The clowns have left town (or at least most of them) and the Bruins are back in The Hub. The B's will play host to the Washington Capitals tonight in the team's home opener after completing their season-opening road trip with a 3-1-0 record. The B's capped off the road trip with a 3-1 win over the very same Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Verizon Center in Washington.
Washington Capitals @ Boston Bruins
7:00 PM ET
TD Garden, Boston, MA
National TV: NHL Network (U.S)
Local TV: NESN
Online: NHL GameCenter Live (only in markets that don't have NHL Network or NESN)
Radio: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub
SB Nation's: Capitals Blog: Japers' Rink
Notes:
- All three players on the first line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton have recorded a point in each of first four games for the Bruins.
- Claude Julien gave Zdeno Chara the day off on Wednesday after chasing Alex Ovechkin around all night on Tuesday.
- I would expect to see the same line for the Bruins again tonight. Hey, if it ain't brought, don't fix it.
- The Capitals may shuffle their lines.
- Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth is questionable after leaving Tuesday game with flu-like symptoms. Neuvirth practiced on Wednesday, but said he still wasn't feeling well. Matt Bradley (lower body) and Boyd Gordon (upper body) are also considered questionable for the Caps for tonight's game. Mike Green (shoulder) will not play tonight.
- The Capital have not allowed a power play goal this season. They are a perfect 25 for 25 on the kill this season.
- The Bruins have struggled on the power play. The B's have converted once in 15 opportunities (6.7%)
- For odds on tonight's game, check out SB Nation's new (and long overdue) Odds Page
- Capitals employee Brett "Stretch" Leonhardt has had some pretty cool experiences working for the Capitals organization. There was that time he got to suit up in an NHL game as an emergency goalie and now he is rockin' the ones and twos for for the fans "Rockin' the Red"
- There could be a few milestones for the Bruins tonight. Patrice Bergeron is one goal shy of his 100th career NHL goal. Dennis Seidenberg is one shy of his 100th NHL assist. Mark Recchi is 2 PIMs short of 1,000 penalty minutes and Shawn Thornton is 2 PIMs shy of 500 for his career.
- My guess is that the Bruins will stick with Tim Thomas in net, but you never know.
"I like to play against him. He's kind of a guy you never know what he's going to do, and I don't know what I'm going to either. So, it's two guys who don't know what they're going to do."
Alex Ovechkin on facing Tim Thomas per Katie Carrera of The Washington Post
- Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler will be the national anthem singer tonight.
- The Bruins are holding a Fan Fest outside TD Garden before tonight's game starting at 4:30.
- The Public Skate open thread starts right here a half hour before puck drop.
- For more on tonight's game, see what your buddies over at Japers' Rink are up to.
Today's Obligatory Embarrassing Capitals Fan Bruce Boudreau YouTube Video: