Fresh off a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the Bruins are taking to the ice again tonight some 1,000+ miles way to face the Winnipeg Jets. Tonight’s game is only the second back-to-back the Bruins have played this season (the first was also against the Jets) and also marks Boston’s first trip to Winnipeg since the New Year’s Eve in 1995. For the Bruins, tonight’s game represents the middle portion of a three games in four days stretch and over 1,500 miles traveled. Boston is looking to carry over the momentum from November into December – a run which has left the team without a regulation loss since October and just a single point shy of joining Pittsburgh at the top of the Eastern Conference.
To keep things rolling, it looks like Boston will turn to Tuukka Rask to man the pipes while Tim Thomas receives a well-earned rest after logging time in seven of the last 10 games. As for the offense, the Bruins will look to the usual suspects (Lucic, Horton, Seguin, etc.) to provide some scoring punch, but the biggest contributions may actually come from Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley. When these two teams faced off just after Thanksgiving, Kelly and Peverley chipped in four combined points while finishing the game +4.
The big story for Winnipeg is Evander Kane’s home point streak, which he pushed to nine consecutive games with two goals in the win over New Jersey on Saturday. Momentum is also a key for Winnipeg, but unlike Boston, the Jets are looking to create some – a win tonight would give them only their second three-game winning streak of the season and back-to-back wins for only the fifth time. With the Bruins ranking second overall in goals per game, the Jets defense is going to have to step up to overcome the 3.1 goals against per game they have been giving up this season.
Bruins @ Jets – 8:30p.m. EST TV: NESN SB Nation Jets Blog: Arctic Ice Hockey