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Vegas Hosts Another Atlantic Division Beast Tonight in the Bruins

February 20, 2019, 10:15 AM ET [5 Comments]
Jeff Paul
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT

Vegas @ Boston 11/11/18 (USA Today Sports)

Another Atlantic Division superteam makes its way into Vegas to take on the Golden Knights, tonight at 7pm. This evening's opponents are the Boston Bruins (35-17-8, 2nd Atlantic) who feature one of the best forward lines in hockey and a roster with a surprisingly good mix of young, dynamic players and established veterans. Boston is led by longtime captain Zdeno Chara, still averaging 21 minutes per game at the age of 41.

Boston will be without one of their best players tonight, in David Pastrnak, who is healing from an off-ice thumb injury. Together with Brad Marchand (23g, 47a) and Patrice Bergeron (21g, 35a), Pastrnak (31g, 35a) combined to form the NHL's highest-scoring forward line. In his absence, Boston has used the 23-year old Danton Heinen in Pastrnak's vacated spot on the wing.

In their last game, the Bruins defeated the San Jose Sharks, 6-5 in overtime, in a high-event affair. Boston stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first before San Jose got their first tally with mere seconds remaining in the opening frame. San Jose would go on to score three goals in the second, to the Bruins one, including another late period tally. Both teams scored once in the third, forcing overtime, before defenseman Charlie McAvoy scored the game winner for the Bs. Boston will be riding high on that hard-fought win heading into tonight's contest. Vegas will need to be ready for an early onslaught, similiar to the one San Jose was caught in the crosshairs of on Monday night.

Both the Golden Knights and Bruins have similar goal production, the Bs sitting at 3.0 goals/game (+27 differential) versus the 2.91 mark of the Golden Knights (+7 differential). Where these teams differ is the goaltending. Boston uses both of their goalies often. Both Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak have over 25 games started this season and have been extremely strong for the Bruins. Although the Bruins defense helps the performance of the goaltenders, as with every team, these guys' stats soeak for themselves...

Tuukka Rask: 20-8-4, 2.45 Goals Against Average, .918 Save Percentage
Jaroslav Halak: 15-9-4, 2.35 Goals Against Average, .923 Save Percentage

Vegas on the other hand has an established starter who plays an overwhelming percentage of the games, in Marc-Andre Fleury. Even before the injury/illness to Malcolm Subban, Fleury was starting both games of back-to-back sets and pacing for 70 starts by season's end. Subban started Vegas' last two games, a home win over Nashville and a 3-0 loss in Colorado on President's Day. Subban looked great in both games, but will most likely watch this one from the end of the bench.

In their only other meeting this season, Subban picked up the loss, a 4-1 defeat in Boston on Veteran's Day. Boston has been hot of late, while the Golden Knights are trying to get themselves out of a 3-7-0 funk in their last 10 games. Two of those wins came against the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning, so the fact that Boston is so good, does not suggest a sure loss for the scrambling Golden Knights. If one is led to believe the team's message, they simply need to "play their game", "get in on the forecheck", and "play fast", regardless of the opponent. It just so happens that tonight's opponent has won their last six games in a row and eight of their last nine.

Boston's 26.94% power play takes a major hit with the absence of Pastrnak. He is the sniper on that power play and plays a huge role in it's effectiveness. Despite his absence, Boston remains a threat with the man-advantage and often utilize the backdoor one-timer, that seems to plague the Vegas Golden Knights and more specifically, defenseman Deryk Engelland.

Simply put, Boston should be expected to win this game, no problem. All of the stats suggest they are the better team, they have more dynamic offensive players, and their goaltending is a stable as it gets. One thing the stats don't show is resiliency, which is a quality the Golden Knights have become known for. Regardless of the opponent, the Golden Knights are always a threat to win, especially when they are clean through the neutral zone. Tonight's tilt is sure to be a good one, between two teams that will be making the post-season.

Projected Lineups:

Vegas

Marchessault - Karlsson - Smith
Pirri - Stastny - Tuch
Pacioretty - Eakin - Lindberg
Nosek - Bellemare - Reaves

Schmidt - Engelland
McNabb - Theodore
Merrill - Miller

Fleury

BOSTON:

Marchand - Bergeron - Heinen
DeBrusk - Krejci - Kuhlman
Acciari - Kuraly - Wagner
Nordstrom - Frederic - Backes

Chara - McAvoy
Krug - Carlo
Grzelcyk - Miller

Halak



Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@VGK_Buzz) as I will be Tweeting updates before, during, and after the game from the locker room and post-game press conference.
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