A couple of days removed from a 4-2 loss against the Senators in which the Bruins played arguably their worst hockey in 11 games under Bruce Cassidy, the Black and Gold look to bounce back tonight as they welcome the Red Wings to TD Garden.

The loss prevented the B’s from tying the Sens for second in the Atlantic Division. Instead, they sit four points behind Ottawa and only two points ahead of the Maple Leafs, who were victorious last night against the same Red Wings bunch.

On paper, this is a game where the Bruins should earn those much-needed two points against a Red Wings team that will have their streak of 25 straight postseason appearances snapped sooner rather than later. The B’s took points in all three games in the season series, including a 4-3 overtime win the last time these two teams played in late-January.

Under Cassidy, the Bruins haven’t had too much trouble against the bottom feeders of the NHL. Games against the Canucks, Stars, Coyotes and Devils have all resulted in a B’s victory. Cassidy and company hope that same trend continues against the worst team in the Eastern Conference entering Wednesday’s slate of games.

Gametime: 8:00 pm
TV/Radio: NBCSN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 34-26-6 (74 points), Red Wings 25-28-11 (61 points)
Location: TD Garden

Bruins projected lines

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Backes
Drew Stafford-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano-Austin Czarnik-Jimmy Hayes
Riley Nash-Dominic Moore-Tim Schaller.

Zdeno Chara-Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
Colin Miller-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin

Red Wings projected lines

Gustav Nyquist-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Tatar
Andreas Athanasiou-Frans Nielsen-Anthony Mantha
Justin Abdelkader-Darren Helm-Dylan Larkin
Drew Miller-Riley Sheahan-Luke Glendening

Dan DeKeyser-Mike Green
Niklas Kronwall-Nick Jensen
Xavier Ouellet-Robbie Russo

Jared Coreau
Petr Mrazek

Tonight’s storylines

– With Ryan Spooner under the NHL’s concussion protocol and out indefinitely, Austin Czarnik replaces him on the third line. Since being assigned to Providence back on February 23rd, the Michigan-born forward tallied five points in five games with the Baby Bruins, including a goal and an assist in his most recent performance on Sunday against Leigh Valley. Czarnik last appeared with the big club in the last game of the Claude Julien era back on February 4th. Given Cassidy’s system, Czarnik should at least have a better chance to make plays and provide versatility during Spooner’s absence.

– After sitting in the press box the last two games, Jimmy Hayes will return to the third line with Czarnik and Frank Vatrano tonight. Though the stats aren’t anything to write home about with just two assists in his last nine games, Hayes has been playing better as of late. The former Boston College product and Dorchester native is engaging more along the boards, driving to the front of the net and creating space for his fellow linemates. Good things will happen for Hayes if he carries over those traits into the last 16 games of the regular season.