Bruins at Blue Jackets preview
Boston can extend point streak to five; Merzlikins looks to stay hot for Columbus
by Craig Merz / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
BRUINS (27-8-12) at BLUE JACKETS (22-16-8)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, FS-O, NESN, NHL.TV
The Game
The Boston Bruins will try to extend their point streak to five games when they play the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.
The Bruins are 3-0-1 in their past four games following a 6-5 shootout loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday in which they had a three goal lead in the second period.
The Blue Jackets seek a point for the 16th time in 18 games. They are 11-2-4 in their past 17 games, including a 3-1-0 road trip that concluded with a 3-0 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Players to watch
Bruins forward David Pastrnak has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games and leads the NHL with 36 goals.
Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins is 5-2-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average, a .943 save percentage and one shutout in his past seven starts.
They said it
"It's a good thing when you have a game like last night where you can turn right back around and be right back at it and play a game." -- Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron
"I think we match up well. We kind of have the same style of play. We're big, physical, stingy in a lot of ways. They're a team we look forward to playing because it's a hard test." -- Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno
Bruins projected lineup
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Anders Bjork
Danton Heinen -- Charlie Coyle -- Brett Ritchie
Joakim Nordstrom -- Sean Kuraly -- Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
John Moore -- Steven Kampfer
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched: Matt Grzelcyk, David Backes, Par Lindholm
Injured: Connor Clifton (upper body), Kevan Miller (knee)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Gustav Nyquist -- Boone Jenner -- Nick Foligno
Emil Bemstrom -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Sonny Milano
Nathan Gerbe -- Alexander Wennberg -- Kevin Stenlund
Jakob Lilja -- Riley Nash -- Eric Robinson
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov -- David Savard
Scott Harrington -- Markus Nutivaara
Elvis Merzlikins
Matiss Kivlenieks
Scratched: Ryan MacInnis, Gabriel Carlsson
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Cam Atkinson (ankle), Josh Anderson (shoulder), Oliver Bjorkstrand (rib, oblique), Ryan Murray (lower body), Joonas Korpisalo (knee), Andrew Peeke (finger), Alexandre Texier (back), Dean Kukan (knee)
Status report
Rask will start after Halak played Monday. … Kampfer will take Grzelcyk's spot. … The Blue Jackets have no changes from their previous game.
Stat pack
The Bruins have scored a power-play goal in 14 straight games (16-for-50, 32.0 percent). They are the first NHL team to accomplish that feat since the Pittsburgh Penguins scored a power-play goal in 14 straight games from Oct. 5-Nov. 5, 2007. … Marchand has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. … DeBrusk has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … The Bruins are 4-0-2 in their past six road games. … Dubois has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 15 games. … Werenski has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in his past 11 home games, including five goals in his past two home games.