Bruins, Rask Streaking, Preview vs. Coyotes

The Boston Bruins (33-10-12, 78 points) look to extend their win streak to six games as they host the Arizona Coyotes (27-22-7, 61 points) in a matinee at TD Garden today.

Puck drop is set for 3 pm on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Can Bruins Continue Domination Over Coyotes?

The last time the Bruins lost to the Coyotes, October 9, 2010, in Prague,  they went on to win the 2011 Stanley Cup so maybe with another game tomorrow against the Red Wings in Detroit, they should just mail it in, save their energy and make up for it in June? All kidding aside, the Bruins have absolutely dominated the Coyotes since then and are riding a 15-game win streak against the Desert Dogs. The first meeting this season between the two clubs was a perfect example of how the B’s just have the Yotes’ number. On October 5, Jaro Halak made 34 saves and Brad Marchand scored the game’s only goal 18:41 into the first period as the Bruins came away with their first win of the season in a 1-0 shutout.

Brandon Carlo Out

The Bruins will be without their best shutdown defenseman, Brandon Carlo Saturday as he attends to family matters back home in Colorado. He will rejoin the team on Sunday in Detroit when the Bruins play the Red Wings in another matinee at noon. John Moore will drawback in and play his first since January 19. He has been a healthy scratch for the last five games, thanks to the emergence of rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.

Rask Looks To Keep The Home Cooking Going

With his 25-save shutout in a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks this past Tuesday, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask improved to 11-0-6 at TD Garden this season and tied Gilles Gilbert (16-0-1 in 1973-74) for the Bruins franchise record for home point streak from the start of the season. Rask is 19-4-6 with a 2.15 GAA and .929 save percentage overall this season. His last loss was a 2-1 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 2 and his last loss in regulation was a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 12.

#Chara1500

The Bruins will honor their captain Zdeno Chara prior to the game for playing in his 1000th game as Bruin and 1500th game overall this season. The latter occurred on the road back on November 5 in Montreal and ironically Canadiens fans at the Bell Centre that night gave their once hated nemesis a standing ovation.

The former took place on the road January 13 against the Flyers in Philadelphia. So today, Bruins fans will get the chance to show their gratitude to the future hall of famer who has been captain of the Bruins since the 2006-07 season and helped bring the organization it’s first Stanley Cup in 39 years back in 2011.

Boston Bruins Lines

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Karson Kuhlman
Sean Kuraly – Charlie Coyle – Anders Bjork
Anton Blidh – Par Lindholm – Chris Wagner

Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug – John Moore
Matt Grzelcyk – Jeremy Lauzon

Tuukka Rask

Bruins lines are subject to change. Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper-body) remain on IR. Clifton and Joakim Nordstrom (allergy illness) both skated Friday but remain out of the lineup. The latter is a possibility for tomorrow’s game at Detroit.

Arizona Coyotes

Taylor Hall – Christian Dvorak – Connor Garland
Lawson Crause – Derek Stepan – Phil Kessel
Clayton Keller-Nick Schmaltz-Vinnie Hinostroza
Carl Soderberg-Brad Richardson-Christian Fischer

Jacob Chychrun-Alex Goligoski
Jordan Oesterle-Nicklas Hjalmarsson
Aaron Ness-Ilya Lyubushkin

Antii Raanta

Blackhawks lines against the Bruins are subject to change. Defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower-body) remains out and is day-to-day and Jason Demers is on injured reserve with oblique muscle tear.