BOSTON — The Bruins’ top-six forward group will look a little different Monday night when they welcome the Detroit Red Wings to TD Garden.
Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic won’t play because of undisclosed injuries, B’s head coach Claude Julien announced after the team’s morning skate.
Julien used the following lines during the skate, which gives us a pretty good indication of what we’ll see at game time.
Brad Marchand-David Krejci-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Söderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Jordan Caron
Matt Fraser-Craig Cunningham-Seth Griffith
The most interesting line is the Marchand-Krejci-Smith trio. Marchand and Smith normally are centered by Bergeron, but they likely will move up to the top line with Krejci for Monday’s matchup.
As you might imagine, these two wingers rarely play with Krejci. Smith has played alongside the veteran center for just 14:50 of even-strength ice time this season, compared to 476:11 without. Marchand has skated with Krejci for 13:45 and 427:05 without.
“I think I’ve played with every other forward except (Krejci),” Smith said. “He’s a talented player and creates a lot of space, so it should be fun. … Hopefully it doesn’t take us too long to start clicking (Monday night).”
TV, Radio Information: NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub
Season Series: 1-1-0 (Detroit 2-1 on Oct. 9, Boston 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 15)
Record: Boston (18-15-3, sixth in Atlantic), Detroit (19-8-9, second in Atlantic)
Bruins Player To Watch: Loui Eriksson entered Saturday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets playing his best hockey as a Bruin, but he made no impact in the 6-2 loss with zero shots on goal in 18:53 of ice time. Bergeron and Lucic’s absence from the lineup Monday night will place more of a scoring burden on Eriksson, who’s been very inconsistent throughout his Bruins career. Before Saturday’s defeat, Eriksson tallied four goals and two assists in his last four games. That’s the Eriksson the Bruins need against a well-structured, well-coached Red Wings team that doesn’t give up many quality scoring chances.
Red Wings Player To Watch: Gustav Nyquist has emerged as a legitimate star and leads Detroit with 15 goals scored. He scored a highlight reel overtime goal Saturday against the Ottawa Senators and has four goals with one assist versus the Bruins since the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Expect the Swedish winger to play against the Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton pairing often.
[tweet https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/status/549632406505152512 align=”center”]
Key Stat For Bruins: Boston is 9-7-3 in games decided by one goal this season, good for the 17th-best win percentage in the league. Four of the six regular-season matchups between these teams since Detroit entered the Atlantic Division have been one-goal games or decided in a shootout.
“I think we always have good games against each other and they’re not dirty games,” Julien said. “They’re hard games. Again, they’re for the most part close games. There’s no doubt that there’s a mutual respect that exists between both teams and I feel there’s a rivalry, maybe not our top rivalry, but there’s a rivalry there for sure.”
Key Stat For Red Wings: Detroit is a difficult team to steal the puck from. They make quick, smart passes and don’t force plays. So, it’s no surprise they rank second in the league with a 53.6 even-strength Corsi-for percentage. The Red Wings had a 46-29 shot attempt edge against the Bruins on Oct. 9, a game in which the B’s also had just 17 shots on goal. Winning the puck possession battle Monday night will be difficult for Boston because Bergeron, who leads the team with a 60.68 CF% at even strength, won’t be in the lineup.
Thumbnail photo via Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
