Jets at Bruins
The Boston Bruins have experienced more road success than any team in the NHL this season and look to bring those winning ways home when they entertain the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Boston plays four of its next five games at home following a 2-1-0 road trip that concluded with a last-minute loss Thursday in Minnesota and while the Bruins have won a league-leading seven road games, they are only 3-3 at home.
“We got two wins out of three,” Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask told reporters in summarizing the road trip after Thursday’s 1-0 loss, in which the Wild beat Rask on a deflected goal with 44.5 seconds remaining. “We’ve got to be happy with that.” The Jets come to Boston unhappy after opening a season-long five-game road trip with a 5-2 loss Thursday at Philadelphia. “I felt we left some offense on the table, some pucks we could’ve moved better,” Jets coach Paul Maurice told reporters after the game. The Jets feature two of the top scorers in the league in rookie Patrick Laine and Mark Scheifele, while Rask is among the league leaders in goals against average, wins, save percentage and shutouts.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportsNet (Winnipeg), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE JETS (9-8-2): Scheifele recorded an assist Thursday and has points in seven of his past eight games (five goals, eight assists), while Laine began the weekend leading the league with 12 goals but only one in his last five contests. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has started seven of the past eight games but was shaky Thursday in allowing four goals. Nic Petan has six points in his past six games, while Dustin Byfuglien scored his first goal of the season Thursday.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (10-7-0): Rask has been outstanding in goal, posting a 10-2-0 record with a 1.49 goals against average and a .947 save percentage, and Boston has allowed only four goals in its past four games. But the offense sputtered on the road trip as the Bruins scored four goals on 100 shots. Forward David Pastrnak, second on the team in points (14) and among the league leaders in goals (10), did not play Thursday with an undisclosed injury and is day-to-day.
OVERTIME
1. Injured Jets C Bryan Little (lower body) and F Drew Stafford (upper body), both of whom are on injured reserve, made the trip.
2. Boston F Brad Marchand, who led the Bruins with 37 goals last season, has scored only twice in his past 13 contests but leads the team in points (16).
3. Maurice cancelled Friday’s practice in Boston, opting instead for a team meeting.