By: Jack Studley | Follow me on Twitter/X @jackstudley13
After picking up four of six possible points on their road trip, the Boston Bruins (19-14-0) are back on home ice tonight. The visiting Utah Mammoth (16-15-3) are in town to kick off a five-game homestand for the Bruins, which will lead fans directly into the holiday break. Tonight is the second and final meeting between these two teams, and the first one ended in a 3-2 Utah victory on October 19. The black and gold come into this game having won their last three on home ice, but they are also coming off a disappointing end to their road trip, dropping the final game 6-2 to the Minnesota Wild.
Marco Sturm is not changing anything ahead of tonight’s contest against Utah, keeping Sunday’s lines intact for the Tuesday night showdown. Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm, and David Pastrnak will continue together on the first line; Pastrnak has points in the Bruins’ three regular-season games against Utah (2-1–3), and he has posted seven points (2-5–7) since returning to the lineup three games ago.
Marat Khusnutdinov will continue to play on the second line in the absence of Viktor Arvidsson (lower-body). He recorded four shots in 16:11 in his return to Minnesota on Sunday; he will skate alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha again tonight. The third line features Mikey Eyssimont, who returned to the Bruins lineup on Sunday after being scratched for two games; he picked up an assist and three shots and will continue on a line with Alex Steeves and Fraser Minten. Sean Kuraly, who is on a three-game point streak (1-3–4), will continue centering Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic on the fourth line.
The defense pairs will also remain the same, with Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov on the top pair. McAvoy has jumped right back into full action in the two games post-injury, totaling over 24 minutes of ice time in both games; he is still looking for his first goal of the season. Andrew Peeke, who scored with 0.9 seconds left on Sunday night, will skate alongside Hampus Lindholm. Arizona Coyotes (now the Mammoth) first-round draft pick Victor Soderstrom will skate in his fifth game with the Bruins, and his first against his old club; he will run on the third pair with Mason Lohrei.
Ahead of the Bruins’ morning skate, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reported that Jordan Harris, Michael Callahan, Jonathan Aspirot, Matej Blumel, and Henri Jokiharju were on the ice. Viktor Arvidsson skated on Monday, but according to Marco Sturm, “nobody’s really close, yet.”
The Utah Mammoth come to the TD Garden tonight for their second of a three-game road trip. They are coming off two straight wins, including a 5-4 comeback victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins, where they scored three goals in the third period to force overtime, and scored the game-winner 42 seconds into the extra frame. Nick Schmaltz (12-18–30) and Clayton Keller (10-18–28) have led the Mammoth in scoring this season, but have lost Logan Cooley (14-9–23) to a lower-body injury for eight weeks. Utah’s power play (15.6%) has struggled this season, and with Cooley’s injury, it won’t get any stronger; their penalty kill (83.9%) ranks seventh and has been a strength for the Mammoth.
Jeremy Swayman will tend the net for the Boston Bruins tonight, per Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal. He saw the net twice during the Bruins’ road trip, winning in St. Louis and making 25 stops in Boston’s loss on Sunday. Since November 1, Swayman has been a rock for the Bruins, pitching a record of 10-4-0 coupled with a .919 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average. On the other end, the Mammoth are expected to start backup goalie Vitek Vanecek, as he was the first goalie off the ice, according to Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. Utah’s summer acquisition has struggled to produce results in his new home, but he picked up one of his two wins on October 19, against Boston, making 24 saves to get his first win in a Mammoth uniform. He has not won a game since October 26, posting a 0-5-1 record since then.
The Bruins are back on Garden ice tonight, and the game against the Mammoth starts at 7:00 PM. The game will be televised on NESN, and the radio broadcast can be found on 98.5 The Sports Hub. If you are interested in catching the Bruins live, or are looking for a gift for the upcoming holiday season, 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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