Need to Know: Bruins at Rangers

NEW YORK - The Bruins will play their fifth straight road game on Wednesday night as they open up a three-game trip against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Boston has been off since Friday when they closed out their last road swing with a win over the Flyers in Philadelphia.
"I think our guys have played well in either spot," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said when asked how the team has adjusted to the road-home split so far this season. "At the end of the day, it's quiet in every building. There's really no one around, you go about your business. So far, so good."
Here's everything else you need to know ahead of Wednesday's 7 p.m. puck drop on NBC Sports Network and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

DeBrusk, Grzelcyk A Go

The Bruins will have some reinforcements for their tilt against the Blue Shirts, as Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk are both set to make their returns to the lineup.
"Grizz and Jake were good this morning, they'll be in tonight," said Cassidy. "A full complement of players, other than [Ondrej] Kase....a lot of depth in your lineup, especially in these COVID times, you never know what's gonna happen."
DeBrusk was playing with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron when he was injured on Jan. 26 against Pittsburgh, but with David Pastrnak now back, the winger will shift to his natural left side to skate with Charlie Coyle and Anders Bjork.
"I thought he was coming around, playing better," Cassidy said of DeBrusk, who has an assist and a shootout winner in six games this season. "Little inconsistent to start the year, unfortunately got hurt playing on [the top] line…at this juncture of the season, we've moved some people around. I think Jake is used to that, he's played with [David Krejci], he's played with Coyle, a little bit with Bergy and March.
"For him, it's more finding his game, worry about himself, not worry about who his linemate is. Hopefully that's his attitude tonight to get his game back where it needs to be."

Studnicka to Providence

Jack Studnicka is also on the mend after missing the last four games with an injury, but the rookie forward will not be with the big club for the road trip. Studnicka is in Providence Bruins and is likely to play in the P-Bruins game against Hartford on Thursday.
"He skated with us [on Tuesday], felt good. We wanted to see how he was this morning," said Cassidy. "We decided he wouldn't be in the lineup tonight so let's get him integrated into their group down there which would be better for him…we'll get through our game tonight and see how we do health-wise and then we'll make decisions going forward."
Studnicka picked up one goal in six games, playing exclusively on the wing, a position he is still adjusting to at the professional level. The 21-year-old, who is a natural center, will likely continue to see time on the wing in Providence to continue getting acclimated to the rigors of playing along the wall.
"Played well with us here. Got injured, which is unfortunate," said Cassidy. "Some of that is he hadn't played much on the walls, so there's a little bit of a learning curve there. We want to make sure that we don't put him in a bad spot. It's just, down the middle of the ice, we're solid. That's probably his opportunity here and trying to do the best for him to prepare him so when he goes back into our lineup he can be at his best or close to it."

Opposing View

The Rangers are 4-5-2 this season. Their 10 points are tied with Buffalo and New Jersey for the fewest in the East Division. New York is paced offensively by Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin, who has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points, which is seven more than the next highest total on the Rangers roster (Pavel Buchnevich).
The Rangers have not allowed a power play goal in each of the last four games (15-for-15) and are 18-for-19 (94.7%) over last five games.

By The Numbers

• Brad Marchand is three goals short of his 300th NHL goal. He would be just the seventh player in Bruins history to reach that mark behind Johnny Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Rick Middleton, Ray Bourque, Patrice Bergeron, and Cam Neely.
• Marchand has 6-6-12 totals in his last eight games. Charlie McAvoy has 1-9-10 totals in his last seven games (a career-best assist and point streak), while David Pastrnak has 5-3-8 totals in his four games played this season. David Krejci has assists in each of his last four games.
• The Bruins visit the Rangers tonight in the first of eight games between these teams this season and the first of four to be played at Madison Square Garden.
• The Bruins and Rangers are meeting for the 653rd time in their histories with the Bruins having a 296-248-97-11 record and 2,052-1,897 scoring advantage in those games. Tonight's game is the 700th all-time meeting between New York and Boston with playoffs included.
• The Bruins are 124-145-55-4 vs. the Rangers all-time on the road with New York having a 1,001-918 scoring edge in those 328 contests.
• The Bruins are 4-0-1 in their last five games vs. the Rangers and are 5-1-2 in their last eight overall with their lone regulation loss in that span a 3-2 home setback on Jan. 19, 2019. They are 3-0-1 in their last four games in New York following a five-game losing stretch and they are 6-5-2 in their last 13 games at Madison Square Garden.

Wednesday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie - David Krejci - Craig Smith
Jake DeBrusk - Charlie Coyle - Anders Bjork
Trent Frederic - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Jeremy Lauzon - Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk - Brandon Carlo
Jakub Zboril - Kevan Miller
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak