Bruins at Oilers
After breaking even on their season-opening four-game road trip, the Edmonton Oilers finally get to enjoy the comforts of home Thursday as they face off against the Boston Bruins in their opener at Rogers Place. Edmonton began the campaign with a loss to New Jersey in Sweden and fell in Boston before posting back-to-back one-goal victories.
The most recent triumph came in overtime at Winnipeg on Tuesday, when defenseman Darnell Nurse scored 1:25 into the extra session to complete a comeback from a 4-1 deficit. Captain Connor McDavid, who is the reigning two-time Art Ross Trophy winner, etched his name in the NHL record book by notching a point in each of the Oilers' first nine goals of the season after registering two tallies and two assists in the win. Boston continues its four-game trek through Canada after having its four-game winning streak snapped in the opener at Calgary 5-2 on Wednesday. Patrice Bergeron has been red-hot for the Bruins, registering five consecutive multi-point performances after notching a goal and an assist versus the Flames.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), Sportsnet One (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (4-2-0): Bergeron tops the team with 13 points and is one goal behind leader David Pastrnak with six, putting him five away from 300 for his career. The 33-year-old is not the only member of the club riding a five-game point streak, as Brad Marchand tallied Wednesday to give him two goals and nine assists during his run while Pastrnak has collected seven goals and three assists after setting up a score versus Calgary. David Krejci has notched four assists over his last three games and five overall this season but remains in search of his first goal.
ABOUT THE OILERS (2-2-0): McDavid, who is the lone member of the team with more than one goal (four), seemed to be embarrassed about his recent accomplishment. "I'm not overly proud of it," the 21-year-old, who broke the previous record set in 1986-87 by Adam Oates (seven with Detroit), told reporters. "I don't think it's a stat we should be proud of either. It is what it is, but we found a way to get a goal there at the end (without me), so we don't ever have to talk about it again." Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collected four assists against the Jets, leaving him one shy of 200 for his career.
OVERTIME
1. McDavid scored in last Thursday's 4-1 setback in Boston.
2. Bergeron registered a game-high seven shots against Calgary after recording a total of 14 over his first five games.
3. Edmonton LW Drake Caggiula (undisclosed) did not participate in Wednesday's practice and will be re-evaluated Thursday.