Bruins vs Sharks Preview: A Tale of Two Shutouts

Just the Facts:

Game Time: 7:00 PM, TD Garden.

TV Broadcast: NESN, CSCA

Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SB Nation Site:  Fear The Fin

Season Record: Bruins: 3-4-0, 5th in Atlantic Division | Sharks 4-1-1, 3rd in Pacific Division

Sharks Lines:

Tomas Hertl - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski

Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Matt Nieto

Tye McGinn - Chris Tierney - Tommy Wingels

Eriah Hayes - Andrew Desjardins - Adam Burish

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun

Mirco Mueller - Brent Burns

Matt Irwin - Scott Hannan

Goaltenders: Alex Stalock, Antti Niemi

Projected Bruins Lines (Monday's Practice Lines):

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Seth Griffith

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith

Chris Kelly - Carl Soderberg - Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Matt Fraser / Simon Gagne

Zdeno Chara - Dougie Hamilton

Dennis Seidenberg - Torey Krug

Adam McQuaid - Matt Bartkowski (?)

IR: Kevan Miller

Goaltenders: Tuukka Rask, Niklas Svedberg

Game Notes:

It seems like Bruins hockey is finally back. "Our game is starting to come around," said Claude Julien of the 4-0 shutout against the Sabres on Saturday. The key phrase there, though, is "against the Sabres." Players like Dougie Hamilton were starting to show confidence on Saturday, and hopefully this will continue against more worthy adversary. Because...let's be honest. It was the Sabres. Still, it was the second win in three games and the Bruins earned four out of six possible points.

Bobby Orr is watching over the Bruins this week. The Bs are coming off of a 4-0 shutout victory, while the Sharks are coming off of their first regulation loss, a 0-4 shutout against the Rangers. Let's hope newfound Bruins confidence will translate to momentum, not cockiness.

Defenseman Kevan Miller is out indefinitely with a dislocated shoulder after dropping the gloves with Nicolas DesLauriers on Saturday. Even without him for most of last game, Boston defense showed great improvement protecting the slot. I'm assuming Bartkowski will replace Miller...please, Bartkowski, don't mess up :).

My biggest concern is the tiny fact that the Bruins racked up a whopping eight penalties on Saturday alone. That's fine and dandy against the Sabres when you can kill them all off, but I'd like to see the Bruins clean it up a little.

NEVER FORGET:

It seems like people need a friendly reminder that Tuukka Rask is Tuukka Rask.

Last Game in Fancy Stats: