The Boston Bruins head up north looking to extend their winning streak to four games after defeating Montreal, Detroit, and the New York Rangers. Boston is playing a solid game, and as trade rumors continue to swirl the focus will be on this weeks’ upcoming road trip.
GAME NOTES
Coming off winning nine out of their last 10 games, the B’s will face another top division team as Edmonton finds themselves in first place in the Pacific. The Oilers have won their last two bouts against Florida and Carolina and have done so amidst a rash of injuries. It was announced that defenseman Oscar Klefbom will be sidelined 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury. Edmonton is currently playing without some key players that include Connor McDavid, Zack Kassian (game suspension), James Neal, Joakim Nygard, and Kris Russell.
It’s a tight race to the Playoffs, and in the Pacific Division many teams are within a few points of each other. The regular season is not far from ending, and every team is grasping for every point:
“We definitely expect a desperate team looking to get two points and we understand that we have a team kind of doing the same thing on our side too. It seems like this time of year, the games kind of get amped up. It’s for seeding, anything to get those two points we understand that no matter who they have in the lineup they’re going to give the best they got.”
Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk
For quite a few months, Boston has enjoyed a healthy lead in the Atlantic Divison, but they now hold only one point over the surging Tampa Bay Lightning. The last time these two teams met the Oilers defeated the Bruins 4-1.
QUICK STATS
In the last five games played, Patrice Bergeron has a seven-game point streak, while fellow center Leon Draisitl has 12 points. Brad Marchand tallied five assists, while Draistaitl has seven. He leads the Oilers with 95 points (34 goals and 61 assists). Boston’s David Pastrnak leads the team with 82 points and 42 goals. Marchand leads the team with 51 assists. Pastrnak is now tied for first in the league for most goals, and is second in points behind Draisaitl. The 23-year-old Czech winger still leads the league with 18 power-play goals. Expect Tuukka Rask in net for the B’s.
BOSTON PROJECTED LINE-UPS:
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
DeBrusk – Krejci – Kuhlman
Bjork – Coyle – Heinen
Nordstrom – Kuraly – Wagner
Chara – McAvoy
Krug – Carlo
Grzelcyk – Lauzon
Moore – Lindholm
Rask
Halak
EDMONTON PROJECTED LINE-UPS:
RNH (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins)-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Gagner-Haas-Chiasson
Benson-Sheahan-Archibald
Khaira-Cave-Russell
Nurse-Bear
Jones-Larsson
Lagesson-Benning
Smith
Koskinen
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH: Wednesday, February 19th with puck drop at 8:30 pm at the Rogers Place. NESN
Featured Image courtesy of AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
