 66 points, and a -22 goal differential.
- The Sharks won the first meeting 3-1 on Nov. 23. The Sharks are 3-1-2 since the break, with wins over the Oilers, Jets and Canadiens. This club can keep up offensively, but it still presents a major goaltending issue, which has held it back mightily. San Jose ranks 17th in 5v5 goals per 60 and 23rd in 5v5 Goals%, but it has also allowed the sixth-most 5v5 goals against per 60. The Sharks don’t necessarily create high-quality chances at even strength, and they cannot depend on a power play unit that ranks 17th in the NHL. The club ranks third in total power play opportunities and ninth in penalty minutes drawn per 60, but it has netted the 15th-most goals.
- Even if the club has growing pains, Sharks’ fans must be excited watching 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini (32G, 57A) light up the league on a nightly basis. Celebrini ranks fifth in the NHL in points, while averaging over 16 DK FPTS per game. San Jose will likely look to put more talent around the kid; however, as he has nearly double the points of his next closest teammate, Will Smith (19G, 25A). Unsurprisingly, the goaltending stats are poor and remain perhaps the biggest weakness of this team. Alex Nedeljkovic (2.83 GAA, .900 SV%) has been San Jose’s more consistent goaltender, but the club has opted to start Yaroslav Askarov (3.52 GAA, .888 SV%) 17 more times, which remains a puzzling decision, given his poor metrics. Among 92 eligible goaltenders, Askarov ranks 83rd in goals saved above expected.
Saturday, March 14 at Washington Capitals
- The Washington Capitals are in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a 32-26-7 record, 71 points, and a +12 goal differential.
- This will be the last of three meetings between these teams, with Boston winning both games, 3-1. The Capitals were a bit of a wagon for the first two months of the season, but they have since cooled down and find themselves rather far from a wild card playoff spot. Washington has netted the ninth-most 5v5 goals per 60 and allowed the fifth-fewest 5v5 goals against per 60, so what’s the deal? This team simply lacks superstar talent, and it’s evidenced by the top-four skaters all tied with 50 points apiece. The once-dominant power play unit has fallen off a cliff, ranking 28th in PP%, and the elite goaltending has started to cool off a bit. Since the new year, Washington has allowed 3.20 goals per game. From the start of the season to Dec. 1, the club allowed 2.58 goals per game, which ranks second-best in the NHL.
- The club’s top-four skaters –– Alex Ovechkin (24G, 26A), Tom Wilson (24G, 26A), Dylan Strome (16G, 34A) and Jakob Chychrun (22G, 28A) –– are all tied for first with 50 points. Ovechkin’s age is incredibly noticeable, and he simply doesn’t waste any strides or movements at this point in his career. Chychrun has averaged 11.9 DK FPTS per game, which ranks fourth among all NHL defensemen. The primary reason for the Capitals’ early-season success was Logan Thompson (2.42 GAA, .912 SV%), who ranks second in goals saved above expected. Across the first two months of the season, Thompson was allowing just two goals per game. Since then, however, he has allowed 2.7 goals per game, and goals have become increasingly hard to come by in Washington.
Monday, March 16 at New Jersey Devils
- The New Jersey Devils are in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference with a 32-30-2 record, 66 points, and a -26 goal differential.
- This will be the second of three meetings between these two teams, with Boston claiming the first matchup, 4-1 on Dec. 6. The Devils are 4-3-0 since the break, while averaging 2.9 goals and allowing 2.4 goals per game. Thanks to a very rough stretch to end 2025, New Jersey finds itself deep in the standings and far away from a wild card playoff spot. While the Devils rank inside the bottom half of the league in goals allowed per game, they rank 30th in goals per game. The club has particularly struggled when playing 5v5, ranking dead-last in 5v5 goals per 60 while allowing the 12th-most 5v5 goals against per 60. It is hard to imagine what this team’s record would look like if it didn’t deploy middling special teams’ units, which rank 16th in PP% and 12th in PK%.
- Jack Hughes (15G, 30A) has missed 21 games this season, yet he still ranks third on the team in points and is only three points shy of the team’s leading point-getter, Jesper Bratt (14G, 34A). While Hughes was sidelined from Nov. 15 to Dec. 17, the Devils posted an 8-10-0 record. Then, once Hughes returned, the club went on to lose eight of its next 10 games. The goaltenders have had moments of weakness, but overall, are not even close to the reason for New Jersey’s disappointing season. Jacob Markstrom (3.05 GAA, .888 SV%) leads the team in starts, though veteran Jake Allen (2.64, .907 SV%) has played a bit better. Allen ranks 22nd in the NHL in goals saved above expected and has allowed just 2.4 goals per game across his last five starts.
