Bruins at Jets
With the top seed in the Eastern Conference already under wraps, the Boston Bruins look to inch closer to securing the Presidents' Trophy when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Bruins have taken their foot off the gas of late, falling for the third time in four contests with a 4-3 shootout loss to Minnesota on Tuesday. Patrice Bergeron continued his torrid stretch, scoring his 29th goal to extend his career-best point streak to 12 games.
Veteran Jarome Iginla has been a spectator for three of the last four contests as he nurses a minor lower-body injury. While Boston coach Claude Julien has that luxury as the team braces for the postseason, Winnipeg only has two games left before its disappointing campaign concludes. As a result, converted defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (upper body) and captain Andrew Ladd (undisclosed) also will take a seat in the press box.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), TSN (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (53-18-8): Bergeron, who has collected 10 goals and six assists during his impressive point streak, set up a tally in Boston's 4-1 victory over Winnipeg on Jan. 4. Defenseman Torey Krug recorded two goals and an assist in that contest but has just two points - both assists - in his last 10 games. Krug tried his luck on the fourth line Tuesday, playing alongside Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton as Julien gave forward David Krejci the night off.
ABOUT THE JETS (35-35-10): The MTS Centre used to provide a safe haven for Winnipeg, but the team has dropped three in a row and eight of its last 10 at the comfy confines. The Jets failed to give Michael Hutchinson any offensive support in his NHL debut en route to a 1-0 setback to the Wild on Monday. The 24-year-old rookie made 16 saves in the contest and is expected to start one of the team's remaining two games, although coach Paul Maurice didn't tip his hand for Thursday's tilt.
OVERTIME
1. Boston G Tuukka Rask stopped 36 shots in the previous meeting to improve to 8-4-0 against the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise.
2. The Jets recalled C Patrice Cormier from St. John's of the American Hockey League.
3. The Bruins have yielded a power-play goal in each of their last three games.