Red Wings at Bruins
The Boston Bruins are mired in their longest winless drought of the season and will look to avoid a fifth consecutive setback when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. It will be the second meeting in seven days between the Original Six rivals, with the Red Wings rallying from a pair of three-goal deficits in a 6-5 shootout win in Detroit.
The Bruins were manhandled at reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh 5-1 on Sunday, the third time during the skid they have been limited to one goal or less, and have been blanked in their last two home games. "It's frustrating," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "There's a lot of guys right now that aren't giving us enough and this is a team that I think needs all 20 guys going in order to win." The Red Wings are coming off a hard-luck 1-0 loss to the New York Rangers, their second straight defeat in the extra session. Still, Detroit is riding a five-game point streak (3-0-2) in its bid to climb back into contention and extend its record streak of 25 straight postseason appearances.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, FSN Detroit, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (20-19-8): Detroit will be short-handed on the manpower and offensive fronts, with leading goal scorers Thomas Vanek (lower body) and Dylan Larkin (upper body) each on the shelf after they were hurt against the Rangers. "It's obviously not fun to lose guys," captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "But we've been through it this year plenty of games. Guys that are going to play are ready and they'll do a good job." Rookie netminder Jared Coreau was yanked early in last week's matchup but is expected to get the start.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (23-21-6): Goaltender Tuukka Rask owns 22 of Boston's 23 victories but his availability for Tuesday's matchup is in question after he was forced to leave Sunday's game while dealing with a migraine. Rask, who has battled migraines in the past, was having issues with his vision Sunday and skipped practice Monday to get checked out. “Tuukka is seeing the doctors as we speak, obviously dealing with the migraine issues,” Julien said. “Hopefully we get some good news here. ... That’s basically all I know.”
OVERTIME
1. Bruins F David Pastrnak, the team's leading goal scorer with 19, has not tallied in 17 games.
2. The Red Wings are 3-for-39 on the power play over the last 11 games.
3. Bruins F Frank Vatrano has three goals in four games versus Detroit.