Bruins at Devils
Even though their latest win came at the expense of the league's worst team, the Boston Bruins may have saved their season by snapping a five-game losing streak. Holding a one-point edge for third place in the Atlantic Division, the Bruins continue their four-game road trip against an opponent in a must-win situation when they visit the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
Boston had been outscored 18-6 during its five-game skid before skating to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. "It's a big win mentally as well, but we know we have a lot of work ahead of us," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "It's about taking it a game at a time. We've talked about moving on to the next task, and it's Jersey now." New Jersey took another hit to its fading postseason hopes with its second straight one-goal defeat and is seven points out of the final playoff spot with six games to play. The Devils have lost five straight games to Boston, including both matchups this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, NESN (Boston), MSG (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE BRUINS (40-28-8): Center Ryan Spooner suffered an undisclosed injury against Toronto and will not make the trip to New Jersey along with defenseman John-Michael Liles, who will sit out his second game in a row with a lower-body injury. Brad Marchand is expected to play despite feeling under the weather and missing Monday's practice while forward Loui Eriksson is expected to shift to center in place of Spooner. “You saw Loui at center,” coach Claude Julien said after Monday's practice. “Loui’s very capable of doing that. And we’ll see where we go from there.”
ABOUT THE DEVILS (36-32-8): Goaltender Cory Schneider, sidelined since March 4 with a sprained knee, was sent to Albany of the American Hockey League on Monday for a conditioning assignment, basically allowing him to get in a full practice with the Devils taking the day off. Schneider will rejoin New Jersey at Tuesday's morning skate and could be back in net against Boston. “They didn’t want to rush me back and risk further injury,” Schneider told the Albany Times-Union, “but physically I’ve felt great the last week to 10 days, no setbacks, so I’d love to get in there.”
OVERTIME
1. Bruins F Lee Stempniak, who led the Devils with 16 goals before he was sent to Boston at the trade deadline, has scored twice in 13 games.
2. Devils leading scorer Kyle Palmieri has eight points in his last six games but has been held off the scoresheet in seven meetings versus Boston.
3. The Bruins netted a pair of power-play goals Saturday after going 0-for-13 in their previous five games.