Bruins at Jets
The Boston Bruins look to secure consecutive victories for the first time in nearly a month when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. After dropping three straight 3-2 decisions, Boston won by that score as Loui Eriksson scored 1:30 into overtime against Minnesota on Wednesday. The 29-year-old Swede has scored three goals in five contests for the Bruins, who have won just three of their last 11 overall (3-5-3).
Winnipeg breezed to a 5-1 triumph over Buffalo on Tuesday to improve to 6-1-3 in its last 10, but the team announced that defenseman Jacob Trouba is sidelined until February with an upper-body injury. With Mark Stuart, Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian also out with lower-body ailments, the Jets acquired fellow blue-liner Jay Harrison from Carolina on Thursday for a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft. "Time was of the essence," Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said of making the deal to reunite the 32-year-old Harrison with former Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice before the holiday roster freeze goes into effect.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (16-13-3): Carl Soderberg scored a goal and set up another against the Wild and notched a pair of assists in Boston's 2-1 overtime victory over Winnipeg on Nov. 28. The latter win was the Bruins' 13th straight at home against the Jets franchise, but they have dropped six of their last seven road meetings (1-4-2). David Krejci logged nearly 18 1/2 minutes of ice time on Wednesday in his return from an 11-game absence due to a lower-body injury.
ABOUT THE JETS (16-10-6): With the team's top four defensemen all sidelined, perhaps even more will be expected from Dustin Byfuglien during his return to the blue line. The burly Byfuglien scored Winnipeg's lone goal in the first meeting with Boston and has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 16 career meetings. Blue-liner Grant Clitsome notched an assist against the Sabres in his return after missing six contests with an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Boston G Tuukka Rask has dropped his last three starts (0-1-2) but is 9-4-0 with two shutouts and a 1.90 goals-against average in his career versus Winnipeg.
2. Jets C Mark Scheifele recorded two goals and an assist against Buffalo for his second three-point performance in three games. He set up one goal for his lone point in his previous eight contests.
3. The Bruins are 1-for-26 on the power play in their last 14 contests.