Bruins vs Penguins 1/26/21: Game preview, lineups, and more

The Boston Bruins will be playing their third straight home game tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This will be the first of eight match ups with the Penguins this season.

Both teams are looking to continue win streaks. The B’s will be looking for their third straight win after a dominant 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers this past Saturday.

The Pens will be looking to win their fifth straight game after starting off the season 0-2. Their last game was a hard-fought, close battle with the New York Rangers that ended up in a 3-2 victory for Pittsburgh.

With both teams hot and playing extremely well, expect this game to be very entertaining and a close game. Tonight could go either way, hopefully it goes in the Black and Gold’s favor.

Boston Bruins vs Pittsburgh Penguins Projected Lineups.

Boston Bruins
Record: 3-1-1 (7 points)

As I said earlier, the B’s will be looking to win their third straight game tonight. Like the previous three games, Boston will be without right wing Ondrej Kase, who is still suffering from an upper-body injury that happened in just the second game of the season against the New Jersey Devils.

While Kase is still out, the Black and Gold may be getting back defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who missed last game with a lower-body injury that he suffered in the first game against the Flyers. Grizz is currently a game-time decision but skated this morning. If he’s unable to go again, expect Connor Clifton in his place.

Expect the Bruins lineup to look like this tonight:

Marchand – Bergeron – DeBrusk
Ritchie – Krejci – Studnicka
Frederic – Coyle – Smith
Bjork – Kuraly – Wagner

Lauzon – McAvoy
Grzelcyk/Clifton – Carlo
Zboril – Miller

Rask (Halak)

Both goaltenders Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak have played incredibly well so far this season. Head coach Bruce Cassidy will most likely continue his goalie rotation, which means Rask will be in net tonight.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Record: 4-2-0 (8 points)

The Penguins aren’t the juggernaut they used to be, but they still have some strong firepower in forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and Bryan Rust, and defenseman Kris Letang. Look for the B’s to pick certain matchups to try and shutdown Crosby’s line and Malkin.

While the Pens still have Crosby and Malkin, they have made a few moves in net. Over the last six years, Pittsburgh has had three different starting goaltenders.

They convinced Marc-Andre Fleury to waive his no-movement clause so he could be picked by the Vegas Golden Knights in their expansion draft. This would allow the team to retain Matt Murray. However, the Penguins decided to trade Murray to the Ottawa Senators this offseason with the emergence of Tristan Jarry last season. Now, they are left with Jarry as the starter and Casey DeSmith as the backup.

Expect the Penguins lineup to look like this tonight:

Guentzel – Crosby – Rust
Zucker – Malkin – Kapanen
McCann – Blueger – Tanev
O’Connor – Jankowski – Sceviour

Dumoulin – Letang
Marino – Ceci
Joseph – Ruhwedel

Jarry (DeSmith)

Where and when to watch Boston Bruins vs Pittsburgh Penguins.

Time: 7 PM EST

Location: TD Garden

TV Broadcast: NESN, TVAS, SN360

Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub

As I said earlier, this game will most likely be a close, hard-fought battle. Pittsburgh’s top two lines and their top powerplay unit will give Boston a tough challenge. Boston will need to pick their line matchups wisely and remain out of the box to win tonight.