Bruins at Blackhawks preview

BRUINS (32-10-12) at BLACKHAWKS (25-21-7)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS

The Bruins, first in the Atlantic Division, have outscored opponents 15-4 in their past four games and are 8-2-1 in their past 11.
The Blackhawks have lost two of their past three games (1-1-1) after winning five in a row.
Boston defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 at TD Garden and Chicago lost 3-2 in overtime to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. The Blackhawks are an NHL-best 9-1-0 in the second of back-to-back games. The Bruins are 3-3-1.

Players to watch

Bruins forward David Pastrnak has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past six games. His 38 goals are second in the NHL, two behind Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane had his point streak ended at 12 games (18 points; five goals, 13 assists) in the loss to the Wild.

They said it

"It's nice to start off that way after a long break and get a few wins under your belt. They're not really fluky either. We are doing the right things and that's a good sign coming out of the break." -- Bruins forward Charlie Coyle on Boston's winning streak
"Big game, good team against Boston [on Wednesday] and we're going to need to be ready." -- Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Karson Kuhlman
Sean Kuraly -- Charlie Coyle -- Anders Bjork
Anton Blidh -- Par Lindholm -- Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Jeremy Lauzon
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: Danton Heinen, John Moore
Injured:Connor Clifton (upper body), Kevan Miller (knee), Joakim Nordstrom (medical condition)

Blackhawks projected lineup

Dominik Kubalik -- Jonathan Toews -- Drake Caggiula
Brandon Saad -- Kirby Dach -- Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat -- David Kampf -- Dylan Strome
Zack Smith -- Ryan Carpenter -- Alex Nylander
Duncan Keith -- Adam Boqvist
Erik Gustafsson -- Connor Murphy
Olli Maatta -- Slater Koekkoek
Robin Lehner
Corey Crawford
Scratched: Matthew Highmore, Nick Seeler
Injured:Calvin de Haan (right shoulder), Brent Seabrook (right shoulder/left and right hip), Andrew Shaw (concussion protocol)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate.

Stat pack

Halak is 8-2-3 with a 2.13 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and two shutouts against the Blackhawks. … Krug and Marchand each have five points (two goals, three assists) in their past five games. … Gustafsson has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past five games. … Toews has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past nine games and is one point from 800 in the NHL.