Bruins at Oilers
The red-hot Boston Bruins rebounded from an uncharacteristically poor performance with a big win to give themselves a chance to move into first place in the Atlantic Division when they visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The Bruins, who lost 6-1 at Vancouver on Saturday, have won seven of nine contests to start the month after posting a 2-1 overtime victory at Calgary on Monday and trail division-leading Tampa Bay by one point with two games in hand.
Brad Marchand scored his ninth career overtime winner Monday, one off the franchise record, and Boston hopes to follow up by snapping a six-game losing streak against Edmonton. The Oilers halted their six-game slide with a 4-2 victory at Colorado on Sunday but entered Monday 19 points out of a playoff spot in the despite being a preseason favorite of many experts to reach the Stanley Cup Final. “It doesn’t get any easier as it goes on, and our task isn’t any easier,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “We know where we are in the standings, we know we have to get better as a team.” The Oilers do have reigning Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid (69 points) and continued their streak against the Bruins with a 4-2 road victory on Nov. 26, getting a goal and an assist from Leon Draisaitl.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (36-13-8): David Pastrnak ended his six-game goal-scoring drought with his 22nd of the season to tie Marchand for second on the team behind Patrice Bergeron (27). The veteran Bergeron has recorded eight of his 52 points in the last six contests while Marchand has notched 14 of his team-best 55 over a 10-game stretch for Boston, which is sixth in the league in goals per game (3.24). Defenseman Kevan Miller (10 points, plus-9 rating in 44 games) could return to the lineup as early as Tuesday after missing the last eight contests with an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE OILERS (24-30-4): McDavid registered his third hat trick of the season in Sunday’s victory and tops the team with 26 tallies while Draisaitl has collected five goals and eight assists over his last 10 games to push his total to 52 points. Milan Lucic will face his former team while suffering through an 11-game point drought, but trade target Patrick Maroon has recorded a goal and two assists in his last four games. Ryan Strome snapped his 20-game goal-scoring drought with a tally against Colorado, posting a point for the first time in seven contests.
OVERTIME
1. Edmonton D Kris Russell, who has posted 21 points and a minus-1 rating, is slated to play in his 700th NHL game on Tuesday.
2. The Bruins continue to win despite receiving much help from their power play, which is just 2-for-23 over the last seven contests.
3. The Oilers have failed to convert any of their few power-play opportunities over their last six games, going 0-for-10.