Bruins Practice Notes: B’s Prepared For Tough Week vs. Conference Opponents

WILMINGTON, Mass. — There’s a higher level of confidence throughout the Boston Bruins’ locker room as the team currently has a three-game win streak.

Despite the positive results over the last two weeks, highlighted by a seven-game point streak, the Bruins know this week’s schedule is full of challenges.

The B’s play the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, host the surging New York Rangers two days later and finish the homestand Saturday against an improved and healthier Columbus Blue Jackets squad.

“(The Lightning are) playing great this year and we know it’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. “We’ve played pretty decent the last few games and we’re looking forward to it.

“There are definitely a few big tests for us, and we’ll kind of be able to judge ourselves against these teams. We really need these points and at this point of the season we can’t give up any points at all.”

There weren’t any changes to the top two lines from Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Here’s the complete list of lines and pairings from Monday’s practice.

Brad Marchand-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Milan Lucic-Patrice Bergeron-Daniel Paille
Reilly Smith-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Jordan Caron/Chris Kelly-Gregory Campbell-Craig Cunningham

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask, Niklas Svedberg

The Bruins also worked on their power-play schemes and used the following units for most of the drills.

Up front: Carl Soderberg-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson
At the points: Reilly Smith-Dougie Hamilton

Up front: Zdeno Chara-David Pastrnak-Milan Lucic/Brad Marchand
At the points: David Krejci-Torey Krug

— Claude Julien didn’t have an update on veteran forward Simon Gagne, but he said “we should have some answers soon.” Gagne has been away from the team on an indefinite personal leave of absence. His equipment is still at his stall at Ristuccia Arena.

— Pastrnak scored twice Saturday, once at 5-on-5 and the other on the power play. He skated with Krejci and Marchand on the first line and received 16:08 of ice time. Pastrnak is able to play in nine games before the Bruins will have to decide to burn the first year of his entry-level contract or send him back to the Providence Bruins of the AHL.

“He’s played well,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. “I really liked his last game, not just because of the goals, but how he’s playing. He’s going to the net, going to the corners, doing a lot of things. Defensively you can see he understands what he has to do. He’s certainly treading in the right direction.”

— Bergeron was selected to the NHL All-Star Game for the first time Saturday. The game will take place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Jan. 25.

“I think Patrice has deserved that for a long time. A guy who has done so much, not just for his team but for the league. He was good enough to play in the Olympics and as good of a two-way player as you’ll find,” Julien said. “It’s nice seeing him being recognized.”

Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images