Game Preview #34: Devils vs the Boston Bruins

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (13-16-4) at the Boston Bruins (17-9-5). SBN blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder.

The Time: 7:00 PM

The Broadcast: TV - MS+2

It gives me no small pleasure to be the thorn in the side of the Boston Bruins this season. We need wins, and we’ve gotten plenty of them from the increasingly salty Bruins organization. Five so far, to be exact: four in regulation and one in overtime, including two shutouts. This last one may have stung the Bs the most, considering the excitement in the final minutes of the game. Two overturned goals, one for obvious goalie interference and one stunningly athletic save from Mackenzie Blackwood on a puck half an inch away from tying the game.

It’s not just the numbers in the L column that really hurt the Bruins right now— they need wins badly if they want to stay in the playoff running. The Philadelphia Flyers are only three points behind them in the division standings, and their next two games are against the Buffalo Sabres. That’ll bring a good dose of added pressure to pick up a win if they want to stay in fourth place in the division, so the Devils need to be prepared to have a fight on our hands tonight.

The Fight Card:

Out of the black and red corner-

Bratt - Hughes - Palmieri
Kuokkanen - Zajac - Sharangovitch
Wood - Zacha - Merkley
Johnsson - McLeod - Boqvist

Smith - Severson
Kulikov - Subban
Murray - Vatanen

Blackwood

Out of the black and yellow corner:

I honestly have no idea, and I’m pretty sure Bruce Cassidy doesn’t either. Just look at the scrambled line sandwich he iced on Sunday:

Natural Stat Trick

They are still expected to be without Tuuka Rask, Kevan Miller, Brandon Carlo, and Sean Kuraly as well.

But if I have to hazard a guess, I’m going with:

Bjork - Bergeron - Pastrnak
Smith - Coyle - Senyshyn
Ritchie - Krejci - Frederic
Blidh - Studnicka - Kuhlman

McAvoy - Gryzelyck
Clifton - Lauzon
Zboril - Kampfer

Halak

Your Take

What do we need to do to get a win tonight? Who’s going to score the game-winning goal? What will the final score be? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and thanks for reading!