The Bruins are back on home ice Saturday afternoon to begin a two-game homestand, and the matchup comes with a familiar Original Six feel. Boston will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the first of two holiday matinees between the clubs.
Boston enters at 9-4-1 and has won seven of its last 10, good enough to sit atop the Atlantic Division by a single point over the Montreal Canadiens, who play the Penguins on Saturday night. The Bruins have dropped their last two, though, and both losses came with just one goal scored. Even so, Boston’s offense has been productive overall, ranking eighth in the NHL at 3.57 goals per game, while the defense has been stingy at 2.29 goals allowed per game, second-best in the league.
Chicago arrives in a rough stretch, having lost four of its last five. At 4-9-0, the Blackhawks sit 31st in the NHL and are one of only two teams without 10 points. They also remain the league’s lone club without a road win, sitting at 0-5-0 away from United Center.
Special teams have been another problem for the Blackhawks. Their power play is last in the league, with four goals on 40 chances, and they have scored two goals or fewer in each of their last five games. Their 2.08 goals per game also ranks 31st.
Boston handled Chicago well last season, going 2-0-0 in the season series. Fraser Minten scored the overtime winner in Boston, and Mason Lohrei scored twice in a 5-2 win in Chicago.
Jeremy Swayman is listed as the Bruins’ starting goalie, with a record of 7-3-1, a 2.35 goals-against average, and a .912 save percentage. His status is unconfirmed.
The Blackhawks are expected to counter with Spencer Knight, who is 4-7-0 with a 3.21 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. His status is also unconfirmed.
Chicago’s expected forward groups, based on its last game, are Roman Kantserov with Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen; Tyler Bertuzzi with Anton Frondell and Ryan Donato; Oliver Moore with Frank Nazar and Patrick Kane; and Cole Smith with Ryan Greene and Jordan Greenway. The defense pairs are Alex Vlasic with Ian Cole, Wyatt Kaiser with Artyom Levshunov, and Kevin Korchinski with Sam Rinzel.
On the special-teams side, Boston’s power play is clicking at 20.9 percent, which ranks 16th, while its penalty kill sits at 77.6 percent, 18th in the NHL. Chicago’s power play is at 10.0 percent, dead last, and its penalty kill is 78.0 percent, 17th.
The teams meet again on Friday, Jan. 1 in Chicago at 3:00 PM. Boston’s upcoming schedule after Saturday includes home games against Vegas on Monday, Nov.
2, Florida on Sunday, Nov. 8, Montreal on Thursday, Nov. 12, and Minnesota on Saturday, Nov. 14, with a road game at Pittsburgh on Thursday, Nov.
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