Less than 24 hours after their comeback from a three-goal deficit and subsequent overtime loss to the Washington Capitals, the Boston Bruins will try to do something they have not done since 1998: beat the Colorado Avalanche at TD Garden.
Mired in a 10-game losing streak to the Avs in Boston -- the B's have gone 0-8-1-1 against Colorado over that stretch -- it's been so long since the B's beat the Avs in town that the building was called the FleetCenter when they did.
It's been so long since the B's beat the Avalanche in Boston that when they last did, Donald Trump was too busy starring in Sabrina: The Teenage Witch and Spin City to tweet mean things as the President-elect of the United States. And when the Bruins last beat the Avalanche in the Hub, it was Anson Carter that scored two goals on Patrick Roy en route to the victory. So, yes, it's been a little bit.
On a non-18-year home losing streak, the Bruins come into this game with points in six straight contests -- they're 4-0-2 over that stretch -- and have outscored their opponents 17-to-12 over that span. What's worked for the Bruins over that stretch according to head coach Claude Julien has been their 'no quit attitude', which was undoubtedly on display in Wednesday's game.
Anton Khudobin gets the call in net for the Black and Gold. '
Khudobin has stopped all but three of 59 shots thrown his way since returning from an upper-body about two weeks ago, and enters play with a win and .921 save percentage in three home games this season. He has one win in two career games against the Avalanche.
Colorado counters with Calvin Pickard.
A loser in three of his last four contests, the former 49th overall pick from the 2010 draft comes into this start with four wins and a .920 save percentage in seven starts.
This will be his first career game against the Bruins.
The Bruins won the prior head-to-head between these two by a 2-0 final on Nov. 13.