The Boston Bruins have started to click better offensively, and they’ll be looking to clinch the two-game season sweep over the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – The Boston Bruins are set to host the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden on Monday in their second and final matchup of the season.
The Bruins won the previous matchup 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 13, with Charlie McAvoy scoring the winner. Boston has won three of its past four games, scoring four or more goals in each win.
“That’s the style that we want to play,” McAvoy said after Monday’s morning skate. “We want to try and build and obviously have consistency in getting points and trying to win in regulation, so it’s been good. It’s been good to see our game this last little bit.”
Charlie Coyle was not at morning skate because he was “slightly under the weather,” but Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he expects him to play on Monday. The rest of the lineup will remain the same from last game, including all six defensemen, but Jeremy Swayman will rotate in at goalie after Linus Ullmark started the last game.
That means deadline acquisition Andrew Peeke will have to wait to make his Bruins debut, but Montgomery said he wants him to get more practices under his belt before throwing the 25-year-old defenseman into the fire.
“He’s gonna get it because he’s an important piece and we got to get him acclimated and assimilated to how we play and get him comfortable,” Montgomery said.
However, Montgomery also stressed that the defensemen remaining in the lineup have earned their right to stay in. Below is how the team lined up at Monday’s skate:
Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle* - Jake DeBrusk
Danton Heinen - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk - Morgan Geekie - Trent Frederic
Jakub Lauko - Jesper Boqvist - Justin Brazeau
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Mason Lohrei - Kevin Shattenkirk
Jeremy Swayman
*Coyle was not present on Monday, but he’s expected to take his normal center spot between Marchand and DeBrusk against St. Louis.
Five Things to Know About the Blues:
- St. Louis has lost eight of its past 11 games (3-7-1).
- The Blues have the seventh-lowest scoring offense (2.75 goals per game), but are middle of the pack in scoring defense (3.13 goals allowed per game, 18th).
- The Blues have the seventh-worst power play in the NHL (16.8%), but have succeeded at a 23.2 percent clip since Jan. 20, which ranks 11th-best in that time span.
- Joel Hofer is expected to start in goal. He has a .910 save percentage and 2.88 goals against average in 23 games.
- Robert Thomas is the team’s leading scorer with 69 points (20 goals, 49 assists) in 64 games. He’s 21 points clear of the next-highest scorer, Pavel Buchnevich (24 goals, 24 assists).
Other Links: