FACEOFF IS AT 8:05 PM - AT 7 PM NBCSN SHOWS
Tonight's Officials
Referees Brad Watson (23), Chris Rooney (5)
Linesmen Jonny Murray (95), Ryan Galloway (82)
Ntl. Anthem John McDermott
WAYBACK MACHINE
BOSTON vs DETROIT, LIFETIME SERIES
The Bruins and Red Wings are meeting for the 596th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 245-251-95-4 record and 1,795-1,779 scoring edge in those games.
The Bruins are 161-92-43-2 in their 298 home games of this lifetime series with a 1,043-789 scoring advantage in those contests.
The Bruins have taken points out of 10 of their last 11 vs. the Red Wings at 9-1-1, including a 1-0 road win on 10/29, 6-5 shootout loss in Detroit on 1/18 & 4-3 OT win in Boston on 1/24 in the 1st 3 games of this season’s series, with their lone regulation loss in that span a 6-5 setback in Detroit on 2/14 of last season … They have won their last 5 home games vs. Detroit & are 8-3-2 in their last 13 games
vs. the Red Wings in Boston.
Fun Fact – These teams own the best faceoff percentages in the Eastern Conference entering tonight’s game, ranking 3rd & 4th overall respectively, at 52.8% (BOS) & 52.7% (DET)
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Bruins host the Red Wings tonight in the 4th & final game between these teams and the 2nd of 2 this season at TD Garden …The Bruins are 34-26-6 thus far this season with a 17-11-6 mark on the road … They are 15-7-1 vs. Atlantic Division opponents and are 22-16-6 vs. Eastern Conference teams this season.
The Bruins are game 5 tonight of a stretch in which they play 5 of 6 games on home ice (2-2-0 so far) … They will conclude the stretch hosting PHI on 3/11 before facing their longest remaining road trip of the season from 3/13-20 (VAN-CGY-EDM-TOR).
MILESTONES APPROACHING
Dominic Moore is 2 goals short of his 100th NHL goal.
Tuukka Rask is 3 wins short of his 200th NHL victory.
INJURIES (135 total man-games lost)
Ryan Spooner - Concussion suffered 3/6 at OTT
Last year, the Detroit Red Wings squeezed past the Boston Bruins and made the playoffs for the 25th year in a row.
On Wednesday night, the Original Six teams meet at TD Garden, and it looks as if there is no way recent history will repeat itself in 2017.
It isn't as though the Bruins have already clinched a return to the playoffs, but it certainly looks as if the Wings' run is finally over.
Detroit comes into the Wednesday game losers of three straight, 3-7-2 in its last 12 games and in last place in the Eastern Conference -- 12 points away from a wild-card spot.
Translation: The streak will end.
The Bruins have a different streak, as they hope to end a two-year playoff absence. Their loss in Ottawa on Monday night and what happened Tuesday left them in third place in the Atlantic Division, just two points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have a game in hand. And the Islanders' win in Edmonton left New York in the second wild-card position with one fewer point than the Bruins.
Boston is 8-3-0 under interim coach Bruce Cassidy but has lost two of its past three games, causing the Bruins to look behind instead of ahead. They trail Ottawa by four points for second place in the Atlantic, and the Senators have two games in hand.
To make things tougher, Ryan Spooner, an important part of the Bruins' charge under Cassidy after speaking out against fired coach Claude Julien, sustained a concussion Monday night and is out indefinitely. Austin Czarnik was recalled from AHL Providence on Tuesday.
"At the end of the day, we had a chance to win the game (Monday), and that wasn't our best (outing), so that's a positive," Cassidy said Tuesday. "Tomorrow the message won't have anything to do with Ottawa. We addressed that this morning, and this is a new one on the schedule. We've played well at home and we've started well at home. We've maybe not scored as much in the first period, but we've started well.
"We've got to continue that trend. I don't think the guys are going to be looking back. I don't think they're going to be worried about a loss. They didn't enjoy it. Nobody did. But now it's done and we're just going to move on, and that's the attitude that I expect they'll have."
The Red Wings battled back in Toronto on Tuesday before losing 3-2. They are not ready to give up, though.
"In the situation we're in, we have to get points," Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said after the loss to the Maple Leafs. "Tonight was a huge game for us, tomorrow is the same thing.
"Unfortunately we fell short here tonight, but we've got to build on what we did good and fix what we did bad."
The news got worse for the Red Wings before the Tuesday game when defenseman Ryan Sproul was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a left knee injury he sustained Saturday.
Boston and Detroit have played three times this season, and all the games were decided by a goal or a shootout. The Bruins won 1-0 on Oct. 29, the Red Wings rallied from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits and won 6-5 in a shootout on Jan. 18, and the Bruins won 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 24.
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