The 4-4-and-2 Detroit Red Wings battle the 4-and-3 Boston Bruins this evening (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NESN/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet Ontario/Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 360/97.1 FM). DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter posted a game preview…
The Bruins come into Thursday’s game at 4-3-0 this season, fresh off handing the first-place Florida Panthers their first loss on Saturday.
13-year veteran winger Brad Marchand leads Boston in goals (4), assists (4) and points (8). The Bruins have featured a balanced offensive attack early this season, with six players earning at least three points in their first seven games.
Boston has platooned goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman so far this season, with Ullmark seeing the most success at 3-1-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. The 22-year-old Swayman comes in at 1-2-0 with a 2.71 GAA and .893 save percentage.
Seider said one of the biggest aspects of Thursday’s game will be to re-invigorate Detroit’s power play, which excelled during the preseason and early in the regular season, but has struggled in the last five games, converting just 2-for-17 on the man advantage during that span.
“If I hit the net (Tuesday), I think we score, and then (Filip Zadina) hits the crossbar right after,” Seider said. “Getting better puck retrievals, I think it’s going to be key for us. I think sooner rather than later, we’ll get our chances, and we’ll look really good.”
Thursday’s matchup against Boston will be Detroit’s first game against their Original Six rival since Feb. 15, 2020, after being in separate divisions last season due to COVID-19. The Red Wings have gone 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Bruins, but Detroit hasn’t won at TD Garden since Dec. 1, 2018.
The Bruins either “took an optional” or their press corps was distracted by the Jack Eichel trade, because we didn’t get a morning skate Tweet from the B’s until 11:10 AM, at the Warrior Ice Arena in Boston:
Skipper Sway.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/cazVwKVbEA— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 4, 2021
Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty offers a morning column on the Perfection Line’s early-season hiccups…
It’s not exactly sportswriting hyperbole to say it hasn’t been a gangbusters kind of start for the Boston Bruins’ Perfection Line.
David Pastrnak has a couple goals in the first seven games, but also hasn’t really seized all the Grade-A offensive opportunities he’s had with the puck, or truly taken flight on the B’s first power play unit. Brad Marchand has been the best of the bunch with four goals and eight points in seven games, but he’s also a minus player at this point while admitting he’s not playing at his best.
Perhaps nobody typifies the early season “struggles” of the Perfection Line more than 36-year-old Patrice Bergeron, who is still looking for his first goal with seven games played on the ledger thus far this year. It hasn’t stopped him from being a stellar leader and captain that played a role in the group watching the Kyle Beach/TSN interview together as a team last week, and it never will given the first-class way Bergeron handles everything.
Boston does have one injured player–Nick Foligno…
Cassidy said Foligno may join team for Friday’s practice in a non contact jersey. Won’t travel to Toronto— steve conroy (@conroyherald) November 4, 2021
And the news we expected to come, came…
Jeff Blashill says Red Wings C Dylan Larkin is away from the team for personal reasons.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) November 4, 2021
Coach Blashill does not anticipate Dylan Larkin to be available tonight in Boston. #DETvsBOS— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 4, 2021
Blashill said Larkin will miss his second game in a row tonight in Boston due to personal reasons. #RedWings— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) November 4, 2021
