Edmonton Oilers (0-1-0),

Boston Bruins (2-1-0)

5 PM MST

TD Garden

TV: Sportsnet West (NHL-Network in USA)

Radio: 630 CHED

SB Nation Opponent: Stanley Cup of Chowder

BACK ON THE BEAT

After a less-than-stellar beginning of the season in Sweden, the Oilers are back in North America to take on the Bruins. It’s been five days since Edmonton lost 5-2 to the New Jersey Devils, so let’s hope they’ve put it all behind them and are ready to play sixty minutes of hockey. Today they’re in Boston. After getting shellacked by a 7-0 margin in Washington in the season opener, the Bruins are winners of two straight. Can the Oilers keep the Bruins from making it 3?

Let’s go to the tape.

The Oilers are saying

Just a little tweak, nothing serious. Just nice to have some time to recover and now ready to go and get playing some games here...”

Source

That’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on being back in the lineup. Nugent-Hopkins was noticably absent from the top line earlier in the week.

You want a good way to whip your fanbase into a frenzy? Show Drake Caggiula on the 1LW spot where Nugent-Hopkins should be. Oilers catch a break, as Nugent-Hopkins will be back on top alongside Connor McDavid.

The Bruins are saying

No. Hands off. Right where they are right now in my pockets. They’re not getting changed up...

Source

That’s Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy on his top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Cassidy says that they’re not going anywhere away from the top line, and for good reason. Pastrnak has five points in his last two games (3-2-5), Marchand has seven assists in his last two, and Patrice Bergeron has four goals and two assists in his last two games. Everything’s just fine.

HAVE SOME OF THIS

• This is what Jack Michaels had on Wednesday. There’s a whole lot of things going on here. We covered some yesterday, but the most glaring to me is Jesse Puljujarvi on the fourth line. I get that Puljujarvi took a penalty shortly into the second period of the New Jersey game, but what are we doing here?

• UPDATE: Looks like Benning and Nurse will maintain their second pair and that Russell / Bouchard will get another kick at it. Caggiula/Strome/Puljujarvi will probably play as the third, while Rieder/Khaira/Kassian looks like the 4th. Save for Caggiula in and Brodziak out, this looks about the same as Saturday.
• GOOD TIMES: Milan Lucic had two points in the first game of the season, which was a bright light in an otherwise ugly outing for the Oilers. Score a goal, add an assist. Oilers could use one of each tonight. Connor McDavid also had two points against New Jersey, which is par for the course when you’re the greatest player in the game today.
• NET GAINS: Cam Talbot (0-1-0, .846 SV%, 4.05 GAA) will get the nod for the Oilers tonight, while Tuukka Rask (1-1-0, .840SV%, 5.49 GAA) is likely to go for the Bruins.
• Andrej Sekera is out indefinitely (ankle) for the Oilers. Defenceman Torey Krug (ankle) will not play tonight for the Bruins.
• EARLY ONE: Game starts at 5 PM local time tonight. We’ll be getting ready at about 4.
• #GOILERS