The Boston Bruins have split the season series against the Detroit Red Wings so far (1-1), but they will get a key player back in the lineup on Friday afternoon in the rubber match.
BOSTON – The Boston Bruins return to TD Garden for a Black Friday matinee against the Detroit Red Wings at 1 p.m. The two Original Six teams split their previous two matchups this season, with Boston winning the first game 4-1 at home on Oct. 28, and Detroit taking the second 5-4 on Nov. 4 to hand the Bruins their first and only regulation loss to date.
Returning to the lineup for Boston is Morgan Geekie, who has missed the past six games with an upper-body injury. James van Riemsdyk will come out of the lineup, and Ian Mitchell rotates in on the defensive end for Kevin Shattenkirk.
With the Bruins on the first leg of a back-to-back, and about to play six games over the next 10 days, Montgomery is taking a deliberate approach when it comes to which players are stepping out of the lineup.
Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) is on track to return for Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers, but Montgomery could not confirm it on Friday morning.
As for Geekie, Montgomery anticipates him to spend more time at wing in the immediate future, because of how well he played with Matt Poitras at center, but he will still take face-offs when the opportunities arise.
“We’re just glad to have him back,” Montgomery said. “We thought he was playing really good hockey. Maybe the numbers weren’t there statistically, but we thought he was playing really well for us.”
Geekie has three points (one goal, two assist) in 12 games this season, and had not scored in his last six games before his injury. He’s spent the most time on a line with Poitras and Trent Frederic, and that line has been outshot 22-14 at 5-on-5 in 37:06 together this season. However, in 28:19 5-on-5 time with Poitras and Jake DeBrusk, their line has outshot opponents 18-15, and has combined for three goals while allowing zero.
Seeing how quickly Geekie will respond in his return will be key, especially since van Riemsdyk’s line with Frederic and Charlie Coyle will be broken up on Friday.
The Bruins are getting healthier, and while they haven’t missed a beat so far, they’re certainly thankful to be getting some depth back.
Five Things to know about the Red Wings:
- Since defeating the Bruins on Nov. 4, Detroit is 2-2-2. They shut out the New Jersey Devils 4-0 on Wednesday to improve to 9-6-3 on the season.
- They recently returned from the NHL Global Series Sweden. They lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in overtime on Nov. 16, and 3-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 17.
- Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin lead the team in scoring with 18 points apiece.
- Detroit boasts the sixth-best scoring offense in the NHL, averaging 3.61 goals per game.
- Ville Husso has missed the last three games following the birth of his child, but he returned to practice on Monday and could possibly make his return start on Friday.