(Photo Credit: The Boston Globe)
By: Erin Walsh | Follow me on Twitter @ewalsh90
After picking up two overtime wins against the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche last weekend, the Boston Bruins will set their sights on the red-hot Chicago Blackhawks.
This will be the second and final matchup between the Bruins and Blackhawks this season with the B’s taking home a 4-2 win over the Hawks at the Winter Classic in January.
Surging Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are winners of seven straight with their most recent coming against the Detroit Red Wings 5-2. Over the course of this seven game stretch, the Hawks have managed to pull off two overtime wins against the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild while also adding a shootout win over the New York Islanders in January.
Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane is on a 14-game point streak and he will look to extend that when the Hawks visit TD Garden on Tuesday. Kane had a goal and an assist in the Blackhawks win over Detroit on Sunday.
Chicago recalled Dylan Sikura on Monday ahead of the matchup with Boston. Through 11 games with the Hawks this season, Sikura has tallied three assists with one of those coming in the Winter Classic.
Over the course of their seven-game win streak, captain Jonathan Toews has tallied 14 points (seven goals, seven assists). Toews scored a hat trick against the Washington Capitals in January and also added two assists for a five point night.
21-year-old Alex DeBrincat is having a huge year up front for the Blackhawks. DeBrincat is on an eight-game point streak and tallied two assists in Chicago’s win over Detroit.
Dylan Strome’s contributions should not be overlooked. The Mississauga native was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Blackhawks earlier this season and that was a game changer for him. Through 20 games with Arizona, Strome tallied six points. Through 32 games with the Hawks, Strome has tallied 30 points.
Although they are seventh in the Central Division, the Blackhawks boast a record of 23-24-9 and are just four points out of the second wild card spot in the West.
(Photo Credit: USA Today Sports)
Blackhawks Projected Lines
Caggiula — Toews — Kane
DeBrincat — Strome — Kahun
Saad — Anisimov — Perlini
Sikura — Kruger — Hayden
Keith — Seabrook
Koekkoek — Gustafsson
Dahlstrom — Murphy
Delia
Ward
Scratched: Chris Kunitz, David Kampf, Gustav Formling,
Injured: Corey Crawford
Bruins Sneaking By With Wins
With a record of 31-17-8, you wouldn’t think the Bruins are struggling as of late. The B’s sit third in the Atlantic Division but that could very well change with the playoff race in the East heating up.
The Bruins have managed to accumulate points in each of their last seven games — Going 4-0-3 through the stretch.
Although the Bruins are winning, they aren’t wining by much. Six out of their last seven have been one-goal games. The B’s are seriously lacking secondary scoring. Boston’s top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak was recently split up by head coach Bruce Cassidy to see if he could balance out the scoring.
Pastrnak is now on the second line with Peter Cehlarik and David Krejci while Danton Heinen is now on the first line with Marchand and Bergeron. Heinen has found his game on Bergeron’s right wing tallying a goal and an assist against the Kings over the weekend.
Pastrnak leads the team with 66 points (31 goals, 35 assists) and Marchand is giving him a run for his money with 65 points (21 goals, 44 assists).
However, as the team just learned today, Pastrnak will be out for two weeks with a thumb injury. Here’s what Captain Zdeno Chara had to say about the B’s bad break with Pasta:
🎥 Zdeno Chara on losing David Pastrnak to injury: “It’s very unfortunate. We’re going to miss David for a period of time…we have to play and focus on what we have to do without him.” pic.twitter.com/Wc4KchKtrO
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 12, 2019
Goaltender Tuukka Rask has won each of his last three starts and will look to get his fourth straight win against the Hawks on Tuesday. Rookie Trent Frederic has yet to record his first NHL point but to be fair, he isn’t fully developed yet.
Defenseman Torey Krug has five points through his last five games including an assist against Colorado over the weekend.
If the Bruins want to make a legitimate playoff run, they’re going to have to get some depth scoring. Will we see some depth scoring against Chicago on Tuesday?
Bruins Projected Lines
Marchand — Bergeron — Heinen
DeBrusk — Krejci — Cehlarik
Nordstrom — Frederic — Backes
Kuraly — Acciari — Wagner
Chara — McAvoy
Krug — Miller
Moore — Carlo
Rask
Halak
Scratched: Grzelcyk
Injured: David Pastrnak (Thumb)
WHEN TO WATCH: Tuesday, Feb. 11 with puck drop at 7 p.m. ET.
WHERE TO WATCH: NESN, NBCSN
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