Boston Bruins

Bruins at Stars Preview: Lines, Notes & How To Watch

Published

4 weeks ago

November 14, 2024

Following a monumental comeback win, the Boston Bruins arrive in Texas without a key member of their defense for a matchup with the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Here’s everything you need to know before puck drop.

Hampus Lindholm Out Weeks:

Hampus Lindholm is going to miss weeks of action after suffering a lower-body injury.

The Bruins defenseman exited during the first period and did not return on Tuesday night in St. Louis after blocking a shot while on the penalty kill.

Lindholm has been the most reliable player on the Bruins this season, posting seven points with three goals in 17 games and logging minutes on both the shorthanded and man-advantage units.

Injuries Have Bruins Walking A Thin Blue Line:

Losing Lindholm is bad enough on its own for the Bruins, but it is even more so with fellow defenseman Andrew Peeke already on the shelf with an upper-body injury.

Peeke has missed the last three games after getting hurt in Toronto on Nov. 5 and did not travel with the Bruins on this recent road trip.

Without two of their top six defenders, the Bruins are rolling with a thin blue line.

For reinforcements, the team called up Jordan Oesterle from AHL Providence on Wednesday and will have him skate on a pair with depth defenseman Parker Wotherspoon.

“He’s a veteran player who has played a lot of games in this league,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of Oesterle to reporters in Dallas this morning. “He knows our systems really well. He’s been doing down [in Providence]. His hockey sense is going to allow him to move pucks and jump and present those opportunities offensively and also kill plays defensively.”

Mason Lohrei will see an increased role as well, quarterbacking the second power-play unit. Forward Patrick Brown was also called up on Thursday but is not expected to play against Dallas.

Projected Lineup:

Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak

Marchand – E. Lindholm – Brazeau

Frederic – Coyle – Johnson

Beecher – Kastelic – Koepke

Zadorov – McAvoy

Lohrei – Carlo

Oesterle – Wotherspoon

Swayman

Korpisalo

Last Time Out:

The Bruins seemed to be headed for another deflating loss in St. Louis on Tuesday night, down 2-0 to the Blues at the end of the second period.

But rather than collapse in on themselves and possibly greater consequences than just losing a game, the Bruins found their resolve.

With goals from Morgan Geekie, Charlie McAvoy, and David Pastrnak, the Bruins came back by scoring three times in the third period.

“Lots of times, we’ve been in that situation and got stuck,” Geekie said following the game on Tuesday in St. Louis. “We’re going through this again game after game, but we had a willingness to compete and weren’t going down without a fight. We know in this room how good of a team we have. To fight back for that one means a lot for sure.”

It was an especially big night for Geekie himself, who scored his first goal of the season after sitting out the last three games as a healthy scratch.

But as a whole, the win showed there just may be something more to this Bruins team, as it was their first this season to come when trailing after two periods.

“Sometimes, you get down by a goal, or you make a bad play, and you start to deviate from the plan,” Brad Marchand told reporters in Dallas this morning. “Where we have success is always when we continue to build and not change our process. We have to continue to have the same mentality, compete, work hard, and chip away at the game. We do that, then, hopefully, we’ll put a good game together.”

The Opponent:

Coming off a 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, the Dallas Stars own a record of 9-5-0 but are just 5-5-0 in their last 10 games as they sit in third place in the Central Division.

Dallas is expected to start Jake Oettinger in goal tonight. In 10 starts, he is 7-3-0 with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.

Matt Duchene leads the Stars with 18 points and eight goals, while former Bruins top draft pick Tyler Seguin has 11 points with seven goals.

“He’s one of the more gifted players I’ve played with throughout my career,” Marchand said of Seguin. “What’s really impressed me with his game recently is his attention to his defensive game. He’s really detailed now in the defensive zone. He was one of those guys that cared about scoring more than the defensive side, but he’s really learned that he needs to be a really good two-way player and he’s turned into one.”

The Stars have converted on 19.2% of their chances power play chances (17th) and killed off 84.1% of their penalties (7th). They’re scoring 3.21 goals per game (13th) while surrendering only 2.36 (2nd).

The Bruins faced the Stars back on Oct. 24 at TD Garden, where they lost 5-2 after giving up three goals while on the penalty kill in the second period.

How To Watch:

Puck drop between the Bruins and Stars is slated for 8 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on NESN and streamed on NESN 360 or ESPN Plus for out-of-market viewers. 98.5 The Sports Hub will carry the radio broadcast of the game.