The Boston Bruins continue a three-game homestand Thursday night with a meeting against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Boston, which is 7-1-1 in its past nine games, absorbed a rare recent setback when it dropped a 3-2 overtime decision Monday to the Los Angeles Kings in its first game following back-to-back wins to cap off a 5-1 road trip.
Trent Frederic and Craig Smith gave the Bruins a pair of one-goal leads before they surrendered a tying goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation and then an overtime winner. Charlie Coyle had the primary assist on both Boston tallies.
“Closing out games is part of playing winning hockey,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Come crunch time, you’re going to be in a lot of those types of games. Typically, we have been good, so I’m also not going to overreact for a 10-day stretch of some goals late. … The positive is that we’re not chasing (the game) most nights.”
Smith, who has scored five goals in his past three games, knows that the Bruins can correct their late-game deficiencies.
“It’s tough (because) I thought we did a lot of good things,” Smith said. “… We’ve got to take the next step forward, make the corrections and make sure that we’re tightening up. It’s all things we can fix, and we have the people to do it.”
David Pastrnak and Erik Haula had point streaks of eight and six games, respectively, snapped against the Kings. Pastrnak’s team-leading 31 goals are still eight more than his next closest teammate, Brad Marchand.
Jeremy Swayman is scheduled to start in net looking to improve upon a 7-0-1 mark across his past eight starts. He has a .953 save percentage in that span.
Swayman had started eight of Boston’s previous 11 games before Linus Ullmark got the last start, making 25 stops in Monday’s setback.
“I think (Ullmark) understands that he’s in a battle to get the net, especially with the way Jeremy is going,” Cassidy said. “We’re getting to the point in the year where … one guy will be getting more starts than the other. That’s production-based right now.”
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk is in line to play after he missed Monday’s game with an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk was a game-time decision after skating that morning, but Jack Ahcan replaced him in the lineup.
Chicago is 4-5-1 in its past 10 games and had lost back-to-back contests before Tuesday’s 8-3 home win over the Anaheim Ducks.
Patrick Kane recorded the first six-point game of his NHL career with a goal and five assists, while Dylan Strome recorded his second career hat trick and added an assist.
“They’ve been clicking right now,” said interim head coach Derek King of the top-line trio that scored three straight goals to begin Chicago’s five-goal first period.
Kane, Strome and Alex DeBrincat combined for 14 points against the Ducks. They all have current four-game point streaks.
DeBrincat scored one goal — his team-best 33rd of the season — and added an assist.
“The first couple shifts, it felt like we just had the puck the whole time,” Strome said. “We were good at holding onto it. We get one on the first shift and come back to the bench, and Kaner goes, ‘We’re not stopping there.’ That fires you up a little bit.”
Ryan Carpenter, Jonathan Toews (350th career goal) and Brandon Hagel also scored.
Thursday marks this season’s first head-to-head meeting between the two Original Six teams. They will also meet Tuesday in Chicago.
–Field Level Media