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The Bruins hit the road, facing the Avalanche in the Mile High City tomorrow night at 10:00PM (yawn) on NESN.
- Get ready for the Battle of the Top Lines. Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand prepare to take on the best that Colorado has to offer. WEEI
- Pastrnak is your NHL First Star of the Week- here’s why. (With video) CBS Boston
- My, how he has grown! Pastrnak has not only topped the scoring charts, but has developed a two-way game. Are we watching the ascent of the next face of the franchise? Bruins Daily
- He’s not the only happy youngster this week, Jeremy Lauzon notched his first NHL goal. He’d like to stick around for more. Boston.com
- And the Bruins’ two bottom lines appear to be gelling, with David Backes returning to the wing. Boston Herald
- It is a wee bit early, but gloat anyway. The Bruins are looking pretty good right now in three key areas. Chowder and Champions
- Be patient- there will be word of the missing Tuukka Rask soon. In the interim, the Bruins ride the hot hand of Jaroslav Halak, and Dan Vladar is enjoying his time with Boston. Boston Globe
- Update: Dan Vladar has returned to Providence. @MarkDivver
- Update: Rask is back on ice this morning, and will join his team on their road trip. CBS Boston
- Also at Warrior Arena practicing ahead of the road trip is Jakub Zboril @AmalieBenjamin while Urho Vaakanainen skated in a no-contact jersey. @AmalieBenjamin Kevan Miller and Charlie McAvoy are also skating. @AmalieBenjamin
- Meanwhile, it was a mixed bag in Providence over the weekend. Odd calls haunted Zane McIntyre, and the Bridgeport player that injured Trent Frederic was handed a penalty, game misconduct, and suspension. Rinkside Rhode Island
- Sean Bonar ws called up to cover for Dan Vladar’s absence, but has since returned to the Atlanta Gladiators. Gwinnett Daily Post
Elsewhere around the rink:
- The concussion lawsuit for the NHL has sputtered to an offer of a modest $19m settlement. Compare this to the payout faced by the NFL. The key was failure to reach class-action status by the NHL players, and contention over the very existence of CTE. New York Times
- Speaking of this issue, Tom Wilson just received undeserved mercy at the hands of an arbitrator. TSN
- Remember that post about Jalen Ramsey wanting to play hockey? P.K. Subban and Paul Bissonette are stepping in to make it happen in 6 months. Bonus- footage of the recent Bruins v. Predators game with Ramsey’s assessment of Zdeno Chara and one LOUD, *NSFW* chirp from the stands at Brad Marchand! (With video) Predators NHL
- Godspeed- look back as the late Stan Lee envisioned NHL teams as superheroes in his Guardian 30 Project. BarDown