Just the Facts:
Game Time: 7:00 PM, TD Garden.
TV Broadcast: NESN, FSMW
Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival SB Nation Site: St. Louis Game Time
Season Record: Bruins: 11-8-0, 3rd in Atlantic Division | Blues 12-4-1, 1st in Central Division
Blues Lines:
Alexander Steen - Paul Stastny - Joakim Lindstrom
Patrik Berglund - David Backes - T.J. Oshie
Jaden Schwartz - Jori Lehtera - Vladimir Tarasenko
Steve Ott - Maxim Lapierre - Ryan Reaves
Defensive Pairings:
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Ian Cole - Barret Jackman
Goalies: Brian Elliott, Jake Allen
Bruins Lines: (Monday's practice)
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Seth Griffith
Matt Fraser - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Simon Gagne
Defensive Pairings:
Dennis Seidenberg - Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow - Dougie Hamilton
Torey Krug - Matt Bartkowski
Goalies: Tuukka Rask, Niklas Svedberg
IR: Zdeno Chara, David Warsofsky, David Krejci, Not Brad Marchand, "per se"
Game Notes:
- Saturday's 2-1 win against the Hurricanes was, as Claude Julien said, a chance to "build ourselves back up." Blowouts and miracles aren't really necessary right now with invaluable players out, but leadership and effort from veteran players still on the ice is. Although the Hurricanes outshot the Bruins in the first and third periods, Tuukka Rask stopped 33 of 34 shots. Yes, in a parallel universe not so far away the Bruins would have destroyed the Hurricanes. But I'll take a start at a comeback for now.
- Kevan Miller has been cleared to play and participated in practice Monday. Brad Marchand is the latest vaguely injured player, "not injured, per se" according to Julien, yet only "probable" to play tonight. Both will be game-time decisions, or whenever Julien feels like deciding. David Krejci practiced with the team Monday but he has not been cleared to play.
- This is an in-depth, fancy statty read about the current state of the Blues. Basically, they have been playing outstanding defense, allowing only 20 goals against at even strength throughout their 17 games. Their problem (if we're nitpicking. Yes. Let's nitpick.) is offense, with strongest players Schwartz, Tarasenko, and Lehtera concentrated on one line. The Blues have racked up 30 goals in 17 games while the Bruins have scored 35 in 19.
- Our favorite Blues fan Sarah Sr. asks us to not blame her when this matchup goes to a shootout for the "234623948756342th time…or you know, do." I blame you already, Sarah.
NEVER FORGET:
Pick a shootout, any shootout. You can totally forget the outcome of this shootout but I like the Bergeron goal and the Rask save against Oshie.
Last Game in Fancy Stats:
Meh.