Public Skate: Show 'Dem Happy Feet

The Boston Bruins look to turn around a mid-season swoon that's seen them go 5-4-1 in their last ten games today as the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins come to town.

Prior to a shutout loss on Wednesday against Toronto, Pittsburgh ended a six-game losing streak by winning eight games in a row, and has been playing some of the best hockey in the league since the calendar turned to 2012.

Evgeni Malkin (27-32=59 totals in just 44 games) has been playing some spectacular hockey in the absence of team captain Sidney Crosby, who continues to suffer from concussion-related symptoms. James Neal (27-21=48 51 games) and Chris Kunitz (14-18=32) have also been strong for Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile the Bruins, who had been playing the best hockey in the league in November and December, have been hampered by injuries, suspensions and the absence of strong fundamentals as they have fallen to inferior opponents time and again. After going 21-3-1 in the final two months of 2011, the Bruins are 8-5-1 since the calendar turned, and haven't won consecutive games since January 12th.

The Black and Gold also haven't lost consecutive games in that time, however, and after falling in humiliating fashion to Carolina on Thursday night, it's likely that the Bruins will have a bit more fire under them as they take the ice this afternoon at TD Garden.

Boston beat Pittsburgh 3-1 back in early December in the final game of their NHL-best 14-game point streak earlier this season, but this is a much different Pittsburgh team. It's also, as it turns out, a much different Boston team.

Expect Tim Thomas to man the pipes for Boston, with the rest of the roster shaking out like this:

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Rich Peverley

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin

Chris Kelly - Zach Hamill - Benoit Pouliot

Shawn Thornton - Gregory Campbell - Daniel Paille

Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk

Dennis Seidenberg - Joe Corvo

Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid

Tim Thomas

Tuukka Rask