Preview: Bruins look to slow down McDavid as Oilers come to town

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:30 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: ESPN+, Hulu, TVAS, SN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: The Copper and Blue

Know your enemy

• 35-22-8, 78PTS, 4^th in Pacific Division
• Connor McDavid: 65GP, 54G, 70A, 124PTS; Leon Draisaitl: 63GP, 41G, 55A, 96PTS; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 65GP, 30G, 48A, 78PTS
• Stuart Skinner: 18-13-4, 2.86 GAA, .913 save percentage; Jack Campbell: 17-9-4, 3.57 GAA, .882 save percentage

Game notes

• The Boston Bruins will face the Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers tonight at the TD Garden!
• This is also a reminder that the game will be broadcast on Hulu and ESPN+.
• Tonight kicks off a loaded few weeks that will see the Bruins play every other day for the rest of March. Here’s to 13 games in 22 days!
• The Bruins and Oilers last saw each other not too long ago on Feb. 27. The Bruins edged out the Oilers, 3-2, in that game. The Bruins led 2-1 after the first period on goals from Tomas Nosek and Nick Foligno before McDavid added his second tally of the night to tie the game in the second period. Pavel Zacha scored late in the second frame to give the Bruins the lead which they held on for the win.
• Since the two clubs’ last meeting, the Oilers are 3-1-0, last beating the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, on Monday.
• The Bruins tied their longest winning streak at seven games when they last saw the Oilers. Since then, their win streak currently stands at 10 consecutive wins. The B’s last played on Saturday, March 4 when they beat the New York Rangers, 4-2, to extend their win streak to 10 games.
• The B’s will once again look to slow down McDavid in whatever way they can, or try to counter whatever offense he puts up. McDavid is on a crazy 11-game point streak with 27 points. Six of those nights he scored two goals a game – two of those nights were also four-point games for him.
• Head Coach Jim Montgomery will look to spice up the power play tonight. At practice yesterday, he moved Dmitry Orlov to the first unit. We’ll see if it helps, as the power play has lagged a bit the last few games. The B’s power play has slipped to seventh best in the league at 23.2% while Edmonton’s is first at 31.7%.
• On the flipside, the Bruins continue to have the best penalty kill at 86.6% while the Oilers are towards the bottom of the pack at 75.0%.
• For the Bruins, Orlov will look to keep things rolling and add to his point streak. He has three goals and six assists in his last four games.
• Playoff picture: Edmonton currently sits at the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, but only four points separate them from Vegas and LA who both have 82 points.
• Injury updates: There is still no timetable on when Taylor Hall or Foligno – both lower-body injuries – will return.
• See ya tonight!