Bruins set for clash with Ducks on home ice

The Bruins welcome the Anaheim Ducks to TD Garden tonight for their first and only meeting of the season. The Ducks are looking to snap a 2-game losing streak, while the Bruins will try for their second straight W after edging out the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Saturday night.

The Ducks are off to 17-15-4 start and right in the mix in the very closely contested Pacific Division. The Ducks are on their fourth stop of a 7-game road trip that will not end until New Year's Eve when they host the Philadelphia Flyers. The Ducks are 1-2-0 on the trip so far.

Anaheim has the luxury of getting scoring throughout their lineup. The Ducks have five players with at least 10 goals on the season: Corey Perry (16), Bobby Ryan (14), Ryan Getzlaf (13), Teemu Selanne (10), and Saku Koivu (10).

In goal for the Ducks, Jonas Hiller has handled the bulk of the goaltending duties. The Swiss netminder has started 29 of the Duck's 36 games this season and has appeared in 31 contests. He has posted a 15-12-3 record with a 2.66 GAA and .920 save percentage.

Aaron Voros (fractured orbital bone) and Jason Jaffray (knee) are on the shelf for the Ducks. For the Bruins, Mark Stuart is still out with a broken finger, while Brad Marchand (undisclosed) is questionable for tonight's game. Marchand left Saturday night's game against the Capitals with an apparent injury. There has not been any update on the nature or severity of Marchand's injury. Marchand was not at the morning skate.

Notes:

- Tonight's game has a later than usual 7:30 PM ET start time, presumably to accommodate Versus' broadcast of the game.

- If you are going to the game, be sure to get there early. The first 10,000 fans through the turnstiles at TD Garden will receive a free "Rancournament".

- Corey Perry is 5th in the NHL with 38 points (16-22-38).

- Anaheim and Boston rank 27th and 28th respectively in shots allowed. The Ducks allow 34.1 shots per game, while the Bruins give up 34.2.

- Ducks' enforcer George Parros leads the NHL with 11 fighting majors and is doing his part to shed the Disney family-friendly image. Parros is making a difference. What are you doing with your Ivy League degree?

- At the time of publish, the Bruins are -180 favorites tonight.

- Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller has been wearing custom MLX goalie skate prototypes.

- The Public Skate open thread gets start at 7:00 PM ET.

- For more on tonight's game, check out Anaheim Calling and Battle of California (for what I hope will be an awesome cartoon from Earl Sleek)