Game Preview: Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings

After struggling through their first 20 games of the season, the Boston Bruins made some changes after being embarrassed Monday night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-1 loss. The next day, GM Don Sweeney fired head coach Jim Montgomery and named Joe Sacco his interim coach for the foreseeable future.

Sacco picked up his first win as Boston coach with a 1-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club Thursday night at the TD Garden and now, his team will hit the road for one game on Saturday night. They will head to Detroit to play the Red Wings for the first time this season and here is a preview of the Atlantic Division matchup.

Last Game

As mentioned above, the Bruins enter the game with a 1-0 win over the Utah Hockey Club. Joonas Korpisalo turned back all 21 shots for his second shutout of the season and a second-period power-play goal from Elias Lindholm was the only goal the Black and Gold would need.

Detroit is coming into the game off a 1-0 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night after getting goals from Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Raymond, the latter coming with 52 seconds left for the win.

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings: History

This will be the first of two matchups this season between the Bruins and Red Wings. The second game will be on Dec. 3 at the TD Garden, then the final game will be on March 29 back in Detroit and who knows where the two teams will be in the standings by then.

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings: Players to Watch

As of Friday at Warrior Ice Arena before leaving for Detroit, Sacco sounded like he was leaning toward starting Jeremy Swayman and if so, he's certainly someone to watch. He allowed five goals to Columbus Monday night and has struggled this seaosn, which led to Montgomery calling him out after the Blue Jackets game.

For Detroit, Dylan Larkin has 11 goals which is by far good enough for the team lead. Star forward Lucas Raymond has 15 assists with three goals while Alex DeBrincat had been well producing eight goals and nine assists.