Bruins at Blackhawks
A season-high six-game winless streak (0-4-2) has the Boston Bruins teetering along the edge of the postseason bubble. The Bruins look to get back on track and improve their standing when they attempt to salvage the finale of a five-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon. Boston, which is clinging to a one-point lead over Florida for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, fell to 0-2-2 on its trek with a lackluster 5-1 setback to St. Louis on Friday.
While the Bruins' struggle is more pronounced, Chicago hasn't been tearing it up in its own right - falling for the 12th time in 22 contests with a 4-1 loss to Colorado on Friday. Kris Versteeg scored the lone goal for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 2-1-3 on their season-high eight-game homestand. Patrick Kane was held without a point for the third straight game but netted the eventual winner in a 3-2 victory over Boston on Dec. 11.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, RSN
ABOUT THE BRUINS (28-21-9): Boston's bad news came in many forms on Friday as David Krejci exited the contest after suffering an undisclosed injury while delivering an open-ice hit to Blues forward Alex Steen. "We won't know the severity of his injury until we get back home," coach Claude Julien said of Krejci, who will miss his 21st game this season on Sunday. In addition, the team announced that defenseman Kevan Miller sustained a dislocated right shoulder in Monday's 4-3 overtime loss to Calgary and will undergo season-ending surgery.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (35-19-5): Captain Jonathan Toews was none-too-pleased with his team's performance versus the Avalanche, and the man who holds the nickname of "Captain Serious" wasn't very direct about calling out his mates. "I don’t know what the reason is," Toews told ESPN Chicago. "There’s not really any excuse for it, if you can find one. It’s up to us to be prepared." Toews began the homestand with one goal and four assists in his first four contests before being held off the scoresheet in each of the last two games.
OVERTIME
1. Boston LW Brad Marchand scored his team-leading 17th goal versus St. Louis and also had an assist in the first meeting with Chicago.
2. The Blackhawks are 0-for-8 on the power play over the last three games and failed on all four opportunities with the man advantage in the first meeting with the Bruins.
3. Boston recalled C Ryan Spooner from Providence of the American Hockey League.