Pittsburgh @ Boston preview
TD Garden
Last Meeting ( Apr 27, 2021 ) Boston 3, Pittsburgh 1
With a week-long break for NHL All-Star festivities now in the past, the Boston Bruins will resume their regular schedule with a Tuesday visit from a first-time opponent this season in the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Boston will hit the ice for the first time since Feb. 1, when David Pastrnak scored two power-play goals and had an assist in a 3-2 win over the expansion Seattle Kraken.
Boston returned to practice Monday with forward Erik Haula back on the ice. He could see his first game action since Jan. 28, having returned from COVID-19 protocol.
Jeremy Swayman will start in net. Linus Ullmark was the only other goaltender present at practice, as Tuukka Rask was still recovering from the injury that sidelined him during the team's late-January Western Conference road trip.
"He's not on the ice today. He won't be practicing this week, so we'll update at the end of the week or early next week," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Rask. "He's kind of fighting through some medical issues, I guess, or body issues for his age with the comeback. So, we'll see how it turns out."
Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen also didn't practice after suffering an upper-body injury on a hit by Seattle's Yanni Gourde last week.
Captain Patrice Bergeron represented the Bruins in Saturday's NHL All-Star Game. Before scoring a goal for the Atlantic Division in his third All-Star appearance, the 36-year-old center set up Pastrnak's fifth game-winner this season in the third period against the Kraken.
Pastrnak, who leads Boston with 22 goals, bookended the scoring with power-play tallies in the Bruins' first-ever game against Seattle. Taylor Hall also scored.
Like the rest of his Boston teammates, the 36-year-old Bergeron will get back to business against a formidable foe. Tuesday's game is the middle of a three-game homestand for the Bruins, who are 8-3 in their last 11 games in Boston.
The Penguins are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games by following a six-game winning streak with four straight losses before the All-Star break.
Pittsburgh placed forward Evgeni Malkin in COVID-19 protocol and subsequently recalled forwards Michael Chaput and Valtteri Puustinen from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday.
Jake Guentzel, a first-time All-Star who is in the midst of his fifth straight 20-goal season, assisted on all three Penguins goals in a Feb. 1 overtime loss to Washington. Bryan Rust scored twice in the 4-3 setback.
Guentzel and goaltender Tristan Jarry helped the Metropolitan Division emerge with the All-Star Game victory, claiming a share of the winning team's $1-million prize. Jarry was a second-time All-Star.
"Winning (was the best part)," Guentzel said. "We get to go home with some money. And it was just a good event and a good weekend overall. Just to be able to meet new people and just to experience Vegas for the All-Star Game was special."
Rust was named the NHL's Third Star of the Month of January, leading the league with 1.91 points per game and 10 power-play points.
The season series between the teams will continue Apr. 16 in Boston and Apr. 21 in Pittsburgh.
--Field Level Media