Need to Know: Bruins at Red Wings

BostonBruins.com –– It does not get much closer than this.

The Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings sit at fourth and fifth place in the Atlantic Division, respectively, and are each holding onto a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 84 points apiece.

The two Original Six clubs will face off on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena to battle for two more all-important points in the playoff push.

“You love it. We want to be in that spot, and guys worked very hard to be in that spot, too. We better enjoy it. So far, I feel the guys enjoy it, too. Even in close games, we feel really comfortable,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “That’s on my players. Being in this building, too, it’s something special as well. Playing against a good team. Should be a good one tonight.”​

The 8 p.m. puck drop marks the fourth and final time the teams will meet this regular season. The Bruins beat the Red Wings 3-2 on Nov. 29 and 3-0 on Jan. 13; they lost 5-4 on Dec. 2.

“They’re a good team. It showed in the standings, it showed in our pre-scout, it showed every time we played against them. It is always very tight games,” Sturm said. “I expect that again tonight. Very good structured team with good special teams. The details will matter tonight.”  

Sturm said there will be no lineup changes for the Bruins.

Wait, There’s More

• Jeremy Swayman will start in net for Boston. The goaltender last played on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, making 23 saves in the win at TD Garden. Swayman has a 2.73 goals against average and a .907 save percentage through 46 games. He has started in all three of the Bruins’ previous matchups against Detroit this year.

• Lukas Reichel posted two points (one goal, one assist) in his Bruins debut on Thursday. The 23-year-old forward was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline and was recalled from Providence on Wednesday. Reichel remains in the lineup and will continue to skate with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie.

• The second line of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson continues to be a consistent producer for Boston. Each player logged two points on Thursday; Zacha and Arvidsson both scored off Mittelstadt’s assists. Zacha and Arvidsson enter Detroit on four-game point streaks, and Mittelstadt has a two-game point streak.

Opposing View

• Detroit most recently beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena. J.T. Compher, Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp scored in the win, and netminder John Gibson made 32 saves. The Red Wings have won two of their last five games heading into Saturday against the Bruins.

• DeBrincat leads Detroit with 72 points (34 goals, 38 assists) through 69 games. The 28-year-old forward has been skating on the first line with Compher and Patrick Kane. DeBrincat is also on the first power-play unit and has a team-high 12 goals on the man advantage. The Red Wings’ power play is ranked 14th in the league at 21.7%.

• James van Riemsdyk spent the 2023-24 season with the Bruins. The 36-year-old forward signed with Detroit as a free agent in July and has 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) through 60 games this season. van Riemsdyk is projected to be on the fourth line alongside Sheldon Dries and Dominik Shine.