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Preview: The Bruins head home for a Black Friday visit from Pittsburgh

The road trip is over, but the injuries remain.

By Dan.Ryan
Boston Bruins v Detroit Red Wings Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Just the facts

When: 7:30 PM

Where: TD Garden - Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Pensburgh

Know your enemy

  • 8-8-4, T-6th in the Metropolitan Division
  • Evgeni Malkin: 8G-20A-28PTS; Phil Kessel: 10G-15A-25PTS; Sidney Crosby: 9G-13A-22PTS; Patric Hornqvist: 9G-6A-15PTS
  • Casey DeSmith: 4-3-3, 2.39 GAA, .924 save percentage

Game notes

  • At last, the long road trip is over. The Bruins are coming off of a not-so-great swing out West, going 1-1-2. Throw in the additional injuries acquired, and the team is certainly looking forward to some home cooking.
  • The Bruins’ annual Black Friday matinee was always one of the coolest games of the season. It was a unique crowd, usually pretty fired up, and always weird to be at a hockey game at 11 AM. I’m not sure who’s responsible for taking the game away from the Bruins, but someone should be ASHAMED. Instead, we get Flyers-Rangers on national TV. Joy.
  • The Bruins last played at home on Veterans Day, beating the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4-1. Since that game, they’ve lost Zdeno Chara, John Moore and Patrice Bergeron to injury, so the team suiting up today will look quite a bit different from that squad.
  • The Penguins are in the midst of quite a skid, having lost 9 of their last 11 games in some form. They’ve picked up points here and there with OT or shootout losses, which has helped keep them from falling even further behind in the Metro. Still, it’s weird to see Pittsburgh tied for last place in their division after American Thanksgiving.
  • Speaking of injuries, Matt Murray is out for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry has been recalled, giving the Penguins a tandem of DeSmith-Jarry. Neither is a complete slouch, but that duo is certainly a downgrade from one that includes Murray in some capacity. With plenty of firepower on offense, defense/goaltending will probably continue to be a thorn in Pittsburgh’s side going forward.
  • The Penguins still boast some of the best high-end talent in the league. Any team that can ice names like Malkin, Crosby and Kessel is going to be dangerous on offense. This game should be a good test for the Bruins’ inexperienced D corps.
  • Regarding that D corps, no word this morning on whether or not Charlie McAvoy will be back tonight. He was deemed close prior to the Detroit game.

Never forget

Please come back, Patrice. Also that was a clear hook by Jagr.