Bruins at Red Wings
The Boston Bruins have been the hottest team in hockey for more than 2 1/2 months as they prepare to hit a stretch where they will play eight of the next 10 games away from home. The surging Bruins have picked up at least one point in 20 of their last 21 games entering a matchup against the host Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Boston has the fewest regulation losses (11) in the league and is riding a sensational 25-4-4 record since mid-November that includes a pair of victories over the Red Wings 10 days apart in December. "I think we understand that the majority of the teams that we're gonna be playing are in a little bit more of a fight than we are," said coach Bruce Cassidy. "... They are a little more desperate than we are - we have to be cognizant of that, but at the same time play our game." The Red Wings are among those desperate teams, with four teams sitting between them and the final playoff slot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit's bid for a third straight victory was derailed in a hard-luck 3-2 loss at Florida on Saturday, allowing the deciding goal with 7.7 seconds left in regulation.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE BRUINS (31-11-8): Tuukka Rask had a first-period goal deflected past him by a teammate in Saturday's matchup against Toronto, but he shut the door from there to run his point streak to a staggering 20 games (18-0-2). Rask, who has not lost in regulation since Nov. 26, has allowed three goals in two wins over the Red Wings this season to boost his career mark to 11-5-2 against them. Forwards Anders Bjork and Noel Acciari and defenseman Kevan Miller did not accompany the team on the two-game trip to Detroit and New York.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (21-22-8): After scoring once in his first 32 games of the season, defenseman Danny DeKeyser has tallied three times in the past two games for Detroit. The Red Wings could use some help from their stagnant power play, which has failed on the last eight chances and is 4-for-48 over the past 17 starts dating to a 3-1 loss at Boston on Dec. 23. “We’re not getting what we want out of our power play,” captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “It’s been a little bit better than it was a while ago, but we need some goals."
OVERTIME
1. Bruins leading scorer Brad Marchand will serve the final game of his five-game suspension Tuesday.
2. Red Wings G Petr Mrazek is 4-1-1 with a 1.30 goals-against average and .958 save percentage in his last seven appearances.
3. Boston is riding a seven-game point streak (6-0-1) in the series.