Preview: Blues at Bruins

BLUES AT BRUINS

SO WE MEET AGAIN

The St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins will meet Saturday for the first time since their Stanley Cup Final matchup in what promises to be an emotional game for both teams.
Last June, at the end of an intense, back-and-forth seven-game series, the Blues hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time and then had a summer to remember - one that included a massive parade, a worldwide tour with the Stanley Cup, a championship ring ceremony, a banner-raising and even a visit to the White House.
The other team - the Bruins - had three months to think about what could have been.
"It's an empty feeling," Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy said after falling 4-1 in Game 7. "It's a long year. Someone had to win and someone had to lose and we came out on the wrong side of it. It's not the way you picture it. It's as simple as that."
The Blues had ranked last in the NHL standings on Jan. 2 (15-18-4, 34 points) and became the first team in the NHL's expansion era to sit last in the standings at any point after its 30th game to rebound and win the Stanley Cup. The Blues were also the first team from any of the four major North American sports leagues (NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL) to win a title after being in last place overall after one-quarter of the season.
The Blues' victory in Game 7 ended the longest wait in NHL history for a championship (51 season, 4,046 regular-season games, 4,437 total games). St. Louis also matched a League record with 10 road wins in a single postseason.

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES Brayden Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn and Alex Pietrangelo also scored as the Blues took a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Enterprise Center on Thursday night.
The Blues had three power-play goals in the game to secure their second consecutive win.
"After losing four in a row there (0-2-2), we've responded as a team," Schenn said. "We know what it takes to win. Sometimes it's hard and it's not flashy, but we know it's successful."
The Blues - who were already without Sammy Blais due to a day-to-day injury - lost Vladimir Tarasenko to an upper-body injury in the first period Thursday. Tarasenko did not accompany the team on the road trip to Boston and Detroit and will be re-evaluated next week.
BRUINS The Boston Bruins look like a team on a mission after falling one win short of claiming hockey's ultimate prize last season.
Through nine games in 2019-20, the Bruins have just one regulation loss and are 6-1-2.
Bruins forward David Pastrnak leads the League with 10 goals, while goaltender Tuukka Rask ranks first with a .944 save-percentage. In addition, the Bruins' power play ranks first in the League at 35.7 percent and the club has a League-best goals-against average (2.11).
Pastrnak is on a seven-game point streak in which he has accumulated 10 goals and seven assists. Brad Marchand has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) during an eight-game point streak.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues and Bruins will meet twice this season - Saturday and on April 2 at Enterprise Center.
Before winning the Stanley Cup Final in seven games, the Blues and Bruins split the regular-season series last season, with each team winning at home.
Including the Stanley Cup Final, the Blue are 5-3-0 in their last eight trips to TD Garden.

HOT VS. BOSTON (regular season)

Brayden Schenn has a three-game point streak (four assists)
Jaden Schwartz has nine points in his last eight games (four goals, five assists)
Justin Faulk has six points in his last five games (one goal, five assists)
Alexander Steen has six points in his last seven games (one goal, five assists)

THEY SAID IT

"It's doesn't feel real. It's absolutely incredible, I can't even explain. It feels like a video game we're in. It's what you dream of as a kid, posing with the Stanley Cup, getting to lift it. It's a special group. We're going to party hard."
- Brayden Schenn after winning the Stanley Cup in Boston

BLUE NOTES

Jaden Schwartz has recorded points in six consecutive games (one goal, six assists) and is two games shy of matching his career-high eight-game point streak. Schwartz has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 10 games this season… Brayden Schenn ranks fourth in the League with eight goals... Without Tarasenko,
Oskar Sundqvist is expected to start Saturday's game on the first line
with Schenn and Schwartz.