Preview: Banged-up Bruins head to Dallas to face the Stars

Just the facts

When: 8 PM

Where: American Airlines Center - Dallas, TX

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Defending Big D

Know your enemy

• Tyler Seguin: 5G-12A-17PTS; Jamie Benn: 7G-7A-14PTS; John Klingberg: 5G-8A-13PTS
• Ben Bishop: 6-5-1, 2.61 GAA, .915 save percentage

Game notes

• The injury bug continues to hound the Bruins. Zdeno Chara headed back to Boston on Thursday, reportedly to get some tests done. This means the Bruins will be without Chara for a least the next couple games. Connor Clifton was recalled in his place, and Jakub Zboril was already with the team. Chances are pretty good Zboril makes his big-league debut tonight, as he’s a left shot while Clifton shoots from the right. That’s not necessarily a requirement, but it would make sense to replace one left (Chara) with another.
• No word yet (as I write this Thursday night), but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tuukka Rask play tonight. Bruce Cassidy indicated that he’d likely play Rask in one of these back-to-backs, and with Jaroslav Halak giving up five last night, tonight’s as good a time as any.
• The defense pairs should be, uh...interesting tonight. As Chris pointed out on Twitter, the Bruins’ injured defensemen make up a decent defense corps: Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Kevan Miller, Urho Vaakanainen...NOT BAD.
• These two teams played to an entertaining OT win for the Bruins a couple of weeks ago, and you’ll likely see similarly entertaining hockey tonight. Both teams have the horses to play an up-tempo style, with names like David Pastrnak, Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand and Jamie Benn up front.
• The Stars have been on a bit of a skid since that loss in Boston, losing three of four (with one loss coming outside of regulation). They currently sit fifth in the Central, a point behind the Colorado Avalanche team that beat the Bruins on Wednesday night.
• Halak and Rask have been a decent tandem thus far, but it’s hard not to miss the personality of Anton Khudobin. The guy is nuts (in the best way possible), as this Twitter Q & A shows.

Never forget

It was only two weeks ago, so you probably shouldn’t have forgotten this by now.