By: Jack Studley | Follow me on Twitter/X @jackstudley13
After splitting the home-and-home with Detroit, the Boston Bruins (15-13-0) are back on their home ice and will welcome Jim Montgomery and the St. Louis Blues (9-11-7). The Bruins, who are 2-3-0 in their last five games, are looking to bounce back from Tuesday night’s 5-4 loss in Detroit. St. Louis has a 2-2-1 record in its last five and comes to Boston after dropping a 4-1 decision to Anaheim on Monday. Tonight is the first meeting of the season series, with the final meeting coming five days from now.
The injuries keep piling up for the black and gold. Michael Callahan suffered a lower-body injury in the first period of Tuesday’s game. On Thursday morning, the Boston Bruins announced that Callahan had been placed on IR and that the team had called up Victor Soderstrom on an emergency basis. Soderstrom recently scored his first goal in a Providence Bruins uniform, and he has tacked on eight assists in 18 games played on the season. In the morning skate, Soderstrom skated on the right side of the third pair, along with Mason Lohrei.
David Pastrnak was not at practice; therefore, Alex Steeves continues on the first line with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie. Steeves continued to push for a full-time NHL spot in Tuesday’s loss; he had two goals (his second multi-goal game with the Bruins) and added three hits, and was all over the puck in the offensive zone. The second line is looking to get back to form. Viktor Arvidsson returned ahead of Tuesday’s game, but the line could not click as it had before the injuries. The lines from Tuesday’s game will remain the same, aside from the third pair of defense, and that includes the third line that Marco Sturm has continued to deploy of Tanner Jeannot, Fraser Minten, and Mark Kastelic.
On November 19, 2024, the Boston Bruins let go of Jim Montgomery, and it only took him five days to land his next gig with the St. Louis Blues. Montgomery was the man behind the bench as the Bruins shattered NHL records in 2022-23, winning 65 games, totaling 135 points; he pitched a 120-41-23 record as the head coach of the Boston Bruins, but an 8-9-2 start to the 2024-25 season meant a change was needed – and it happened to be Montgomery.
Montgomery’s second season with the Blues has not gone as anticipated; the Blues sit below .500 through game 27 (at game 19, they were 6-9-4). Their penalty kill has weighed them down, sitting in 26th at 76.6%, and providing the Bruins’ fifth-ranked power play (24.7%) the opportunity to make a dent. The Blues are scoring 2.56 goals per game and rank 30th in the league. Robert Thomas (4-3–17) leads the Blues in points, and Jordan Kyrou (8-7–15) is the goal-scoring leader in St. Louis. They also boast an impressively bad 0-7 record in overtime; Boston is the exact opposite, going 6-0 in that category.
The Boston Bruins will turn to Joonas Korpisalo tonight, as reported by Scott McLaughlin of WEEI. Korpisalo came in to Tuesday’s game to relieve Jeremy Swayman, and the Finnish netminder steered aside all nine shots he faced. Korpisalo is looking to record his first win since November 6. On the other end, the Blues will start Jordan Binnington, per Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Binnington makes his return to the crease after being pulled in Monday’s loss to Anaheim, and he let Jim Montgomery hear it after making the decision. Binnington’s last appearance at the TD Garden ended in Team Canada winning the Four Nations.
The Bruins and Blues will get underway just after 7:00 PM tonight, with the game televised on NESN and carried on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Tickets are still readily available to see Jim Montgomery’s return to the Garden, and they are at a great price, so if you are in the area and looking to go to the game tonight, please check out our StubHub Ticket-affiliated link HERE for the most competitive concert and sporting event tickets in the North American region.
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