The Boston Bruins have a short turnaround as they visit the St. Louis Blues for a Sunday afternoon matinee. Both clubs will be playing on the back end of back-to-back weekend sets. On Saturday (April 1), the Bruins picked up a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
David Pastrnak notched his 14th career hat trick and has 56 goals this season. The Bruins’ power play also came to life, scoring two power-play goals on three opportunities. The Blues are reeling after taking a 6-1 beatdown at the hands of the Nashville Predators. Thomas Greiss was in the net for the Blues and gave up six goals on 35 shots.
Head-to-Head Matchup
The Bruins hosted the Blues at TD Garden on Nov. 7 in the cross-conference teams’ only other meeting this season. They won the game by a score of 3-1, with power-play goals coming from Jake DeBrusk and Patrice Bergeron. Trent Frederic added a goal late in the final frame to secure the victory. They outshot the Blues 37-27 in the first game, and as is expected in today’s game, Linus Ullmark and Jordan Binnington were the two starting goalies in the contest.
The Bruins and the Blues split last season’s series, with each team picking up one win apiece. Over their previous 10 regular-season meetings, the Bruins have a 7-3-2 record against the Blues and have outscored them 34-28 in that span. However, little stock should be considered, as both teams have had significant roster turnover in recent years.
Of course, we are reminded of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final whenever the Bruins and Blues meet up. St. Louis won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history in the seventh and deciding game of the series. Unfortunately, the Blues only have eight players remaining from their 2019 championship roster.
Players to Watch
With the Bruins having clinched the Presidents’ Trophy, they will be resting some of their players as the season winds down. Bergeron didn’t play on Saturday against the Penguins but could draw back into the lineup today. Brad Marchand has also sat out recently and expressed his displeasure with the Bruins’ scheduling this season. So it wouldn’t be a shocker to see the Bruins rest the 34-year-old winger for this afternoon’s contest.
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With four goals and 14 assists, David Krejci has averaged a point per game over 18 career games against the Blues. He picked up an assist on Pastrnak’s game-winning goal yesterday. He has 16 goals and 39 assists in 69 games this season. Speaking of Pastrnak, he now has the 60-goal milestone within reach after potting the hat trick on Saturday. His 56 goals trail only Bruins’ legend Phil Esposito as top goal scorers in single-season history for the Bruins. Esposito scored a franchise-record 76 and eclipsed the 60-goal mark three times with Boston.
Jordan Kyrou leads the Blues in goals and points this season with 34 and 69, respectively. He has picked up three assists in four regular-season games against the Bruins. Former Bruins defenceman Torey Krug will be playing against his former team for the fourth time. In his three previous games against the Bruins, he has picked up one goal and two assists.
Goaltending Matchup
With both teams playing for the second time in as many days, it’s expected that they will switch their starting goalies for today’s game. Ullmark will get the nod for the Bruins as he looks to build on his 37-6-1 record. He has given up just one goal in each of his last four starts. He has a .964 save percentage (SV%) over those four starts, and Bruins’ head coach Jim Montgomery opted to give him back-to-back starts last week while he gears up for a heavier workload during the playoffs.
Binnington is expected to start for the Blues. This season, he has a poor 25-25-5 record with a 3.40 goals-against average and a .891 SV%. He has had a rough season, making headlines for all the wrong reasons, even leaving Blues’ head coach Craig Berube to rip his antics, saying, “just play goal, stop the puck” earlier in the campaign.
Game Storylines
Frederic is from St. Louis, so you can expect some extra jump from the feisty Bruins’ third liner. But, of course, playing in front of your home crowd can always provide an extra boost. He is maturing into a dependable piece of the Bruins’ roster. He has scored 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points this season, all career highs for the 24-year-old.
Boston continues to close in on the NHL record of 62 wins in a season. Montgomery made some NHL history of his own yesterday, with 59 wins; he set the record for most wins by a head coach in their first season with a team.
The watch for 60 goals is on for Pastrnak. After his huge Saturday afternoon performance, he sits five goals behind Connor McDavid in the Rocket Richard Trophy race with six games left.