The Boston Bruins will head into the All-Star break with a short two-game road trip, and the first test is Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars.
The top storyline is Tyler Seguin, Boston’s first-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft, playing against his former teammates for the third time since he was traded to Dallas in July 2013.
Seguin had two assists for the Stars in two games versus the Bruins last season. He enjoyed a stellar 84-point 2013-14 campaign, and he’s on pace for an even better scoring mark this season with 52 points (second-most in the league) and a league-leading 28 goals (tied with the New York Rangers’ Rick Nash).
The Stars are fighting for a wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference and enter Tuesday on a two-game win streak. Seguin tallied a goal and an assist in both games.
Here’s a quick preview of Bruins-Stars.
TV, Radio Information: NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub
Season Series:Â First meeting
Record: Boston (24-16-6, fourth in Atlantic); Dallas (21-17-7, fifth in Central)
Bruins Player To Watch: Expect to see a motivated Loui Eriksson — the best player Boston acquired in the Seguin trade — on Tuesday night. Eriksson has consistently been healthy this season after a concussion-plagued 2013-14 campaign and ranks third on the Bruins with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 45 games. He also has points in three of his last four games.
Eriksson has helped drive puck possession, too, with a 55.02 Corsi-for percentage at even strength. That’s the fourth-best mark among Bruins forwards. It should be noted that two of the players ahead of him, Reilly Smith and Brad Marchand, have their possession numbers bolstered by regularly playing with Patrice Bergeron.
Stars Player To Watch: Jamie Benn might not be underrated anymore after winning Olympic gold with Team Canada in 2014 and tallying 79 points in 81 games last season, but the Stars captain still doesn’t receive enough praise for his performance.
“(Benn is) a great two-way player,” Pittsburgh Penguins star and Canadian teammate Sidney Crosby told Sports Illustrated in October. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s tough. When you talk about top players, not necessarily right away his name always come up, but I think he definitely deserves to be there.”
Benn has five points in his last five games, including a three-assist effort Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Key Stat For Bruins: After showing great improvement on the power play in the time since David Krejci and Zdeno Chara returned to the lineup from injuries, the Bruins have gone 0-for-8 with the man advantage over the last three games. Boston was able to tally just two shots on goal in three power-play opportunities in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
That said, don’t be surprised if the Bruins experience a power-play breakthrough Tuesday because the Stars rank 24th in the NHL in penalty killing,
Key Stat For Stars: Dallas has one of the most high-powered offense that Boston will see all season. Seguin and Benn lead the team in scoring with 52 and 40 points, respectively, but the Stars’ offense also features talented top-six forwards such as center Jason Spezza and right winger Erik Cole.
Dallas has eight players with 20-plus points and ranks third in goals scored per game.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
