The Boston Bruins got back on the right track this past weekend, taking down the Florida Panthers 3-2 in a shootout in to stop a two-game losing skid.
Their reward? Five days between games.
The NHL hasn’t exactly been gracious to the Bruins’ schedule to start the season, but nothing they can do. Their next task will be against the Detroit Red Wings Thursday night, who are off to a surprisingly strong start to the season.
When: 7 p.m. ET
Where: TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
TV: NESN
Stream: ESPN+
"Bruins projected linesMarchand-Bergeron-PastrnakHall-Coyle-SmithDeBrusk-Haula-LazarFrederic-Nosek-Kuhlman Forbort-McAvoyGrzelcyk-CarloReilly-Clifton SwaymanUllmark"
"Red Wings projected linesBertuzzi-Fabbri-RaymondVeleno-Suter-ZadinaNamestnikov-Rasmussen-ErneSmith-Stephens-Gagner Dekeyser-SeiderLeddy-HronekStaal-Oesterle NedeljkovicGreiss"
The Bruins are going with three different lines tonight as for the first time this season, Cassidy is splitting up Brandon Carlo and Mike Reilly. I really like the Grzelcyk-Carlo and wouldn’t be surprised to see Gryzelcyk get his first point tonight. But the combination of Mike Reilly and Connor Clifton does scare me a bit, even with this Red Wings team.
The Red Wings got out to a hot start, going 4-2-1 to open the season. However, they have come back down a bit, as they are on a three-game losing streak heading into the matchup with the Bruins.
They will be playing for the second straight game without captain Dylan Larkin, as he is away from the team for personal reasons. It will be a blow to a Detroit offense that is not exactly bursting with offensive power.
It’s been the two rookies that have been a major factor to start the season for Detroit. Lucas Raymond is tied with for the team lead in points (nine) with Tyler Bertuzzi while Moritz Seider is tied for third in points and leads the team in assists with eight.
The struggles have come on the defensive end. The Red Wings have the third-highest goals-against average in the league with a 3.40. Boston hasn’t exactly been an offensive juggernaut to start the season as it averages just 2.43 goals per game, but there is certainly a mismatch there considering the potential the Bruins’ offense does have, even if it hasn’t shown it this season.
These are the type of games Bruins need to win, especially early on where they are playing catch-up with the division. This could be the game that we finally see the offense break out.