Image result for boston bruins vs avalanche(Photo Credits: NBC Sports)

By: Liz Rizzo | Follow me on Twitter @pastagrl88

After a memorable day at the TD Garden yesterday, the Bruins are back at it again for an early Sunday afternoon game against Colorado. It will be their second match-up against a Western Conference team in a nine-game stretch. The B’s will be looking to add another win in back to back games.  As the regular season draws to a close, every win is becoming more crucial and the Bruins will need to capitalize as much as possible.

COLORADO SLUMP

The Colorado Avalanche (22-22-10) are in a six-game losing streak and are 0-4-2 in their last six games. They are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss against the New York Islanders in a two-game season series. The Avs are now 13-8-4 against Eastern Conference teams and have a 7-5-3 road record. Forward Carl Soderberg reached a career-high in notching multiple-points in a game with a goal and two assists (eight times this season).

Related image(Photo Credits: NESN.com)

Defenseman  Ian Cole missed the Islanders game after suffering an upper-body injury during a recent matchup against the Washington Capitals on Thursday. He is expected to be out for today’s game. Both Colorado and Boston boast a top-heavy line with the Avs beating the Bruins 6-3 on November 14th, 2018.  Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has tallied up 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in his last 18 games.

Mikko Rantanen leads the team in points (75) and assists (51). Gabriel Landeskog leads the team in goals with 29. Landeskog (397) and Mikko Rantanen (197) are three points away from reaching a milestone of garnering 400 and 200 career points.  Expect goaltender Philipp Grubauer in between the net for Colorado. He currently has a 3.47 goals against average with a .890 save percantage.

GOLD STAR(Photo Credits: NBC Sports)

AVALANCHE PROJECTED LINEUPS

Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen

Matt Nieto — Carl Soderberg — Matt Calvert

Alexander Kerfoot — J.T. Compher — Colin Wilson

A.J. Greer — Sheldon Dries — Sven Andrighetto

Erik Johnson — Samuel Girard

Nikita Zadorov — Ryan Graves

Patrik Nemeth — Tyson Barrie

Philipp Grubauer

Semyon Varlamov

Scratched: Gabriel Bourque, Anton Lindholm

Injured: Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Mark Barberio (head), Ian Cole (upper body)

BOSTON ADDING POINTS

The Bruins (30-17-8) are looking to extend their seven-point game streak. In their past six matchups, the B’s are 3-0-3. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak is expected in net for Boston. The Slovak-native is now 13-9-0 with a .918 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.50. Right-winger David Pastrnak has four goals and seven assists in the last seven games. He still leads the team in points (66) and goals (31). Brad Marchand leads the team with 43 assists and with a short-handed goal in yesterday’s tilt, he is now tied with Rick Middleton and Derek Sanderson for the second most shorties in a season (24).

Image result for patrice bergeron honored(Photo Credits: NBC Sports)

In capping off a special day for number 37, Patrice Bergeron had two assists, and two goals-one of which would be the game-winning overtime goal, helping the Bruins win 5-4 over the Kings. Bergeron has 11 points in his last eight games. There were lineup changes yesterday that saw Danton Heinen being slotted up with Bergeron and Marchand, while Pastrnak shifted down to the second line. After squandering the lead in the last few games, the Bruins will need to continue to battle for pucks and get points as they hold on for a Playoff spot.

BOSTON PROJECTED LINES:

Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Danton Heinen

Peter Cehlarik — David Krejci — David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

Joakim Nordstrom — Noel Acciari — David Backes

Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

Torey Krug — Kevan Miller

John Moore — Brandon Carlo

Jaroslav Halak

Tuukka Rask

Scratched: Trent Frederic, Steven Kampfer

Injured: Matt Grzelcyk (lower body)

 

WHEN TO WATCH: Today with puck drop at 3:00 PM at TD Garden

WHERE TO WATCH: NESN, ALT

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