Jets at Bruins
THE STORY: The Boston Bruins find themselves in an unfamiliar position – attempting to rebound from a loss – as they prepare to host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night. Boston tasted defeat for only the fifth time in its last 28 games (23-4-1) on Saturday, dropping a 4-3 home decision to the Vancouver Canucks in a testy rematch of their seven-game Stanley Cup Finals series. The Bruins should have little trouble regaining an emotional edge for the Jets, who snapped Boston's 15-game points streak with a 2-1 victory in Manitoba on Dec. 6. The Jets are playing the finale of a four-game road trip. Winnipeg squeezed out a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night following a pair of ugly losses at Toronto (4-0) and Montreal (7-3). “You're not going to play great all season, but it's always about how you respond and bounce back," Jets G Ondrej Pavelec said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN, NESN
ABOUT THE JETS (20-16-5): Winnipeg got its winning goal against Buffalo from an unlikely source when defenseman Johnny Oduya ended a drought of more than two months. It was his second tally of the season and 22nd in six seasons. Blake Wheeler also scored to give him six goals and 11 points in his last 10 games after netting only two goals in his first 31 contests. C Bryan Little, who scored the game-winner against Boston last month, returned from an eight-game injury absence Saturday.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (26-11-1): Boston surrendered four power-play goals to the Canucks in losing for the second time in nine games. Two of those came after Brad Marchand received a five-minute major and game misconduct for clipping Vancouver defenseman Sami Salo along the boards. Marchand’s punishment didn’t end there. He received a five-game suspension from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan following two days of snipping between Boston and Vancouver officials. Marchand is tied for the team lead in goals (16) and is third overall in points (32).
OVERTIME:
1. The Jets franchise has lost nine straight games in Boston, including a 4-2 defeat on Nov. 26.
2. Bruins leading scorer Tyler Seguin sat out the last meeting due to a team-imposed suspension.
3. Winnipeg D Dustin Byfuglien will miss his seventh straight game with a knee injury.