The Boston Bruins hope to overcome Thursday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres when they host the Arizona Coyotes at 1 p.m. ET
BOSTON – The Boston Bruins take on the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday afternoon. You can read up on how the Bruins lined up during Friday’s practice here.
Before the game, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery announced Charlie McAvoy (upper body) will not play, and that Linus Ullmark will make his second consecutive start with Jeremy Swayman working back from an illness.
“There’s been significant improvement [with McAvoy], but we’re not risking him today,” Montgomery said, adding the defenseman is still day-to-day.
Ian Mitchell will step in for McAvoy, and the 24-year-old right-shot will play alongside Hampus Lindholm, whom he practiced with on Friday. Up front, Jakub Lauko slides out of the lineup as Matt Poitras returns from a planned scratch.
As for Swayman, he is healthy enough to back up Ullmark, but Montgomery acknowledged that he has the luxury of waiting for him to be 100 percent before forcing him back in the lineup.
Just like Boston, the Arizona Coyotes are coming into Saturday’s matchup after having a winning streak snapped. Prior to its 4-1 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, Arizona won five straight.
“They transition really well, they defend really hard,” Montgomery said of the Coyotes. “They’re not giving up odd-man rushes. They’re very disciplined and very well-coached.”
Five Things to Know About the Coyotes:
- The Coyotes have the 10th-best scoring defense in the NHL, allowing 2.88 goals per game.
- Goalie Connor Ingram has the fourth-best save percentage in the league (.925), falling just behind Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (.932) and ahead of Linus Ullmark (.918).
- Liam O’Brien leads the NHL with 66 penalty minutes. Tampa Bay’s Austin Watson ranks second with 60.
- Clayton Keller leads the team with 24 points in 25 games. Michael Carcone leads Arizona with 12 goals on a league-best 32.7 shooting percentage.
- The Coyotes rank in the top half of the NHL in both special teams categories. Their power play is converting at a 25.9% clip (7th), while the penalty kill has succeeded 81.2% of the time (t-12th).