The Pittsburgh Penguins enter, what is being considered, their first real test of the season on a five-game winning streak. That streak will be put to the test Tuesday night when they meet the Boston Bruins, who are on a three-game winning streak of their own. The Penguins most recently defeating the New York Islanders by the score of 6-1, and the Bruins are coming off a 3-2 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators.
When and where: Consol Energy Center (Pittsburgh, PA); 7:30 pm/est (Root Sports, NESN, NBC Sports Network, TSN)
Season records: Penguins (18-8-0; 36 pts.); Bruins (17-3-3; 37 pts.)
Season series: First meeting of the season.
Last meeting: The Penguins and Bruins last met on April 11, 2012 in Boston, in a game that saw Pittsburgh come out with a 5-3 victory. The Penguins were led by two goals from Sidney Crosby and three assists from Kris Letang. The Bruins were led by goals from Benoit Pouliot, Milan Lucic, and Rich Peverley. In a must-see goaltending matchup, Brent Johnson outperformed Marty Turco, stopping twenty-six of twenty-nine shots for his fifth win of the season.
Who to keep an eye on:
1. Tyler Seguin: After getting off to a slow start, Seguin has registered points in seven of his last ten games. He is working his way up the Bruins’ stat sheet, currently sitting fourth with nineteen points (8 goals, 11 assists). The second overall selection in the 2010 draft is part of a line with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, who combined are a plus-48 on the season.
2. Milan Lucic: Lucic sits right behind Seguin on the Bruins in scoring, but is more known for his physicality and agitation qualities. He will be running around getting in the faces of Pittsburgh top scorers, but will also be setting up shop in front of Marc-Andre Fleury looking for deflections and creating screens.
Former Penguin alert: D Andrew Ference
Injuries:
Penguins: C Evgeni Malkin (upper body)
Bruins: C Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome), C Chris Kelly (knee)
Projected lines:
Penguins (via penguins.nhl.com)
14 Chris Kunitz (A)-87 Sidney Crosby (C)-9 Pascal Dupuis
19 Beau Bennett-15 Dustin Jeffrey-18 James Neal
24 Matt Cooke-16 Brandon Sutter-48 Tyler Kennedy
10 Tanner Glass-46 Joe Vitale-27 Craig Adams
44 Brooks Orpik (A)-7 Paul Martin
58 Kris Letang-4 Mark Eaton
47 Simon Despres-2 Matt Niskanen
29 Marc-Andre Fleury
Bruins (via bruins.nhl.com)
17 Milan Lucic-46 David Krejci-18 Nathan Horton
63 Brad Marchand-37 Patrice Bergeron (A)-19 Tyler Seguin
29 Jay Pandolfo-49 Rich Peverley-38 Jordan Caron
20 Daniel Paille-11 Gregory Campbell-22 Shawn Thornton
33 Zdeno Chara (C)-55 Johnny Boychuk
27 Dougie Hamilton-44 Dennis Seidenberg
21 Andrew Ference-54 Adam McQuaid
35 Anton Khudobin
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