The B’s are getting healthier and may be close to full strength comes game time.
Just the facts
When: Tonight, 7:00 PM
Where: TD Garden — Boston, Mass.
How to follow: NESN, 98.5 FM
Opposing perspective: Hockey Wilderness
Know your enemy
- *stats prior to the Wild’s game last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins
- 12-12-4, 28PTS, 7th in Central Division
- Mats Zuccarello: 6G-22A-28PTS; Kirill Kaprizov: 8G-16A-24PTS; Joel Eriksson Ek: 14G-7A-21PTS
- Filip Gustavsson: 8-7-2, 2.84 GAA, .908 save percentage; Marc-Andre Fleury: 4-5-2, 3.29 GAA, .886 save percentage
Game notes
- The Boston Bruins will hit home ice again tonight for a tilt against the Minnesota Wild!
- It’s the first meeting between the two this season and they’ll wrap up their season series fairly quickly. The two will see each other again on Saturday Dec. 23 before Christmas break. And that game, behold, is yet the tail-end of ANOTHER back-to-back. But we’ll worry about this game first.
- Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy were both practicing yesterday. Don Sweeney spoke to media and said it’s encouraging the team is starting to get healthy again. He said they could see Zacha back some time this week. Both Zacha and McAvoy were back in regular black practice jerseys. The two were also in rotation on the first power play unit during practice — hopefully an indication they are back in tonight.
- That will be good since the Bruins will be down another center, at least for a short time. The Bruins announced yesterday that rookie Matt Poitras is heading to the World Juniors to play for Team Canada.
- With Poitras out, the four centers at practice yesterday were Zacha, Charlie Coyle, Morgan Geekie and John Beecher.
- The Bruins last played on Saturday, falling to the New York Rangers, 2-1, in overtime. Trent Frederic netted the B’s lone goal with assists from James van Riemsdyk and Poitras. JVR comes into tonight’s game on a three-game point streak with one goal and three assists.
- The Bruins could be facing a tired Wild team tonight as they come off playing the Penguins last night. But before the match, the Wild were on a three-game win streak with victories over the Canucks, Flames and Kraken. Overall, they are 5-2-0 in games through Dec. 16
- Prior to last night, Massachusetts native Matt Boldy had four points on three goals and one assist from Dec. 8 to Dec. 16.
- See ya tonight!