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After a three-game road swing that brought the Bruins back to the Hub with four of a possible six points by virtue of a 1-0-2 record, the Black and Gold return to the TD Garden for a semi-rare Monday night showdown with the Nashville Predators. But they’ll do it with some questions on their blue line.
Defenseman Adam McQuaid, who left Saturday’s win in the first period after taking a Jared McCann shot off the wrist, appears to be a gametime decision for the B’s, per coach Claude Julien.
“Don’t know yet,… Julien said of No. 54. “We have some decisions to make today on our group.…
Although McQuaid’s potential absence is not one the Bruins want to deal with (McQuaid is just one of two Boston defensemen to play in all 25 games for the team this season, Torey Krug is the other), the Bruins do seem equipped to handle it given the fact that they were able to healthy scratch defenders Colin Miller and Dennis Seidenberg without a huge dropoff in their game.
While Julien termed Miller and Seidenberg’s absences as more of ‘maintainance day’ issues, Julien did admit that one of the d-men are dealing with minor injuries at the moment.
“There’s just decisions that have to be made,… said Julien. “There’s some guys that are banged up and, you know, that can or can’t play, so those are the decisions that I have to make guys. It’s just…those are just decisions that every coach has to make with his team. So I can’t come out here and say this guy’s got this, this and this. Some guys may be playing some guys may be not.…
The aforementioned scratches to Miller and Seidenberg on Saturday night threw Kevan Miller and Joe Morrow back into the lineup after lengthy layoffs for both young defenders. For Kevan Miller, it was his first game since Nov. 17 (Miller missed time with a concussion), and for Morrow, a healthy scratch for a month straight, it was his first contest since Nov. 5.
“It is a difficult thing to do and I think he deserves a lot of credit for playing the way he did. I think it was almost a month that he hadn’t played. We needed him. He came up and he was ready,… Julien said of Morrow’s jump back into the defensive mix. “And I think, you know, the extra work that he does after practice and how focused he has to be for those is great. But you know, I think in Joe’s [Morrow] case he has that personality that, you know, doesn’t get too uptight and just goes out there and plays. And it’s an asset in a way and sometimes it can be a detriment too, you know. So in that case I think it was nice to see him go out there and play as well as he did because I think he was solid.…
But perhaps the good news for the Bruins is that Julien’s shuffled six on the point will have to find ways to slow down a Nashville attack that’s put 69 goals in the net through 26 contests this year and comes to Boston with losses in all but five of their 13 road contests this season.
This will be the first head-to-head matchup of the year between the B’s and Preds, while the Predators have not won in regulation at TD Garden since 2003.
In Net: Carter Hutton vs. Jonas Gustavsson
The Predators will give this start to backup netminder Carter Hutton. The 29-year-old former UMass-Lowell netminder stopped 30-of-32 in his last appearance, a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 25, and comes to town with two wins and a .911 save percentage in three games this year. Hutton has horrendous numbers against the Black and Gold in two games, though, with six goals against on just 28 shots thrown his way in 65 total minutes of play.
The Bruins will counter with their backup, Jonas Gustavsson. The Monster received the early hook in his last start following an 8-for-11 start against the Calgary Flames last Friday, but it was his first and only ‘bad’ appearance of the year for the B’s. The 31-year-old has five wins in seven games this season (including a 1-0-0 mark at home) with a .908 save percentage, and enters play with a 2-0-1 record and .915 save percentage in four career games against Nashville.
Other news and notes
A healthy scratch in his last game for the first time all season, Julien is opting to keep his expectations for Dorchester, Mass. native Jimmy Hayes between the two of them.
“Well I’m just going to leave it at I just make decisions and put the guys in that I feel are the guys that are giving us the best fit,… Julien said. “So dealing with Jimmy [Hayes], I’ll deal with it internally.…
There’s still no timetable for Bruins forward David Pastrnak (foot) to return to the lineup.
The Predators come to town without the services of center Mike Fisher (lower-body).
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Boston Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.