Preview: Bruins return home against Golden Knights with Cassidy back

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, SNP, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Knights On Ice

Know your enemy

• 16-11-0, 32PTS, tied for 3rd in Pacific Division
• Chandler Stephenson: 26GP, 9G, 17A, 26PTS; Reilly Smith: 27GP, 10G, 10A, 20PTS; Alex Pietrangelo: 27GP, 5G, 14A, 19PTS; Mark Stone: 15G, 4G, 15A, 19PTS
• Robin Lehner: 11-9-0, 3.15 GAA, .904 save percentage; Laurent Brossoit: 5-2-0, 2.66 GAA, .911 save percentage

Game notes

• The Boston Bruins are back for a one-off home game against the Vegas Golden Knights before hitting the road again for a three-game trip. The Bruins will conclude their season series against Vegas on March 3, 2022.
• It’s the first time the two have seen each other since January 21, 2020 - a 3-2 Bruins’ win at the TD Garden. The Bruins won both matches during the 2019-20 season. Each game was decided by one goal.
• The Bruins are coming off an impressive five-point road trip in which they found some secondary scoring. Four different defensemen netted goals in the three games and Jake DeBrusk, Curtis Lazar and Patrice Bergeron picked up one goal each. Brad Marchand added a goal in each of the two wins, including a shorthanded tally. The Bruins went 2/9 on the power play on the road trip.
• The Bruins last played on December 11 against the Calgary Flames. The B’s held a 3-0 lead on goals from Connor Clifton, Marchand and Charlie McAvoy until midway through the second period. Lazar made it a 4-1 game early in the third. The Flames added a late goal for the final score of 4-2.
• It’s no surprise that with Marchand back from suspension, his linemates saw their production increase for a total of nine points. Patrice Bergeron accumulated one goal and three assists and is now on a three-game point streak after three previous pointless games. David Pastrnak added two assists in his last three games. In his three games back, Marchand has two goals and one assists.
• Bruce Cassidy is back behind the bench! Cassidy returned to practice yesterday after missing the last six games due to COVID-19 protocols. During that time, the Bruins were 3-1-2 overall and 0-1-1 at home under assistant coach Joe Sacco.
• The Bruins reported some COVID-19 testing issues yesterday with Clifton, John Moore and Linus Ullmark which resulted in the three players missing practice. Cassidy hopes things will be resolved for tomorrow. The testing issues came after the news that six Flames’ players – who the Bruins played on Saturday – entered protocols along with one staff member. We’ll find out during morning skate the status of Clifton, Moore and Ullmark.
• Tonight kicks off a four-game road trip for the Golden Knights on the heels of a four-game homestand where they went 3-1-0. Vegas last played on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild in which they beat them, 6-4. Zach Whitecloud added two tallies, including one of Vegas’ two power-play goals in the win. Max Pacioretty had three points on the night, while Stephenson added four assists.
• For Vegas, Stone and Pacioretty are both on eight-game point streaks. Stone has four goals and nine assists in those games and he’s registered at least one assist each of those nights with three multi-point nights. Pacioretty has registered points in nine out of ten games played this season. He has eight goals and six assists in his last eight games played.

See ya tonight!