Need to Know: Bruins at Penguins

BostonBruins.com –– It is right back to work for the Boston Bruins.

After beating the Washington Capitals 3-1 on Saturday at TD Garden, the B’s are lacing it up for the second game of a back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. ET puck drop marks the third and final time the teams will meet this regular season. The Bruins earned a 2-1 win over the Penguins on Tuesday and a 1-0 win on Jan. 11.

“They’ve been a very good hockey team. They’ve been showing it all year long. Nobody is surprised anymore,” head coach Marco Sturm said of Pittsburgh. “They have speed, they have structure and they work. It was a handful in Boston the other day, and we expect the same type of game today.”

Boston sits in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 75 points. The team will now look for its first road victory since Jan. 17.

Wait, There’s More

• Joonas Korpisalo will start in net for Boston. The goaltender last played on Thursday against the Nashville Predators, making 23 saves in the loss. Korpisalo has a 3.20 goals against average and a .893 save percentage through 24 games this season.

• Mikey Eyssimont is back in the lineup in place of Alex Steeves, who played on Saturday against the Capitals. Eyssimont is projected to be on his regular third line with Fraser Minten and Morgan Geekie. The 29-year-old forward has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) through 48 games in his first year with the Bruins.

• Andrew Peeke and Nikita Zadorov remain on the third defensive pair together, a duo that has been getting more reps since Mason Lohrei moved to skate with Hampus Lindholm. Zadorov has 18 points (one goal, 17 assists) while averaging 21:23 of ice time per night; Peeke has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) while averaging 19:31 of TOI.

Opposing View

• The Penguins are also playing in the second game of a back-to-back; they fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson scored for Pittsburgh in the loss. Netminder Stuart Skinner made 12 saves. The Penguins are in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 76 points.

• Pittsburgh’s top two point-getters are both out of the lineup. Sidney Crosby is sidelined with a lower-body injury he suffered at the Olympics. Evgeni Malkin was suspended for five games on Friday for a slashing play in the Penguins’ game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Crosby has 59 points (27 goals, 32 assists); Malkin has 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists).

• There will be four former Bruins in the Penguins’ lineup: forwards Justin Brazeau and Noel Acciari, and defensemen Connor Clifton and Parker Wotherspoon. Brazeau has 30 points (16 goals, 14 assists) through 48 games this season and is projected to be on the second line.