Hurricanes at Bruins preview

HURRICANES (16-10-1) at BRUINS (19-3-5)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NESN, FS-CR, NHL.TV

The Bruins, who are 8-0-3 in their past 11 games and are the only team in the League without a regulation home loss this season (11-0-4), swept the Hurricanes to advance to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
Goalie Jaroslav Halak will start for Boston and play his 500th NHL game.
The Hurricanes, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Saturday, will look for their second straight win and their fourth in six games (3-0-2).

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in his past 15 games.
Bruins forward David Pastrnak has 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in his past eight games. He leads the NHL with 25 goals in 27 games.

They said it

"It's another game, but it's got a little more juice to it probably just based on last year and the fact that they're top dogs. It's a regular-season game we have to win. You look at where they are, they're the best team in the League. That, to me, is what's going on this year. Obviously last year, they were the best team against us too. It's going to be a big task, and we know it." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour
"They play hard, they're a relentless team, we saw it in the playoffs and they're a young team with a lot of skill and they've got some guys playing really right now. And obviously a well-structured team, they present plenty of challenges, I think it will be a great game." -- Bruins forward Sean Kuraly

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Jordan Staal -- Warren Foegele
Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Brock McGinn -- Clark Bishop -- Jordan Martinook
Ryan Dzingel -- Lucas Wallmark
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Joel Edmundson -- Brett Pesce
Jake Gardiner -- Haydn Fleury
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Petr Mrazek
James Reimer
Scratched:None
Injured:Erik Haula (knee), Martin Necas (lower body)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- David Krejci -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- Charlie Coyle -- Danton Heinen
Anders Bjork -- Sean Kuraly -- Chris Wagner
Joakim Nordstrom -- Par Lindholm -- David Backes
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Connor Clifton
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched:Brett Ritchie, Steven Kampfer
Injured: Patrice Bergeron (lower body), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Kevan Miller (knee)

Status report

The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate but could dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Bergeron, who has missed the past four games, skated before practice and remains day to day. … Moore, who hasn't played this season, could be available against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

Stat pack

Staal is three assists from 300 in the NHL. … Krejci has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games and is one goal from 200 in the NHL.