(Welcome to the TD Garden for tonight's game between the Boston Bruins and visiting Winnipeg Jets.)

Free Brad Marchand, the fans cry. But that won't change the status of the 23-year-old agitator. Beginning tonight, Boston's speedy two-way threat will sit out the first of five games by way of a suspension that was handed down to him from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan yesterday afternoon.

The suspension, which came as a result of No. 63's hit on Vancouver d-man Sami Salo, will force the Bruins to shuffle their lines over the next few games. Something that doesn't weigh on the mind of B's coach Claude Julien.

"One thing I’ll do is see how the game goes with certain guys in certain positions," Julien said to the media before tonight's game. "If it doesn’t go well I’ll just move guys around so it goes as well as the other lines."

Notable changes for tonight's battle against the Jets outside of the subtraction of Marchand includes a bump for Benoit Pouliot up to Boston's second line while Zach Hamill will find his way back into the line-up, skating on the third line.

(One Hamill note: The 8th overall pick from the '07 NHL Draft, Hamill will have to pass through waivers if the Bruins are to send him down this season as his call-up length has passed.)

Squaring off against the Jets in Boston for the final time this year, with one game left to be played between the two sides at the MTS Centre, Julien knows that these Jets aren't kidding around in 2011-12. "It probably gets overlooked because where they came from – they weren’t getting the same people who weren’t seeing them as much as they are now," Julien said. "The visibility of that club has improved a lot and people have been paying attention."

In net, the Bruins give the reins to Tuukka Rask. A winner of five straight contests, posting a .992 save-percentage over that stretch, the 24-year-old Rask's last loss came against the Jets, back on Dec. 6 in a 33-save loss. The Jets will counter with Ondrej Pavelec, who has a 3.31 goals-against-average in 10 career starts against Boston, but was pivotal in the aforementioned Jets win over the B's by way of a 39-save performance.

First Period

20:00 - Nice touch by Jets coach Claude Noel, who puts Blake Wheeler in the starting line-up. Wheeler's been on fire for the Jets as of late, and is tied for the team lead in points with 31.

18:18 - Boston's going on their first power-play of the night, as Andrew Ladd is called for holding. The B's were a woeful 0-for-7 on the man-advantage on Saturday.

16:00 - Nothin' doing for the B's power-play that time around.

14:03 - Chris Thorburn catches Shawn Thornton off guard and it's a breakaway for the Winnipeg bottom-sixer. But some contact from Dennis Seidenberg whistles for a penalty-shot. Rask says no, stoning Thorburn.

7:00 - The B's are really getting outworked by a feisty Jets club right now, need a smack in the mouth of sorts.

3:46 - Winnipeg forward Tanner Glass goes for a big hit on Joe Corvo behind the Bruins net but Corvo dodges him, and Glass smacks his head off the glass. Glass is bleeding, and will head off for some repairs.

3:07 - The Jets grab the lead! With traffic in front, a Zach Bogosian shot from the point finds its way through and it's 1-0 in favor of the 'Peg.

39.4 - Bruins tie it up. Nathan Horton buries a sweet feed from Milan Lucic. That's Horton's 13th of the year, and it's 1-1. A huge break for a Boston club that's been considerably outplayed in the second half of the first.

Thoughts after one...

Don't expect that Bogosian goal to remain his. While it's No. 4's fourth tally of the season, that one definitely appeared to be tipped by either Ladd or Wheeler. For Boston, the lucky break was certainly there with Horton's late-period tally, but it was a final ten to forget if you're in Black-and-Gold, as Winnipeg certainly seemed to control the pace of play.

Second Period

19:29 - Hey, that's a goal. Tobias Enstrom flicks it to the net, and Wheeler tips it home. With that goal, Wheeler now has points in eight of the last nine and takes the lead for most points among Winnipeg skaters.

16:55 - Bruins' Thornton is going off for illegal check to the head. It's a two minute minor, and while Thornton didn't appear to connect to the head, it definitely looked as if that's what he would've hit had he connected.

15:22 - Jets are going to have 28 seconds of a 5-on-3. Andrew Ference is the guilty party this time around, hooking Nik Antropov.

14:46 - Out of the box and it's a penalty shot for Shawn Thornton! This will be the first penalty shot of Thornton's career.

14:46 - And it's good! A nifty move from No. 22 and it's all tied up. Ask anyone and they'll tell you that Thornton, who's known more for his ability to pound faces in with his hands, actually has some soft hands.

8:49 - That's a softy, my goodness. Eric Fehr gets his first of the year (and first as a Jet), beating Rask through the wickets and it's 3-2.

3:30 - Ference will sit again -- somehow picking up a goaltender interference call despite being pushed into Pavelec by a Jets d-man. Not sure what Ference could've done on that one.

3:25 - Rask with a brilliant glove-save on Tim Stapleton's one-timer. Wow.

1:25 - B's kill off the penalty. Winnipeg now 0-for-3 on the man-advantage tonight.

Thoughts after two...

Something that's been masked by the winning ways of the Bruins? The ineffectiveness of Joe Corvo. Responsible for the turnover that led to the Jets' third goal, and with the puck bouncing off his skate and in, the hits just keep on comin' for the 34-year-old Corvo, who has just two points in the last seven (and a half) games.

One good note for the Bruins? The top-line is clicking, and it all begins with David Krejci, who's all nine of his face-offs on the night.

Third Period

19:52 - Bruins tie it up! A sweet spinning pass from Krejci finds Horton all alone in front of the net, and that's his second of the night, and 14th of the year. And we have a 19:52 long game on our hands.

19:50 - Krejci and Lucic will pick up assists on the goal. Each of 'em have multi-point nights.

16:54 - The kid's got some moves -- Tyler Seguin strikes on a partial breakaway and it's 4-3, Bruins. 17th goal of the year for No. 19, and the assist will go to Patrice Bergeron. Killer.

14:25 - Ladd going off. Interference on Bergeron and it's yet another Boston power-play on the way.

13:19 - The Bruins make it five, as Benoit Pouliot hacks away at a rebound before it trickles through. That'll go down as Pouliot's eighth of the year. He had 13 in 79 games last year for the Habs. Talk about a bargain.

12:00 - Thornton will a bounty of chances in front of the Winnipeg net. He can't get it through, and he's pissed. Slams his stick on the way off.

9:29 - Oh, that's a soft call. Adam McQuaid is heading off for interfering with Evander Kane. McQuaid shows his disapproval, but the Boston penalty-kill goes back to work.

6:55 - B's power-play going back to work, Randy Jones hauls Seguin down. Funny: Four years ago, Randy Jones was the biggest villain in Boston sports. Now? Completely and utterly irrelevant.

0.0 - B's hang on for the win, 5-3.

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