"Hello, Canada, and hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland"
Tonight's Officials
Referees Jon McIsaac (2), Chris Lee (28)
Linesmen Michel Cormier (76), Steve Barton (59)
Ntl. Anthem Rene Rancourt
WAYBACK MACHINE
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Bruins host the Maple Leafs tonight in the 3rd of 4 games between these teams and the 2nd & final game of this season’s series at TD Garden … The Bruins are 26-22-6 thus far this season with a 12-12-0 mark on home ice … They are 14-5-1 vs. Atlantic Division
opponents and are 20-13-6 vs. Eastern Conference teams this season.
The Bruins are opening a 4-game home stand tonight, continuing by hosting San Jose on 2/9, Vancouver on 2/11 & Montreal on 2/12 … It is their longest home stand of the season & precedes their 5-day bye week which takes place 2/13-17.
BOSTON vs TORONTO, LIFETIME SERIES
The Bruins and Maple Leafs are meeting for the 665th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 295-260-98-11 record and Toronto holding a 1,970-1,960 scoring edge in those games.
The Bruins are 183-97-47-5 in their 332 home games of this lifetime series with a 1,084-879 scoring advantage in those contests.
The Bruins have lost the 1st 2 games of this season’s series w/4-1 losses each in Toronto on 10/15 & in Boston on 12/10 after going 5-0-2 in their previous 7 games vs. the Maple Leafs and they are now 17-5-4 in their last 26 games overall vs. Toronto … They are 9-2-3 in their last 14 vs. Toronto in Boston and are 15-3-3 in their last 21 vs. the Maple Leafs on home ice.
MILESTONES APPROACHING
Dominic Moore is 3 goals shy of his 100th NHL goal.
Jimmy Hayes is 2 points short of his 100th NHL point.
INJURIES (129 total man-games lost)
None
https://link.nhl.com/static/gamenotes/public/20162017/[email protected]?1486213121000
Four-pointer.
It's an old hockey term used when talking about a matchup with a team in your own division. Or, in this day and age of wild cards, a team in the other division that you're battling for a playoff spot.
There's a long way to go, but the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins play a four-pointer Saturday night at TD Garden.
Both are in the Atlantic Division, with the Bruins sitting in third place -- the last of the guaranteed the division spots -- and the young Maple Leafs three points back. However, in terms of games in hand -- another hockey term -- Toronto has played five fewer than the Bruins.
In fact, every team in the Eastern Conference and all but one team in the NHL have played fewer games than the Bruins.
The Maple Leafs lost their third straight contest on Thursday night in St. Louis; the losing streak coming after five wins in seven games.
"There's no reason to be concerned," Morgan Rielly said after the latest loss. "It's a matter of getting our focus back and make sure we know what's at stake and start playing our game again."
The Bruins had won three in a row before a third period at Washington snapped the streak. Goaltender Tuukka Rask, who has played 11 straight games, said he "popped" his groin Wednesday, while forward Patrice Bergeron left the game in the third after blocking a shot.
Rask was given a "maintenance day" on Friday while Bergeron is day to day.
"When we say he's day-to-day, he's doing really well," Bruins coach Claude Julien said of Bergeron. "Certainly not erasing him from our lineup tomorrow."
On Rask, the coach said, "We're in game 53 and we've got one win from our backup goaltender. We're not blind to the matter. What we have to do right now is get ourselves in the best position possible. Having said that, we'd like to give Tuukka, maybe less games than he's had.
"But at the same time, we can't worry about what it's going to be like a month from now. What we have right now is an important part of the schedule. It's also part of the schedule where we're getting a lot of breaks."
The Bruins are in a situation, because of all the games they've played, where they have to win -- especially at home, where they are just 12-12-0.
"It's time to put up or shut up," veteran forward David Backes said. "We had a good three-game run against good teams. We took a step backward in the third period against Washington, but we need to get back on that forward track against Toronto at home and keep collecting points."
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock doesn't appear stressed by his team's step back.
"No sense feeling sorry for yourself or being frustrated," he said Thursday. "You've got to get your mind in gear and you've got to get your game right. We've got to play harder. When you do that, get your structure, you will be fin. In the meantime, it's not going as good as we want it to."
This is the third meeting of the season between the Original Six teams -- the Maple Leafs winning the first two, one in each building, by the same 4-1 score.
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