BOSTON — On Monday night, the Bruins will welcome to TD Garden one of the hottest teams in the NHL: the Edmonton Oilers.
Yes, you read that right.
The Oilers, who owned the NHL’s worst record heading into their previous meeting with the Bruins earlier this month, have won each of their last five games, beginning with with their 3-2 shootout win over Boston at Rexall Place.
“Thanks to us, I guess, (for getting) them going, right?” Bruins coach Claude Julien joked after his team’s pregame skate Monday morning. “So, we started them on that five-game winning streak. We’re hoping to end it.”
If Boston is to be the team that halts Edmonton’s streak, it cannot have a repeat of the teams’ first matchup, during which the Bruins tried and failed to outrace the young, skilled Oilers.
“I think we want to try to get away from the run-and-gun style,” winger Brad Marchand said Monday. “I think last time we played into their game a little too much. We traded chances, a lot of back and forth. And that’s not our game. We’ve got to try to get back to getting the puck in deep, try to keep it down low and be strong on it.”
The Bruins do have history on their side: The Oilers are 0-9-1 in their last 10 games at TD Garden and have not won in Boston since 1996.
Here are the expected lines and pairings for Monday’s matchup:
BOSTON BRUINSÂ (16-9-3)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey — David Krejci — Loui Eriksson
Frank Vatrano — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo — Max Talbot — Landon Ferraro
Zdeno Chara — Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg —Â Colin Miller
Torey Krug —Â Kevan Miller
Jonas Gustavsson
EDMONTON OILERSÂ (13-15-2)
Taylor Hall — Leon Draisaitl — Teddy Purcell
Jujhar Khaira — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks — Mark Letestu — Lauri Korpikoski
Luke Gazdic — Anton Lander — Iiro Pakarinen
Darnell Nurse — Andrej Sekera
Nikita Nikitin — Justin Schultz
Brandon Davidson — Eric Gryba
Cam Talbot
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
