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Life without suspended forward Brad Marchand, the Bruins’ top goal scorer in 2014-15, was rough on the Black and Gold. Though they managed to split during Marchand’s two-game ban -- taking last night’s contest against the Dallas Stars behind three unanswered goals -- the Boston forward corp had far from the same impactful finish with No. 63 on the shelf.
In particular, his usual line, the Bergeron line.
With Danny Paille skating in Marchand’s spot on their second line, the B’s top six seemed stifled, especially Paille himself, who must have had about three or four golden opportunities denied over that two-game stretch. Their struggles really put a strain on the Krejci line, which has undoubtedly struggled to get much of anything going over the last two games, putting everything on Boston’s third line.
But the Bruins’ third line, while capable, can’t continue to be the only line going, and the B’s know that. And in the second leg of a back-to-back that began in Dallas last night, Claude Julien and the Bruins will need the 5-foot-9 Marchand to bring his game-changing energy to the table right off the draw.
“He should have some good jump tonight,… Julien said. “Hopefully he shows some excitement in going out there and wanting to help his team out, especially after we had a tough game last night.
“We expect him to give us that boost."
It’s a thin line for the 26-year-old Marchand, who has now been suspended three times in his NHL career, but when he’s playing well, his game is more than agitating and drawing penalties.
Marchand’s one of the few or perhaps best Bruins that’s able to push the play up ice with speed, and his creativity on the wing is perhaps secondly to only 18-year-old David Pastrnak at this point. (Though you’d probably put him above Pastrnak in this area simply because of the fact that Julien will certainly trust Marchand more in critical situations.)
They'll go against a Colorado club that's won six of their last 10 and currently sits five points out of the wild card picture. The Avalanche are 6-3-3 against the Atlantic Division this season, and won the only prior meeting between the two this season by a 2-1 final in Boston on Oct. 13.
Tired legs have not been kind to the Bruins, as they come into play with a 2-5-1 record in the second leg of back-to-backs this season, but have won three straight contests in Denver.
Despite skating into this one on the second leg of a back-to-back, the Bruins seem like they’ll once again turn to Tuukka Rask. Stopping 36-of-37 in last night’s win over the Stars, the Black and Gold netminder has wins in five of his last six starts, and has posted a .950 save percentage over that stretch. The reigning Vezina winner has made three starts against Colorado in his NHL career, and has yet to beat the Avs despite a stellar 2.03 goals against average and .931 save percentage against the club.
The Avs will give the nod to Semyon Varlamov. The 26-year-old Russian took the loss in his last start, stopping 27-of-30 against the St. Louis Blues, and has 11 wins and a .921 save percentage in 27 starts this season. Varlamov has six wins in his last 10 appearances, and comes into play with one win, a 2.12 goals against average, and .931 save percentage in four career starts against the B’s.
- Boston center Patrice Bergeron has two goals and nine points in 10 games against the Avs.
- Reilly Smith has gone 10 games without a goal.
- B’s forward Chris Kelly has points in all but five of his last 17 games played.
- 18 of Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog’s 27 points have come at home this season.
- Jarome Iginla has seven goals and 15 points in 20 career games against the Bruins.
Other news and notes
With Marchand back, expect Jordan Caron to return to the press box as a healthy scratch. Caron had two hits, a blocked shot, two minutes in penalties, and a plus-1 rating in his two-game return to the lineup. He’ll likely be joined by defenseman Matt Bartkowski, a scratch in nine straight games.
Colorado enters tonight’s contest without forwards Borna Rendulic (leg) and Jesse Winchester (concussion), while both Jamie McGinn and Ryan Wilson are out for the season.
The Avalanche have not beaten the Bruins at the Pepsi Center since Dec. 7, 2005.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com