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.