About the Bruins - 01-15-11
A preview of the Bruins.
When and where: 1 p.m., TD Garden.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, NESN.
Record: 24-12-7, 55 points. The Bruins are in third place in the Atlantic Conference and first place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Patrice Bergeron, 34 points.
Last Game: 7-5 home win against the Flyers, Thursday. Gregory Campbell, Zdeno Chara (right), Mark Recchi, Steven Kampfer and Bergeron each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-2 road win, Monday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for the Penguins.
Bruins Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Mark Recchi. He has four points in his last two games against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Bruins: Andrew Ference, D; Mark Recchi, RW.
Ex-Bruins on the Penguins: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant to the general manager; Andre Savard, professional scout; Kevin Stevens, professional scout.
Useless Bruins Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The only Penguin to attempt a penalty shot in a game against the Bruins was Martin Straka. He was stopped by Byron Dafoe in a 5-2 Bruins win, Jan. 9, 2001.
Best Bruins Video We Could Find: We've used this before, but it's a classic. At the conclusion of a linebrawl in the 1977-78 season, former Bruins tough guy John Wensink challenged the entire Minnesota North Stars bench:
{youtube width="480" height="385"}-85qLSvztnQ{/youtube}
Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (19-11-2, 2.30 GAA, .919 SV%) for the Penguins and Tim Thomas (20-4-6, 1.88, .943 SV%) for the Bruins.
Injuries: For the Penguins, Ben Lovejoy (illness) is questionable. Forward Sidney Crosby (concussion) is out. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Eric Godard (nose) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Bruins, defenseman Andrew Ference ("upper body") an forward Milan Lucic (undisclosed) are day to day. Defenseman Mark Stuart (finger) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines at practice yesterday were:
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner - Maxime Talbot - Mike Rupp
Arron Asham - Mark Letestu - Craig Adams
-Their primary defensive pairings against the Canadiens Wednesday were:
Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Deryk Engelland
-The Bruins' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Flyers Thursday were:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Mark Recchi
Michael Ryder - Marc Savard - Nathan Horton
Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara - Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg - Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ference - Andrew McQuaid
Notes:
-"No pressure for me. I just play my game." - Malkin on playing without Crosby.
-"I like the fact that we get back to an opponent that came into our building and took two points from us, especially the way they did it late in the game." - Dan Bylsma.
-Bylsma's media blackout on Crosby's health lasted all of one day (PG+).
-Talbot has 49 career goals, 49 career assists and 98 career points.
-Malkin has appeared in 349 career games.
-With Ference "very questionable" to play according to head coach Claude Julien, the Bruins recalled defenseman and Mt. Lebanon native Matt Bartkowski from Providence of the AHL.
-Julien kidded, "We kind of save him for those Pittsburgh games.''
-Our live blog begins at approximately 1 p.m.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)