Bruins at Devils
THE STORY: Claude Julien is taking no chances. The
Boston Bruins coach expects a physical battle from the host New Jersey
Devils on Wednesday, so much so that he put his charges through a
rigorous practice on Tuesday. "They’re a pretty heavy team. Size-wise
they play a really heavy game," Julien said after practice. "Here we say
that quite a bit, but they're another team that makes it hard for you
to get to their net and when we played them here this year, I thought
they played a real good game. They had us for quite a while until we
finally started scoring some goals. But they’ve been good at home lately
and they’re certainly going to give us a good game." The Devils have
won a season-high three in a row at home and are 9-3-1 in their last 13
overall. The Bruins are no slouches themselves - having won 21 of
their last 25 contests (21-3-1) - although they saw their seven-game
winning streak come to an end with a lackluster 4-2 setback to the
Dallas Stars on Saturday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS
ABOUT THE BRUINS (24-10-1): New Year's Eve wasn't a
pleasant night for Boston, which permitted four goals in a game for the
first time since Oct. 29. In fact, the four goals scored by Dallas
accounts for 50 percent of the overall tally allowed during the
seven-game winning streak. Former Bruin Michael Ryder netted a
power-play goal to end 2011 with a whimper for Julien's club. Reigning
Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas saw his three-game winning streak end in
Dallas, but he owns a four-game victorious streak versus New Jersey.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (21-15-2): New Jersey saw its modest
two-game winning streak come to an end when it squandered a two-goal
lead in an eventual 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on
Saturday. RW Dainius Zubrus netted his 200th career goal in the contest.
C Adam Henrique was named NHL Rookie of the Month for December after
collecting five goals and eight assists while registering a plus-9 in 14
games. The Devils will need Henrique to step up against the Bruins, who
have won five of the last six meetings between the clubs. G Martin
Brodeur has dropped his last four (0-3-1) to Boston.
OVERTIME:
1. Bruins LW Milan Lucic has scored in three of his last four games.
2. Devils C Patrik Elias will play in career game No. 999 on Wednesday.
His milestone contest is slated to be Friday versus the Florida
Panthers.