Boston Bruins To Take On New Division Rival, The Detroit Red Wings

Sep 21, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) skates past Detroit Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet (61) during the third period at Joe Louis Arena. The Boston Bruins won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Two Original Six teams will take the ice on Saturday night as the Boston Bruins welcome their new Atlantic Division rival, the Detroit Red Wings, to TD Garden.

This is the first matchup between the two teams this year.

Boston started off the season on Thursday night by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1. The Bruins received goals from Chris Kelly, Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron en route to the B’s first victory of the season.

Detroit also opened up their season with a victory, defeating the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on Wednesday night. The Red Wings will play in Carolina on Friday night against the Hurricanes, making Saturday their second game in as many days.

Boston will have their hands full with the highflying offense of the Red Wings. Detroit added veteran Daniel Alfredsson in the offseason and along with Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, they will be able to create a plethora of chances on offense for Detroit.

The Bruins will likely be without Carl Soderberg once again, as he continues to recover from an ankle injury that he suffered during the final preseason game in late September.

“He is definitely getting better every day and I think he really is getting closer,” head coach Claude Julien said, according to BostonBruins.com. “Hopefully if there’s no setbacks he should be on the ice soon.”

Jordan Caron filled in for Soderberg on the third line on opening night against the Lightning and presumably will be in again on Saturday. The line of Caron, Chris Kelly and Reilly Smith created some offensive opportunities on Thursday night, but will be tested more on defense with the explosiveness of the Red Wings offense.

Tuukka Rask will likely be between the pipes again Saturday night. He looked sharp on Thursday only letting up one goal and making 32 saves.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and can be seen on both the NHL Network and NESN.