Tonight's Officials
Referees Trevor Hanson (14), TJ Luxmore (21)
Linesmen Andrew Smith (51), Scott Driscoll (68)
Ntl. Anthem Nicole Talbot
TONIGHT’S GAME - The Bruins host the Blues tonight in the 1st of 2 games between these teams this season and the Blues’ lone visit to TD Garden this season … The Bruins are 26-16-5 this season and are 16-6-1 on home ice … They are 4-2-1 vs. Central Division opponents and are 10-4-3 vs. Western Conference foes. - They are concluding tonight their 9th of 14 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 4-4-1 in the 1st game of those sets and are 6-1-1 in the 2nd games so far. - They are playing game 2 of their 10th of 17 sets of 3-games-in-4-nights … They are 3-6-1 in game 1s, 6-1-2 in game 2s and 6-2-1 in game 3s of those series this season. - The Bruins next host NYR on 1/19 before their bye week & All-Star break from 1/20-27 … In all, they play 9 of their 12 January games on home ice.
MILESTONES APPROACHING - Zdeno Chara is 2 goals shy of his 200th NHL goal … He will become just the 21st defenseman in NHL history to reach that milestone. - Tuukka Rask is 2 wins short of his 253rd Bruins/NHL win, which will be the most by a goaltender in team history (Cecil “Tiny” Thompson, 252). - David Backes is 4 games shy of his 900th NHL game. - Brandon Carlo is 4 games short of his 200th NHL game. - Patrice Bergeron is 6 games shy of his 1,000th NHL game.
INJURIES (Total man-games lost in 2018-19: 159) - Joakim Nordstrom: Non-displaced fibula fracture suffered 1/1 vs CHI
BOSTON vs ST. LOUIS, LIFETIME SERIES - The Bruins and Blues are meeting for the 136th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 65-42-18-10 record and 491-398 scoring edge in those games. - The Bruins are 37-17-9-4 lifetime vs. the Blues in Boston with a 262-182 scoring advantage in those 67 contests. - The Bruins are 2-0-1 in their last 3 games vs. St. Louis & have taken points out of 11 of their last 15 games vs. the Blues at 7-4-4 … They are 2-2-3 in their last 7 games vs. St. Louis in Boston. - Fun Fact: 12 of the last 13 games between these teams have been decided by 2 goals or fewer, including 5 OT/shootout decisions.
51 years of Bruins playing St. Louis there is only one highlight that matters
Grinding out points in away games is a necessity for the St. Louis Blues as they try to gain ground in the Western Conference playoff race, and they'll try to end a road trip on a high note when they visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
The Blues are 2-0-1 with one game to go, having beaten Dallas 3-1 on Saturday and Washington 4-1 on Monday. The next night, they lost to the Islanders 2-1 in overtime.
Despite the loss, captain Alex Pietrangelo felt his team did well to salvage a point in a tough environment.
"Those are the ones that we've just got to get points right now. ... Being a road team there, back to back (games), it's a good point," Pietrangelo said. "It's not easy to climb back after you've played the night before, but we've got a good atmosphere in the room right now. We're finding ways to get those points."
A 4-1-1 record in their last six games has lifted the Blues to five points out of third place in the Central Division, and four points out of a Western Conference wild card position.
The Bruins are 6-1-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. They'll need another quick turnaround in the wake of a 4-3 loss to Flyers in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Boston lost despite a 42-19 shot advantage over the Flyers, and a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game.
Playing in his first game of the season, Bruins winger Peter Cehlarik scored twice against Philadelphia. Cehlarik was called up from the Bruins' AHL affiliate and took the place of veteran David Backes, who was a healthy scratch for the first time in over a decade.
Some line-shuffling could be in order for Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who hinted before the Flyers game that Backes would be back in action against St. Louis. Backes has just 12 points in 38 games this season, and Cassidy said he simply felt a change was required to generate more offense.
Backes is "a real good soldier, a good player for a long time in this league. But honesty I still believe is the best policy," Cassidy said. "We usually judge our lineup on performance first ... and in this particular case, we're looking for a player to go up on that second line and find some consistency, so we're giving another player a chance."
Since Jaroslav Halak got the start on Wednesday, the Bruins will turn to Tuukka Rask in net against St. Louis. Rask is 5-0-1 over his last six starts, with a .943 save percentage and 1.65 GAA in that stretch.
The Blues are likely to again start rookie goalie Jordan Binnington, whose strong play has been a big factor in the team's recent success. Binnington has yet to suffer a regulation loss in four starts this season, and is coming off a 23-save performance against the Islanders.
St. Louis forward David Perron has six goals and nine assists over a career-long 12-game point streak.
Last edited:
, but:
