Bruins Face Tough Test In Chicago, Look to Break Slump

The Bruins will play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight on the road at 8:30 EST. Hopefully, the Original Six matchup will shake the Bruins out of the rut they’ve been in to start the season. They are 1-3-0 so far, scoring only seven goals in their four games (with 4 coming in one game). After losing their first game, Chicago has won two in a row, both at home. They are 2-1-0 on the season.

Injuries

Boston

- Adam McQuaid (head) went crashing into the boards in Wednesday night’s game in Carolina and will not play tonight. David Krejci (core injury) will miss tonight’s game and is considered day to day. Steven Kampfer (knee) remains out of the lineup.

Chicago

-Wingers Viktor Stalberg (knee) and Ben Smith (concussion) could both return to the lineup. Center Phillipe Paradis is on the IR with an undisclosed injury.

Notes

-        Maybe Claude can have a talk with Joel Quenneville tonight about dealing with the infamous "Stanley Cup hangover." The same thing happened to Chicago last year with an 11-11-2 start, though with a revamped roster

-        There are no plans as of right now for a Providence callup

-        The core of Chicago’s Cup-winning team is still intact. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook are as good a core group as you’ll find

-        Ray Emery got the start in Chicago’s 4-3 win over the Jets Thursday, but Corey Crawford will be back in net tonight for the Hawks. Tim Thomas will likely start for the Bruins.

-        Joe Corvo has looked good on the power play so far. He’s a very good skater

-        The lines for Friday’s skate at the United Center were the same, except Matt Bartkowski took McQuaid’s place. Bartkowski will play tonight for the first time since the season opener, when McQuaid had the flu

-        Old friend Daniel Carcillo returned to the Hawks lineup Thursday after a two-game suspension. He played on the second line with Kane and Hossa. One of these things is not like the other . . .

-        Old friend #2 Steve Montador will also be in the lineup for the Hawks, paired with old friend #3 Sean O’Donnell. The Bruins better be licking their chops at that pairing

-         Last year when these two teams met, Shawn Thornton left the ice with a cut over his eye. Thornton was enraged when a Hawks player chirped him as he left the ice. Thornton said after the game he would "deal with it in my own way." Hawks enforcer John Scott was none too happy about that, and said he'd "kick the [expletive]" out of Thornton if Thornton came after him. Should be interesting to see what happens. Here's a story on it from the Chicago Sun-Times. [Sun-Times]

Projected Bruins Lines

Milan Lucic- Tyler Seguin- Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand- Patrice Bergeron- Rich Peverley

Benoit Pouliot- Chris Kelly- Jordan Caron

Daniel Paille- Gregory Campbell- Shawn Thornton

 

Zdeno Chara- Johnny Boychuk

 

Dennis Seidenberg- Joe Corvo

Andrew Ference- Matt Bartkowski

 

Tim Thomas

Tuukka Rask

Projected Hawks Lines

Andrew Brunette- Jonathan Toews- Patrick Sharp

Daniel Carcillo- Patrick Kane- Marian Hossa

Bryan Bickell- Dave Bolland- Michael Frolik

Rostislav Olesz- Marcus Kruger- Jamal Mayers (Not sure where Stalberg and Smith would end up if they play, but Mayers and Olesz would be likely candidates to sit)

 

Duncan Keith- Nick Leddy

Brent Seabrook- Niklas Hjalmarsson

Steve Montador- Sean O’Donnell

 

Corey Crawford

Ray Emery

Puck Drop

8:30 PM EST (NESN, NHLN, 98.5 The Sports Hub)

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