Preview: Bruins continue their road trip with a stop in Winnipeg

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 8 PM

Where: Canada Life Centre - Winnipeg, Manitoba

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Arctic Ice Hockey

Know your enemy

• 28-23-10, 66 points, 6th in the Central Division
• Kyle Connor: 38G-34A-72PTS; Mark Scheifele: 23G-30A-53PTS; Pierre-Luc Dubois: 24G-24A-48PTS
• Connor Hellebuyck: 21-21-9, 2.99 GAA, .908 save percentage

Game notes

• While the Bruins are firmly in playoff position and looking to catch a couple of teams ahead of them, Winnipeg is in “desperately seeking points” mode as they chase the #2 wild card spot in the West. The Jets are just two points behind Las Vegas for that spot, but there are two teams (Dallas and Vancouver) between them.
• These two teams played at the Garden back on January 22, a 3-2 win for the Bruins. Charlie Coyle, Oskar Steen, and David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins in that game.
• The Jets have won two in a row, including a 7-3 win over Vegas in their last game on Tuesday. They’re 6-3-1 in their last ten games, a nice run that has kept them in the playoff picture.
• Blake Wheeler, who has had an excellent career for himself since getting traded from the Bruins (though he was good here too), is having a down year in terms of goal scoring — he has just nine goals in 47 games, a pace of 15 goals over the course of an 82-game season. He had 15 last year, but in just 50 games; he was a 20+ goal scorer for seven consecutive seasons before that.
• Connor Hellebuyck has been a workhorse for Winnipeg for years now, and this year is no exception. The former UMass-Lowell standout has appeared in 51 of the Jets’ 61 games so far this season. It’s probably fair to wonder if the workload is starting to get to him. After winning the Vezina two years ago and finishing fourth last year, Hellebuyck is current sporting the highest GAA and second-lowest save percentage of his NHL career.
• Patrice Bergeron will be out again tonight for the Bruins, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him held out of Monday’s game in Montreal as well. If he flew back to Boston, he might as well stay out until the team returns from its trip.

See ya tonight!