Tonight's Officials
Referees Eric Furlatt (27), Tom Chmielewski (18)
Linespersons Bevan Mills (53), Ryan Galloway (82)
TONIGHT - The Bruins travel to Edmonton in the first of two games between these teams this season and the Bruins’ lone visit to Rogers Place this year ... The Bruins are 33-12-11 overall this season and they are 15-5-6 on the road ... They are 14-4-6 in games vs.Western Conference teams this season.- The Bruins play their ninth of 12 sets of back-to-back games this season tonight in Edmonton and tomorrow in Calgary ... They are currently 4-3-1 in the first game of those sets and 4-2-2 in the second game. Bruins open their four-game road trip tonight in Edmonton ... They will continue in Calgary on 2/22, in Vancouver on 2/24, and in Seattle on 2/26.
INJURIES (97 Man-games lost)- Matt Poitras: 2/7 right shoulder surgery (LTIR)- Jakub Lauko: Upper body
BOSTON vs EDMONTON, LIFETIME SERIES- The Bruins and Oilers are meeting for the 84th time in their franchise histories with a 50-23-6-4 record and a 295-239 scoring advantage in those games.- The Bruins are 23-12-3-3 lifetime in 41 games in Edmonton with a 132-130 scoring edge in those contests.- The Bruins are 4-0-1 in their last five games in Edmonton.
MILESTONES APPROACHING - Brandon Carlo is 1 point short of his 100th NHL point.- Hampus Lindholm is 1 point shy of his 300th NHL point.- Jim Montgomery is 2 wins short of his 100th win behind the Boston bench.- Brad Marchand is 3 goals shy of his 400th NHL goal.- Jeremy Swayman is 3 wins shy of his third 20-win season (3rd consecutive and overall).- David Pastrnak is 3 points short of his 700th NHL point.- James van Riemsdyk is 8 games short of his 1,000th NHL game.
However, as the Bruins kick off a four-game road trip on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers, they will at least have some momentum following a 4-3 shootout victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday.
"It's an extremely important win," said Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who made 43 saves through overtime against Dallas before surrendering only one goal in a nine-round shootout. "Every win in this league is important, but knowing that we're not gonna be here for a week or two now, it's something that we owe our fans. They support us through the ups and downs and we owe them a good two points every given night."
The Bruins, who are in a neck-and-neck battle with the Florida Panthers for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, posted a 2-3-2 record in their home stint that followed the All-Star break.
Boston coach Jim Montgomery said his team was lucky to win after deserving a better fate in its three previous outings. The Bruins needed David Pastrnak's late goal with Swayman pulled to force overtime.
Boston's Justin Brazeau scored in his NHL debut, hours after the AHL standout signed a two-year contract with the club.
"It's a cool feeling," Brazeau said. "It's a long time coming. I worked hard to get here. To see that comes full circle, it feels pretty good."
There was no news on the status of defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who left the game against the Stars early in the third period, but the club summoned defenseman Mason Lohrei from its AHL affiliate before heading on the road.
The Oilers return home after riding a four-goal third period to a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.
"When things aren't going our way or we don't have our best game going, (it's) just staying composed, not panicking and knowing if we hang around long enough and get our game in order, we can pull it out," said Edmonton forward Evander Kane, who scored twice in the third period.
The Oilers have won 20 of their past 23 games and are making a push for second place in the Pacific Division. But it has not been all roses as of late. Edmonton has lost three of its past seven games and required a few frantic third-period comebacks to keep racking up the victories.
"I think we had a pretty good start to the game, and then we kind of took our foot off the gas," Oilers forward Ryan McLeod said after Monday's win. "But we came out in the third and played a simple brand (of hockey)."
That said, having the ability to win games despite not having your "A" game is often the difference between making or missing the playoffs.
"We talked about not getting back-to-back wins for three weeks," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Good teams are able to put together long (winning) streaks, and good teams also don't put long losing streaks together. So, getting back-to-back (wins) feels good."
Connor McDavid hasn't scored a goal in his past six games but has collected 12 assists over the past four games, while fellow Edmonton star Leon Draisaitl has recorded three goals and five assists during a four-game point streak.
