Tonight's Officials
Referees Dean Morton (36), Chris Rooney (5)
Linesmen Matt MacPherson (83), Brian Murphy (93)
Ntl. Anthem Rene Rancourt
WAYBACK MACHINE
NEVER FORGET
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Bruins host the Penguins tonight in the 3rd & final game between these teams and the Penguins’ lone visit to TD Garden this season … The Bruins are 24-21-6 thus far this season with an 11-12-0 mark on home ice … They are 5-7-5 vs. Metropolitan Division
opponents and are 18-12-6 vs. Eastern Conference teams this season.
They are concluding tonight a stretch where they play 5 of 7 games prior to the All-Star break on home ice (2-3-1) following a span when they faced 9 of their previous 11 games on the road (5-4-2).
The Bruins are wearing their 3rd uniform system tonight for the 9th of 15 games this season and they enter tonight’s game with a 2-5-
1 mark in those jerseys this season.
BOSTON vs PITTSBURGH, LIFETIME SERIES
The Bruins and Penguins are meeting for the 201st time in their histories with the Bruins having a 110-62-21-7 record and 761-612 scoring edge in those games.
The Bruins are 66-22-6-4 in their 98 home games of this lifetime series with a 406-270 scoring advantage in those contests.
The Bruins are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Penguins, including a 4-3 OT loss in Pittsburgh on 12/14 & 5-1 road setback on 1/22 in the 1st 2 games of this season’s series … That was their 1st regulation loss to the Penguins since a 3-2 setback on Oct. 30, 2013 … They are 4-0-1 in their last 5 home games vs. Pittsburgh with their last regulation home loss a 3-2 loss on Apr. 20, 2013.
Fun Fact – The Penguins (34.6) and Bruins (34.4%) entered tonight’s contest as the top-ranked teams, respectively, in the NHL in
shots per game this season.
MILESTONES APPROACHING
Dominic Moore is 3 goals shy of his 100th NHL goal.
Jimmy Hayes is 1 points short of his 100th NHL point.
INJURIES (129 total man-games lost)
None
PREVIEW
BOSTON -- The Pittsburgh Penguins will be short-handed on Thursday when they visit the Boston Bruins for the second meeting between the teams in five nights.
With Kris Letang already out and set to miss his sixth straight game with a lower-body injury, both Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist missed practice Wednesday with lower-body injuries. Malkin will be out until after the weekend All-Star break while Hornqvist is day to day.
"(Malkin) will be evaluated after the break and we'll probably have more information at that point," coach Mike Sullivan said. "We'll see how (Hornqvist) responds after today, but he'll be a day-to-day decision."
The Penguins hammered the Bruins 5-1 on Sunday night for their fourth straight win, but then were stunned 3-0 by the St. Louis Blues two nights later. The setback was only their third regulation home loss all season.
They will face a Bruins' team that has been struggling but ended a four-game losing streak with a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Trailing 3-2 after the second period, the Bruins managed only their second win of the season when down after two, improving to 2-16-3 in that scenario.
Word came down Wednesday that the Bruins may be short-handed as well. Brad Marchand, who scored twice on Tuesday and is headed for the All-Star Game in the midst of a hot streak (nine goals, 16 points in the last 11 games), will have a phone hearing Thursday for what the Player Safety Department calls a "dangerous trip" on Detroit's Nicklas Kronwall.
Marchand is a repeat offender who missed last year's Winter Classic due to suspension. No word on whether discipline this time around would affect the All-Star appearance.
The Boston win Tuesday quieted -- at least temporarily -- the storm clouds above the head of coach Claude Julien, who has faced steady speculation that his job is in jeopardy.
The win lifted the Bruins to just 11-12-0 on home ice this season and a win in this pre-break finale could go a long way toward setting the stage for the rest of the season.
David Pastrnak broke a 17-game goal-scoring drought with the OT winner Tuesday -- after going 65 straight shots on goal without a score.
"There's not much you can do," he said after finally scoring his 20th of the season. "You've got to play the right way, and obviously it's always going to be back in your hat. But, I always have guys that will help me and support me all the time. Also, when I had that stretch with a lot of goals, I said that might happen that I might not score for a couple games, and it was more than a couple. But it was really nice to get that one and especially to win."
Tuukka Rask was the losing goalie Sunday night, allowing two goals in one period before leaving with a migraine. He was back and won Tuesday night and is 8-6-2 with a 2.25 goals against average and .929 save percentage lifetime against the Penguins -- 0-1-1 this season.
Matt Murray made 44 saves against the Bruins Sunday night and is 2-0-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in two games against Boston.
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