Jets at Bruins preview

JETS (20-10-5) at BRUINS (17-10-5)
7 p.m. ET; NESN, TSN3, NHL.TV

Forwards Brad Marchand, Ryan Spooner and Riley Nash missed the morning skate Thursday because of illness and will be game-time decisions for Boston, 5-1-1 in its past seven games and 11-3-1 in its past 15.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask will start; he's 6-0-1 in his past seven starts, and has not lost in regulation since a 4-2 defeat against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 26.
The Jets look to win their third straight after going 1-4-1 in their previous six games. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will make his third consecutive start for Winnipeg.

Players to watch

Jets forward Blake Wheeler, who played three seasons with the Bruins, has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. He's tied for second in the League in assists (32) with Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos and New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey.
Bruins forward David Pastrnak has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games, including a 12-game point streak, the longest in the League this season, which ended on Tuesday.

They said it

"We always have a tough time in this building, it's a tough place to come play, this team's playing really well. So … we've got to be ready for it." -- Jets forward Blake Wheeler on the Atlanta Thrashers/Jets going 1-10-3 in their past 14 visits to Boston
"I thought we tried to extend leads, had opportunities to do that, just didn't finish. I think again we hit three posts, so we're around the net, so hopefully we'll start finishing a few of those." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on what the Bruins have to do better after defeating the Sabres 3-0 (two empty-net goals) on Tuesday

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Ben Chiarot -- Tucker Poolman
Connor Hellebuyck
Steve Mason
Scratched: Shawn Matthias, Marko Dano, Julian Melchiori
Injured: Dustin Byfuglien (lower body), Tobias Enstrom (lower body)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- David Krejci -- Anders Bjork
Danton Heinen -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Paul Postma, Frank Vatrano, Colby Cave
Injured:Adam McQuaid (broken fibula), Peter Cehlarik (lower body), David Krejci (upper body)

Status report

Krejci will miss his third straight and is day-to-day. … The Bruins are waiting for McQuaid to get more practice time before taking him off injured reserve. ... Cave, a center, was recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League. He has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 27 games. If he plays it would be his NHL debut.

Stat pack

Ehlers has six goals in his past seven games. … Laine has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past 10 games. … Heinen has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak.