Game Night: Boston Bruins at Phoenix Coyotes

Dec 28th, 2011

  9 p.m. est

For the Pre-game report continue reading…

 Bruins Are Best

After a long layoff, the Boston Bruins get back to work tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes.  The Bruins are coming off impressive wins against the Flyers and the Panthers, both of whom were (when they played the Bruins anyway) at the top of the Eastern Conference Standings.  Tuukka Rask gets the nod again tonight after two consecutive shutouts.  The Bruins are second in the East with 47 points, 1 behind the New York Rangers.  The bruins are 22-1 in their last 23 games and are clearly the hottest team in the NHL.

 Coyotes Cold

Phoenix is on the outside of the playoffs looking in at the moment.  They sport an 18-15-3 record good for 39 points.  They are 4-6 in their last 10 and carry a losing record at home; 7-8-2.  The ageless Ray Whitney leads the team with 12-20-32 totals on the year, which isn’t a good sign for them.  Shane Doan is their main guy and he is currently third on the team in scoring with 22 points.

Tonight’s Line-up

Lucic                                            Krejci                                      Horton

Marchand                                Bergeron                                     Seguin

Pouliot                                         Kelly                                          Hamil

Paille                                       Campbell                                       Thornton

Keep An Eye Out

Not much fanfare for this one.  Honestly, for Bruins fans, it’s all about how their team plays at this point.  So, here’s a few things to be on the lookout for:

Will Rask Keep It Up?

Tuuka Rask has been on fire, posting shutouts in his last two starts.  The Bruins will need Rask to play well down the stretch to give Tim Thomas some needed rest.

Pouli-hot!

One of this years pleasant surprises has been the play of Benoit Pouliot.  He has a goal in each of his last three games and has 7 goals on the season.  What makes the Bruins so hard to play against is their scoring depth and balance.

Injury Report

Rich Peverley sits again tonight with an undisclosed injury.  That gives Zach Hamill another shot tonight.  He’s played well with the opportunities he’s been given and this is by far the longest look he’s gotten with the big club.  If he keeps it up, he may become a piece the Bruins can move later on, or he may find a spot on the Bruins.  Only time will tell.

BizNasty2.0

Paul Bissonnette, the Twitter Sensation brings his high-tech chirping into tonights game and he usually delivers.  If you aren’t following him on Twitter, I suggest you do so now.  Here’s a link to his account.  He may not bring much on the ice, but off it, he’s  a must read!

Prediction

The Bruins are hot and the Coyotes are not.  The only thing the Coyotes have going for them is that the Bruins have had the last 5 days off with a holiday stuffed in to boot.  The Bruins have a tendency to look a little sluggish after long layoffs, so this will be interesting.  That being said, I still see the Bruins winning this one, 5-3.

Check back in after the game for a complete recap of the action.

images courtesy of wikipedia.org

stats courtesy of NHL.com