Game Day preview: Coyotes at Bruins
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0-3-1. That is the Bruins’ record through their first four home games at TD Garden in 2015-16. Yet, they look like a totally different team on the road as they have a perfect 3-0-0 record away from Causeway Street.
Following an impressive 5-3 win over a solid New York Islanders squad in Brooklyn, the Bruins return home and are looking for their first victory at the Garden this season when they welcome the Arizona Coyotes. The Black and Gold faced this same Coyotes squad last week and scored three of their goals on the power play en route to the 5-3 victory in Glendale.
Head coach Claude Julien will have another body returning as Matt Beleskey, who missed the last two games with an upper body injury, will skate with Ryan Spooner and Jimmy Hayes on the third line. Tuukka Rask, who notched his only win of the 2015-16 season in the desert, will get the nod between the pipes as he looks to bounce back from a rough start.
The Coyotes are coming off a 4-3 win against the Maple Leafs in Toronto last night and are playing their fifth game in eight days. The Bruins are hoping that the ‘Yotes tired legs catches up to them as Arizona wraps up their five-game East Coast road trip.
Gametime: 7:00 p.m.
TV/Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 3-3-1 (7 points), Coyotes 5-3-1 (11 points)
Location: TD Garden
Bruins projected lines
Loui Eriksson-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey-Ryan Spooner-Jimmy Hayes
Chris Kelly-Joonas Kemppainen-Tyler Randell
Zdeno Chara-Kevan Miller
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow-Colin Miller
Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson
Coyotes projected lines
Max Domi-Martin Hanzal-Anthony Duclair
Tobias Reider-Tyler Gaudet-Mikael Bodeker
Kyle Chipchura-Brad Richardson-Shane Doan
Jordan Martinook-Boyd Gordon-Steve Downie
Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck-Zbynek Michalek
Nicklas Grossman-Tyler Murphy
Anders Lindback
Mike Smith
Matchup to watch: Bruins power play vs. Coyotes penalty kill
The Bruins power play enters tonight with the top-ranked power play in the league, with a 33.3 percent success rate. The Coyotes penalty kill isn’t too shabby, coming in at 11th (84.8 percent).
The last time these two teams played, the Bruins power play got the upper hand scoring three of their five goals with the man advantage, including Patrice Bergeron’s pair in the third period to put the game out of reach. Since then, the Coyotes have tightened up on their shorthanded situations, having killed 10 of their last 11 penalties.
The top power play unit of Bergeron, Loui Eriksson, David Krejci, Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug have combined for 21 of Boston’s 24 points on the man advantage. Krejci’s six power play points are good for a tie for first in the league (along with Ryan O’Reilly) with six while Bergeron and Krug are not too far behind with five.
Against the Isles, however, the Bruins were held without a power play goal, which broke a streak of five straight games with at least one goal on the man advantage. We’ll see if they can start a new streak tonight against an improved Coyotes penalty kill.
Storyline to watch: Can the Bruins win at home?
Today’s million dollar question: can the Bruins finally win at TD Garden?
Following an impressive win in Brooklyn against the second best team in the Metropolitan Division, the Black and Gold are looking to build off that performance and what better way to do against a Coyotes team that is on the second game of a back to back.
That said, the Bruins were on the opposite end of the spectrum when they welcomed the Flyers in their second game in as many nights, and fell 5-4. Will history repeat itself? If so, B’s fans will have to wait until November — after their two-game trip to Florida — to see a win on Causeway Street.