Blues at Bruins Preview: Time for game eight

Yes, the new season has started and the Stanley Cup Final should be firmly in the past for both teams, but you know and I know it’s not. Not for Blues fans who are still enjoying the Scott Tenorman-like tears of Brad Marchand, or for Bruins fans and their media who still can’t just let whatever injustices exist in their heads go (save for our friends at Stanley Cup of Chowder, who are normal-ish people).

The Bruins are approaching this like any other game (their media? Not so much). The Blues are approaching it like any other game. And it is. If the Bruins win, they don’t get a day with the Cup. If the Blues win, they don’t get to play “Gloria” again. It’s two points in either direction.

After back to back wins over the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, the Blues have regained their footing. Unfortunately, even with Sammy Blais probable for a return this weekend, Vladimir Tarasenko didn’t make the trip. Out with an upper-body injury, the Blues will have to play like they did to wrap up the game against LA. The trick here is doing so against a team that isn’t the Kings. The Bruins are second in the Atlantic, right behind the Buffalo Sabres - a situation that, should last year be a predictor of anything, will be temporary. The Blues are fighting it out in what appears to be a three-way struggle for the top of the Central. Neither the Blues nor the Bruins have lost a step since game seven.

That’s a plus for fans of both teams. If you don’t think that tonight’s game isn’t going to be rough, you’re very misguided. Tonight’s game will be broadcast on NBCSN, so expect lots of needling pre-game questions that will do nothing but remind the Bruins of what they lost in June. That should add to the fun.