Preview: Bruins at Red Wings

BRUINS (23-19-5) at RED WINGS (19-19-6)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV

Bruins team scope

The Boston Bruins come to Detroit off a 4-0 loss against the New York Islanders on Monday. They have 51 points, putting them in second place in the Atlantic Division, but only one point ahead of the fourth-place Ottawa Senators. Coach Claude Julien gave the team Tuesday off before the trip to Detroit. "We looked tired Monday and we played tired, so it didn't make sense to make them practice," he said. "We were sharper this morning, but we won't know what is going to happen until the game starts." One of the players who could use an energy boost is forward David Pastrnak hasn't scored since Dec. 14, a span of 14 games. But Julien said he isn't concerned. "He's still getting points. He's got seven assists in seven games and he's playing hard," he said. "Kids have to work their way out of these slumps. I can encourage him, but he just needs one to go in."

Red Wings team scope

Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he doesn't want to mess with a successful system, so he used the same lines and defense pairs at the morning skate Wednesday that he used in a 6-3 defeat of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and a 1-0 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. The victories moved the Red Wings within six points of the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division, although there are three teams between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs. "That's definitely a good start, because those are both very good teams," center Justin Abdelkader said. "We really struggled for a while, especially at home, and now we've got to keep things going." Rookie goaltender Jared Coreau will start his third straight game after making 28 saves against the Penguins on Saturday and 18 saves for his second shutout of the season against the Canadiens on Monday. "It's a lot easier to get into a groove when you are playing on a regular basis, so this is great," he said.

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano -- David Krejci -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Ryan Spooner -- Riley Nash
Anton Blidh -- Dominic Moore -- Austin Czarnik
Zdeno Chara -- Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug -- Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow -- John-Michael Liles
Tuukka Rask
Zane McIntyre
Scratched:Jimmy Hayes
Injured:Kevan Miller (concussion), Colin Miller (lower body), Matt Beleskey (knee)

Red Wings projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Anthony Mantha
Thomas Vanek -- Frans Nielsen -- Andreas Athanasiou
Tomas Tatar -- Riley Sheahan -- Dylan Larkin
Drew Miller -- Luke Glendening -- Justin Abdelkader
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Alexey Marchenko -- Jonathan Ericsson
Xavier Ouellet -- Nick Jensen
Jared Coreau
Petr Mrazek
Scratched:Tomas Jurco, Steve Ott, Ryan Sproul
Injured: Darren Helm (upper body), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Jimmy Howard (knee), Niklas Kronwall (groin), Brendan Smith (knee)

Status report

Julien kept the same line combinations and defense pairs for the morning skate Wednesday that the Bruins used against the Islanders on Monday. Rask is expected to start in goal. He beat the Red Wings 1-0 in Detroit on Oct. 29. … Ouellet and Jensen are staying together on the third defense pair despite their lack of NHL experience. Ouellet came into the season with 30 NHL games, while Jensen made his League debut Dec. 20. "They don't have experience at this level, but they had a lot in the American [Hockey] League and they showed they can play," Blashill said. "They've done a nice job of building on that when we've needed them up here." Blashill said Helm is getting close to a return, but Kronwall and Smith are further away.

Who's hot

Marchand has eight goals and eight assists in his past 13 games. Krug has three goals and 14 points in his past 13 games. … Vanek has five goals and four assists in a six-game point streak. Coreau is 5-1-1 with a .911 save percentage and two shutouts in the first eight games of his NHL career.