Blues at Bruins
After failing in their bid to record the second-longest point streak in franchise history, the Boston Bruins will take on another hot team when they host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. Boston looks to rebound from a 3-1 home loss to Anaheim, which snapped the team's five-game winning streak and ended a run of 18 straight contests with at least one point.
The 14-0-4 surge, which matched the second-best point stretch in team history, propelled the Bruins within five points of Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay with two games in hand. “It’s not going to go on forever, we all know that," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It’s too good a league. It certainly put us in a good position in the standings to get on that roll, but we’ll have to start a new (point streak) now.” St. Louis capped a perfect three-game homestand with a 3-1 victory over Montreal and has won five of six to hold onto third place in the Central Division. The Blues have made themselves at home at TD Garden over the years, winning eight of their last nine matchups in Boston.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE BLUES (31-18-3): Career backup Carter Hutton is making it impossible for coach Mike Yeo to take him out of the lineup, stopping 94 of 96 shots during the winning streak to improve to 8-1-1 over his last 10 starts since Dec. 30. "The first half of the year, he was working pretty hard in practice, and you knew he was going to get his chance and now that he's got his chance he's just running with it. It's good to see," defenseman Joel Edmundson said. The Blues' power play also is clicking, converting on 5 of 12 chances in the past four games.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (29-11-8): Already missing leading scorer Brad Marchand (suspension) and defenseman Charlie McAvoy (abnormal heart rhythm), Boston's lineup could be further depleted with the expected absences of forwards Anders Bork and Noel Acciari, who are both listed as doubtful for Thursday. Ryan Spooner scored the lone goal in the loss to the Ducks, giving him seven of his eight goals over the past 12 games. Tuukka Rask, riding an 18-game point streak (16-0-2) of his own, is 4-2-3 with a 2.39 goals-against average versus the Blues.
OVERTIME
1. Hutton is 1-2-0 with a 3.30 goals-against average versus Boston.
2. Boston recalled F Peter Cehlarik from Providence of the American Hockey League.
3. Blues F Brayden Scheen is tied for the team lead with 21 goals but has scored only once in 16 games against the Bruins.