The Bruins will back to Boston after a big victory against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, now only one point out of 1st place in the East. The Bruins continue to be the team to beat in the NHL, going 8-2-0 in their last 10. Patrice Bergeron, who was featured on the latest NHL 36, scored two goals in the 6-1 victory.
The Flames have yet to stoke the fire, as they sit at 12th place in the West, coming off of a two-game losing streak, going 4-4-2 in their last 10 in wake of being plagued with injury.
To add insult to injury, the Flames will be without Rene Bourque for the next five games after elbowing Washington's Niklas Backstrom in the head. Bourque takes the #3 slot for team goals this season (13) only trailing Jarome Iginla (15) and Curtis Glencross (16). As of Wednesday night, the Flames were still without David Moss, Matt Stajan, Alex Tanguay, Mark Giordano, and Derek Smith - none of which were slated for a return against Boston. Although the Flames aren't favored to win on Thursday, they are 3-3 against Boston since the 2003-04 season (the two teams did not meet in 2007-2008). Don't expect the Flames to give in to Boston's physical game either, as they are currently averaging 11.0 PIM per game, versus Boston's 15.9 per game.
The Bruins should also try to avoid the penalty box, as Calgary is maintaining a solid 82.52 penalty kill percentage while spending a total of 143 minute shorthanded this season, in comparison to Boston's 136 minutes. Also, it's hard to imagine that Jarome Iginla won't try to score his 500th goal (he's currently at 499) agains the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
Flames at Bruins, 7:00 PM EST. TV: NESN. SB Nation Flames site: Matchsticks and Gasoline.