Bruins at Blackhawks
The Boston Bruins recovered nicely from an ill-timed slump with four straight victories and look to add another when they visit the Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. The Bruins knocked off Florida 5-2 on Saturday afternoon with two goals from Patrice Bergeron and lead Tampa Bay by four points for the second wild-card spot in the East with four games to play while the Lightning have five left, including one in Boston on Tuesday.
Boston dropped four games in a row before outscoring opponents 13-4 over the last four and backup Anton Khudobin is expected to be in net Sunday to go for his sixth straight win after Tuukka Rask turned aside 75-of-78 shots in the last three. The Blackhawks, who clinched the Central Division with Minnesota's loss Saturday, rebounded from a stretch in which they allowed 22 goals in five games to surrender one apiece in the last two contests after beating Columbus 3-1 on Friday. “I think that’s another good team (Friday) that we were facing from the East,” Chicago’s leading scorer Patrick Kane told reporters. “It’s nice to have that measuring stick, see where you stand against that conference.” Kane boasts six points - moving to second in the league with 87 - and a plus-6 rating in the last three games while posting 14 goals in his past 18 contests.
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, TVAS
ABOUT THE BRUINS (42-30-6): Leading scorer Brad Marchand is warming up again with four points in the last three games and is one shy of his first 40-goal season while David Pastrnak set up a pair of tallies Saturday to push his career-best total to 68 points. Bergeron reached 20 goals for the sixth straight time in an 82-game season Saturday, giving Boston four with at least that amount, and David Krejci added his 23rd. Forward Frank Vatrano (upper-body), mired in a 14-game goal drought, sat out his second straight contest Saturday and is not expected back against Chicago.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (50-21-7): Veteran right wing Marian Hossa is third on the team with 26 goals after notching four in the last six contests. “Hossa’s one of those guys who scored big goals early on and some big goals lately,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville told reporters. “But you know the best part of his game is the little things he does. He’s a consummate pro and makes guys around him better.” Artemi Panarin, second on the team with 71 points, scored four times in a three-game span and Richard Panik (22 goals) tallied twice in the same stretch.
OVERTIME
1. Hossa scored the only goal in Chicago’s 1-0 triumph in Boston on Jan. 20 and the teams split two meetings the previous three seasons.
2. Boston F David Backes, who has been limited to two points over the last six games and boasts 37 on the season, is three shy of 500 for his career.
3. The Blackhawks reached 50 wins for the second time in franchise history and are two shy of the record in 2009-10 when they won the Stanley Cup.