Need to Know: Bruins vs. Kraken

BostonBruins.com - The Bruins return to TD Garden from their three-game road trip on Tuesday night as they welcome the Seattle Kraken to Causeway Street for the inaugural meeting between the clubs. Boston, coming off a 6-1 setback to the Dallas Stars on Sunday night, will no doubt be looking to shore things up in the final game before the All-Star Break.
"You have to have a short memory," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "I think at times, good and bad, we've had that. There's been some nights we've played well, and we have to remind them why. And there's nights where we haven't been ourselves and we were able to put it behind us. At the end of the day, usually good leadership will get the guys' attention. You've got to be ready to go.
"Couple things like that are good enough to get you going in the right direction. That's been the case for us. Obviously, [Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron], those guys don't have off nights very often, so they take a lot of pride in their game. They usually get us going, they're the guys we rely on, and the other guys are good followers in that regard."
Here's everything else you need to know ahead of the 7 p.m. ET puck drop on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub:

Ullmark Goes Again

With Tuukka Rask still sidelined by a lower-body injury, Linus Ullmark will make his fourth consecutive start between the pipes. Rask has not yet resumed skating.
"It has dragged out," Cassidy said of Rask's injury. "Once he missed time on the road, we figured he wouldn't be practicing today or ready to play [on Tuesday]. That would be a big ask. Might as well take the break and get it sorted out. My guess is there's maybe some lingering effects from the surgery that are creeping in now that he's played more than he was practicing for that stretch.
"Only he knows how much it's preventing him from being 100 percent athletic or comfortable in the net. That's what's happened the last little stretch here."
Jeremy Swayman, who subbed in for Ullmark for the second half of the B's loss to Dallas, will once again back up.
"Obviously Swayman's here, he's done a good job for us," said Cassidy. "We're still solid in between the pipes…we had a start pegged in there on the road for Tuukka in either Arizona or Dallas. Then when Swayman came up, it was a little in between with the off days. He lost an opportunity just out of circumstance.
"With Ully, he's playing good hockey. I don't think anybody was great in Dallas so let's give him a chance to get back in the net. As I said, I don't think we were great in front of either goaltender so a bit of a reset. We have the break coming up so time to rest."

Praise for Brady

Patrice Bergeron was not much of an NFL fan growing up in Quebec. But as a 16-year-old, playing for his midget AAA team, Seminaire St. Francois, in 2002, Bergeron was well aware of what Tom Brady and the underdog New England Patriots accomplished in Super Bowl XXXVI against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams.
"It's funny because when I was 16 playing midget triple a back home, I think that was the year that they won their first Super Bowl with that field goal, [Adam] Vinatieri," said Bergeron. "It was a last second thing and I think they were - not underrated - but I think they were kind of the wild card to win it.
"For us back home, we kind of used to our advantage as motivation to push ourselves to be at our best because we also were in our playoff series. We were the underdog and kind of used that game to give us some motivation."
Less than two years later, Bergeron arrived in Boston and had a front-row seat for an unprecedented run of success that included six Super Bowl titles for Brady and the Patriots over the course of 20 seasons. With Brady announcing his retirement from football on Tuesday, the Bruins captain was asked what impressed him most about the four-time Super Bowl MVP.
"His competitiveness, the way that he approached the game, the way that he competed and wanted to win," said Bergeron. "His will to win was bar none, the best I've seen and witnessed. It was a pleasure to watch for 22 years. Amazing career and a well-deserved retirement."
Bergeron, now 36 and in his 18th season in the NHL, said he can certainly relate to the mental and physical challenges of a player whose career is winding down, though he added that his focus and commitment remains on the Black & Gold.
"I think that's it's always that thing that you want to make sure you're fully committed to playing the game at a high level and the right way," said Bergeron. "I think especially as a leader, you want to do that and make sure you're at the best of your abilities for your teammates and make sure you create a bond and create something to be successful and winning ultimately. I think that's what he's been able to do throughout his career and kudos to him for doing that for such a long time."

Opposing View

The Kraken have begun their inaugural season with a 14-26-4 record, which places them last in the Pacific Division (32 points). Seattle, in the midst of a four-game road trip, is coming off a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday night.
Jared McCann paces the Kraken in goals (18) and points (28), while Jordan Eberle (12-13-25), Yanni Gourde (10-13-23), Alex Wennberg (4-17-21), and Jaden Schwartz (6-14-20) round out Seattle's top five scorers.
The Kraken feature a number of old friends, as former Bruins Ryan Donato (9-7-16), Marcus Johansson (5-10-15), and Jeremy Lauzon (1-4-5) have seen regular playing time. Karson Kuhlman, out with an upper-body injury, also recently joined the group after being claimed off waivers from the Bruins earlier this month. Former Providence Bruins head coach Jay Leach serves as an assistant coach for the Kraken.
Chris Driedger will get the start against the Bruins. He has a 3-6-0 record with a 3.18 goals against average and .896 save percentage this season.

Wait, There's More

-- Craig Smith will likely start the night back alongside Bergeron and Brad Marchand on the B's top ling as Cassidy looks to return to the lines that helped the Bruins to an 11-4-1 record in January. With Erik Haula sidelined by COVID-19, Tomas Nosek will slide up to be the second-line center between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak.
"Today we're moving some pieces around, but we should get back to the consistent lines we had before [Haula went into protocol]," said Cassidy. "It's a matter of best fit for Bergy and March - is it Smith? Can they pull [Oskar] Steen along? Smitty got a goal the other night playing with [Charlie] Coyle and [Jake] DeBrusk, a cycle play, something Bergy and March do well.
"Hopefully they're able to connect a little better on those plays. He'll toggle back and forth, hopefully complement whatever center he's with, play his game, get his pucks to the net and be good on the forecheck. That's where we are with Smitty."

-- Trent Frederic and Nick Foligno, both out with upper-body injuries, rejoined the team for morning skate as full participants, though they will not play against the Kraken. "Both skated today in a normal jersey, need to go through contact practice before they can come into the lineup," said Cassidy. "They're doing a little bit of that today. It's pregame skate so they don't get a lot of it but hopefully they clear that hurdle and wake up Wednesday] feeling good with the contact, no aftereffects and if that's the case we'll be looking at them coming out of the break. But neither guy will be available tonight."
-- The Bruins will host Hockey is for Everyone Night, pres. by TD Bank, on Tuesday night. Full details on the night's festivities
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Tuesday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Craig Smith
Taylor Hall - Tomas Nosek - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - Charlie Coyle - Oskar Steen
Anton Blidh - Steven Fogarty - Curtis Lazar
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Urho Vaakanainen
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman