The Boston Bruins will be squaring off against the Colorado Avalanche for the second time in 2016-17 Thursday night at the TD Garden in Boston. In their first meeting of the season, the Bruins came away with a 2-0 win in Denver. In that game, David Krejci and Dominic Moore notched the goals for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask recorded a shutout. The Bruins will be looking for their first home win against the Avalanche since March of 1998, a winless home drought of 10 games.
The Bruins are currently riding their longest point streak of the 2016-17 season of six games. They were able to add to that streak last night after registering one point in an overtime loss to Washington. Despite going down 3-0 early, the Bruins battled back to force an overtime period. On the other side, the Avalanche come into the game on a six game losing streak. Calvin Pickard will be starting in goal for Colorado while Anton Khudobin is expected to get his fourth start of the year for Boston.
Colorado Avalanche at Boston Bruins
TD Garden-7:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast Channels- NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub
2016-17 Season Series: Bruins lead 1-0
Colorado Avalanche- 9-14-1-19 points
Road Record: 5-6-0
Hot Players: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene
Key Injuries: Gabriel Landeskog, Erik Johnson
Projected Lines:
Forwards
Rene Bourque-Nathan MacKinnon-Blake Comeau
Mikhail Grigorenko-Carl Soderberg-Jarome Iginla
Matt Duchene-John Mitchell-Mikko Rantanen
Cody McLeod-Joe Colborne-Andreas Martinsen
Defense
Fedor Tyutin-Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin-Cody Goloubef
Patrick Wiercioch-Nikita Zadorov
Goaltender
Calvin Pickard
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Boston Bruins-15-10-2-32 Points
Home Record: 7-5-0
Hot Players: David Pastrnak, Tuukka Rask, David Krejci
Key Injuries: Matt Beleskey, Frank Vatrano, John-Michael Liles
Projected Lines:
Forwards
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Tim Schaller-David Krejci-David Backes
Ryan Spooner-Riley Nash-Austin Czarnik
Anton Blidh-Dominic Moore-Jimmy Hayes
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller-Colin Miller
Goaltender
Anton Khudobin
Game Notes
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]1)[/miptheme_dropcap] The Boston Bruins are playing their second game in a row tonight after losing to the Washington Capitals last night. The Colorado Avalanche last played on Tuesday night resulting in a 4-3 loss in Nashville. The Bruins have recently been climbing in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Avalanche have been falling in the Western Conference race.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]2)[/miptheme_dropcap] The Bruins have struggled at home this season, only posting a 7-5-0 home record. Even though the Avalanche have had their struggles on the road, they have dominated the Bruins in Boston the past 10 meetings at the TD Garden.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]3)[/miptheme_dropcap] Coming into this game, the Bruins are playing extremely well and have captured points in each of the last six games. They will look to continue their point streak against the Avalanche as the Aves have dropped their last six contests.
[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]4)[/miptheme_dropcap] The Avalanche will be without their captain Gabriel Landeskog once again tonight as he out with an illness. Some good news on the injury front for the Avalanche is the return of defenseman Fedor Tyutin after a two game absence. For the Bruins, Matt Beleskey and John-Michael Liles will once again be sidelined due to a knee injury and a concussion.
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Despite the Bruins recent success and Colorado’s struggles, this game could still be a struggle for Boston. After a hard-fought game against the Capitals, the Bruins will be looking to come out strong to avoid having to play from behind once again. Colorado is determined to end their six-game losing streak and history tells us Boston is a good place for them to capture a much needed win.
