Bruins at Wild preview
Boston seeks third straight win; Parise, Minnesota 3-1-0 in past four
by Jessi Pierce / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
BRUINS (30-10-12) at WILD (23-21-6)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, NESN, NHL.TV
The Game
The Boston Bruins look for their third straight win when they visit the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.
The Bruins, who defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Friday, are 6-2-1 in their past nine games.
Minnesota will play its first game since a 4-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 22 following the NHL All-Star break and their League-mandated five-day break. The Wild are 3-1-0 in their past four games after going 1-5-1 in their previous seven and play seven of their next eight games at home.
Players to watch
Bruins forward David Pastrnak has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in his past 19 games.
Wild forward Zach Parise has six points (five goals, one assist) in a five-game point streak.
They said it
"We're focused on putting in the work and getting results. … we're not going to be satisfied until we're the best team we're capable of." -- Bruins forward Anders Bjork
"Well, always the same challenge. (Boston is) one of the top five teams in the League. … They're solid from top to bottom, and they can skate, and they'll have a game under their belt, so it's not an easy task, but every team is saying the same thing. … So you just have to play the right way, and simplify your game in a game like tomorrow and outwork them. It's as simple as that." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
Bruins projected lineup
Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Karson Kuhlman
Anton Blidh -- Charlie Coyle -- Anders Bjork
Joakim Nordstrom -- Par Lindholm -- Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Jeremy Lauzon -- Matt Grzelcyk
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: John Moore, Sean Kuraly, Dan Vladar, Danton Heinen
Injured: Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body)
Wild projected lineup
Zach Parise -- Eric Staal -- Mats Zuccarello
Jason Zucker -- Victor Rask -- Kevin Fiala
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
Jordan Greenway -- Mikko Koivu -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy -- Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Nick Seeler, Ryan Donato, Brad Hunt
Injured: None
Status report
Heinen, a forward, is a game-time decision. … Minnesota held an optional skate.
Stat pack
The Bruins are 6-2-2 against Central Division opponents this season, and 11-3-3 against the Western Conference. … Staal has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Minnesota has five power-play goals in their past three games and 10 in their past 10 games. … The Wild play nine games at home in February, the most in any month in team history.