The Blackhawks and Bruins are going in different directions.
Chicago (10-12-5) is winless in its last three and six of its last seven, while Boston (20-3-5) is riding an eight-game winning streak and 12-game point streak. The two teams meet Thursday at TD Garden in Boston.
The Blackhawks are coming off a 4-0 shutout loss against the Blues on Monday. Chicago was down a man due to injuries and salary cap constraints which caused them to play 11 forwards and six defensemen. Forward Andrew Shaw joined fellow forwards Drake Caggiula and Dylan Strome in concussion protocol, and defenseman Duncan Keith (groin) and goaltender Robin Lehner (food poisoning) were also sidelined. Strome will play Thursday, while defenseman Olli Maatta (flu) will be out.
With Lehner expected back, Chicago re-assigned goaltender Kevin Lankinen to the AHL and recalled defenseman Dennis Gilbert. Keith did not travel for the road trip.
Patrick Kane’s 15-game point streak ended in Monday’s loss. He had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) during his streak, which was the longest in the NHL this season. He has 18 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 18 career regular season games against Boston.
The Blackhawks are still hoping Alex DeBrincat breaks out of his goal scoring drought, which is at 12 games. He scored a goal in his last game in Boston.
The Bruins extended their winning streak to eight games with a 2-0 win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday. Charlie Coyle and David Krejci both scored in the final five minutes in the win. Late goals have been a thing for the Bruins, who have scored nine of their last 10 goals in their last four games after the second period.
Boston has two of league’s top five scorers in Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Marchand assisted on Coyle’s goal for his team-leading 44th point (18 goals, 26 assists), which put him in a tie with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for third in the league. Pastrnak is the league’s top goal scorer with 25 — including a league-high 12 on the power play — and is fifth in points with 43.
The Bruins could see the return of defenseman John Moore, who has yet to make his season debut since having shoulder surgery in June. Forward Brett Ritchie (elbow infection) remains out along with top-line center Patrice Bergeron (lower body). Krejci has stepped up in Bergeron’s absence with six points (two goals, four assists) in six games.
Tuukka Rask is expected to start in net for Boston. He’s been one of the league’s best goalies this season as he’s tied for third in wins (13-2-2), fifth in save percentage (.933) and third in goals saved above average (12.18).
Series history
The Blackhawks have lost four of their last five against the Bruins, including both games in last season’s series. Jonathan Toews (one goal, two assists) and DeBrincat (three assists) each had three points in two games against Boston last season. Marchand led all skaters in the season series with five points (two goals, three assists).
Tale of the tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Bruins
47.75% (26th) — Corsi For — 49.96% (15th)
48.8% (t-23rd) — Faceoff — 49.5% (20th)
2.74 (22nd) — Goals per game — 3.61 (3rd)
3.04 (14th) — Goals against per game — 2.18 (31st)
13.4% (t-23rd) — Power play — 13.4% (27th)
79.8% (19th) — Penalty kill — 84.9% (7th)
Lineups
*Lineups will be updated, if needed
Blackhawks
Saad — Toews — Nylander
DeBrincat — Strome — Kane
Wedin — Kampf — Kubalik
Carpenter — Dach — Smith
Koekkoek — Murphy
de Haan — Seabrook
Gilbert — Gustafsson
Lehner
Crawford
*Injured: Caggiula (concussion), Keith (groin), Shaw (concussion)
Bruins
DeBrusk — Krejci — Pastrnak
Marchand — Coyle — Heinen
Bjork — Kuraly — Wagner
Nordstrom — Lindholm — Backes
Chara — McAvoy
Krug — Carlo
Moore — Grzelcyk
Rask
Halak
*Injured: Bergeron (lower body), Brett Ritchie (infection), Kevan Miller (knee cap), Anton Blidh (shoulder), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Karson Kuhlman (leg)
How to watch
When: 6 p.m.
Where: TD Garden, Boston
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Live stream: ESPN+, NBC Sports app, NHL.TV