Preview: Bruins look to tighten up game against Blackhawks

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, TVAS, SN360, SNE, SNP, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Second City Hockey

Know your enemy

• 21-29-8, 50PTS, 7th in Central Division
• Patrick Kane: 54GP, 19G, 45A, 64PTS; Alex DeBrincat: 58GP, 33G, 20A, 53PTS; Seth Jones: 54GP, 3G, 34A, 37PTS
• Marc-Andre Fleury: 18-20-4, 2.92 GAA, .908 save percentage; Kevin Lankinen: 3-6-4, 3.57 GAA, .885 save percentage

Game notes

• Another day, another Western Conference team! The Boston Bruins continue their homestand tonight as they host the Chicago Blackhawks in the two’s first meeting of the season and first since February 5, 2020.
• In the 2019-2020 season, the Bruins were 1-0-1 against the Blackhawks. Both games went to overtime, with each team picking up their win on the road. Both amassed five goals against each other in total.
• The Bruins’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday highlighted a nagging problem for the B’s: late third-period goals. Although they earned points in two of those three games, they left the same amount of points on the table. Two of the late goals were scored on the opposing power play and all goals came with less than 26 seconds left in the third period.
• The B’s third line has contributed some timely goals lately with Craig Smith leading the way. Smith has five goals and one assist in three games and points in six of his last seven games. In the last three games, his hat trick against the Golden Knights gave the Bruins a substantial lead, he evened things up in Columbus and he put the B’s ahead against the Kings.
• The Blackhawks haven’t had the best season to say the least and find themselves at the bottom of the Central Division (7^th) and Western Conference (14^th). Chicago hasn’t been able to win more than one consecutive game since January when they had a four-game win streak from January 8-15. Chicago is 4-5-1 in their last ten games and 2-3-0 in their last five.
• Coming off two losses, the Blackhawks bounced back with a win on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. The Blackhawks had a 6-0 lead over the Ducks within 20:19 minutes of play. In the 8-3 routing, six different players registered goals, including a hat-trick night from Dylan Strome.
• In the win, Kane registered a career-high six points with one goal and five primary assists. Those points extended his point streak to four games. In his last seven games, he has accumulated seven goals and 10 assists.
• Injury updates: Matt Grzelcyk practiced yesterday after missing Monday’s game due to an upper-body injury. Bruce Cassidy said Grzelcyk should be good to go for tonight. Urho Vaakanainen has continued to practice in a non-contact jersey.

See ya tonight!