Arizona @ Boston preview
TD Garden
Last Meeting ( Nov 17, 2018 ) Boston 2, Arizona 1
The Boston Bruins rebounded from a rough stretch by earning wins on back-to-back nights over the weekend and look to build on that Tuesday when they try to extend their winning streak against the visiting Arizona Coyotes to 14 games. The Bruins had dropped three straight and four of five before knocking off Toronto 6-3 on Saturday and rallying for a 2-1 overtime win at Ottawa on Sunday.
“(Sunday) was a game we stayed patient and eventually got things to go our way,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters. “I thought we were the better team the last 40, 43 minutes. … and eventually we got rewarded.” The Bruins have limited the Coyotes to six total goals over the last six meetings in the series, including a 6-1 triumph at Boston last season, and hope to take advantage of an Arizona team which has been ravaged by injuries to their goaltending corps. No. 1 goalie Antti Raanta (lower body) could be lost for the season and No. 2 Darcy Kuemper (lower body) may return soon after missing almost three weeks, but the Coyotes won four in a row without either before dropping the last two games - including a 5-3 setback against San Jose on Saturday. “I thought we did a great job of getting back in it,” Arizona forward Brad Richardson told reporters after rallying from a 3-0 deficit Saturday. “We stayed composed, we didn’t really change our game, we just kept going.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Arizona Plus, NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (13-13-2): Adin Hill has started each of the last five games in net (3-2-0) and owns a .939 save percentage overall since being summoned from the American Hockey League when Kuemper went down. Center Nick Schmaltz has made quite an impression since being acquired from Chicago late last month, posting three goals - including one in Saturday’s loss - and three assists in six games with the club. Forward Clayton Keller boasts six of his team-leading 20 points in the last five games and shares the team goal-scoring lead with Richardson (eight).
ABOUT THE BRUINS (16-10-4): David Krejci, who is scheduled to play his 800th game in the NHL on Tuesday, took over the No. 1 center role with Patrice Bergeron on injured reserve and has picked it up lately with four points in three contests. David Pastrnak has five of his team-best 35 points in the past five games while playing with Krejci and Brad Marchand, who has a goal and four assists in the past two contests. Defenseman Torey Krug had the game-winner, set by by Krejci, on Sunday and owns five points in the past two games.
OVERTIME
1. The Coyotes lead the league in penalty killing (90.2 percent) after going 8-for-8 in the last five games.
2. Boston LW Jake DeBrusk (12 points) missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and is questionable for Tuesday.
3. Arizona D Niklas Hjalmarsson is slated to play his 700th NHL game Tuesday - 623 with the Chicago Blackhawks.
PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Coyotes 2