Tonight's Officials
Referees Wes McCauley (4), Garrett Rank (7)
Linesmen Ryan Galloway (82), Michel Cormier (76)
Ntl. Anthem Rene Rancourt
WAYBACK MACHINE
BOSTON vs NEW JERSEY, LIFETIME SERIES
The Bruins and Devils are meeting for the 152nd time in their histories (includes Devils franchise as Kansas City & Colorado) with the Bruins having an 81-41-19-10 record and 502-402 scoring advantage in those games.
The Bruins are 44-19-8-6 in their 77 home games of this lifetime series with a 276-218 scoring edge in those contests.
The Bruins & Devils have split the 1st 2 games of this season’s series with each winning their game on home ice – Boston with a 2-1 win on 10/20 & New Jersey with a 3-0 victory on 1/2 … The Bruins are 6-2-0 in their last 8 games & are 18-5-0 in their last 23 games overall vs. New Jersey … They have won their last 4 home games vs. the Devils & are 10-1-1 in their last 12 games vs. New Jersey in
Boston with their lone regulation loss in that stretch a 4-3 setback on 10/26/2013.
Fun Fact – The Bruins are 29-21-6-4 vs. the Devils since they relocated to New Jersey in 1982 … 12 of the last 15 games between these teams have been decided by 2 goals or less, including 10 1-goal decisions.
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Bruins host the Devils tonight in the 3rd & final game between these teams and the 2nd of 2 this season at TD Garden … The Bruins are 33-25-6 thus far this season with a 16-14-0 mark on home ice … They are 6-9-5 vs. Metropolitan Division opponents and are 21-15-6 vs. Eastern Conference teams this season.
The Bruins are playing game 3 tonight of a 3-game home stand (1-1-0) and a stretch in which they play 5 of 6 games on home ice.
They are wearing their 3rd uniform system tonight for the 12th of 15 games this season … They are 4-6-1 in those games so far.
MILESTONES APPROACHING
Kevan Miller & Ryan Spooner are both playing their 200th NHL games tonight.
Dominic Moore is 2 goals short of his 100th NHL goal.
Tuukka Rask is 3 wins short of his 200th NHL victory.
INJURIES (135 total man-games lost)
None
https://link.nhl.com/static/gamenotes/public/20162017/[email protected]?1488596188000
Drew Stafford has played as many games against the Boston Bruins as he has against any team in the NHL. On Saturday night, he gets to wear the old "Spoked B" when his new team hosts the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden.
"I've had a long history against this team and the organization," said Stafford, acquired from the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline, after his first practice with his new team on Friday.
"I've always been a big fan of the city and the team," said the longtime Buffalo Sabre. "Knowing guys who have played here throughout the years, they say nothing but good things about it. I'm excited to be on board and hopefully carry over some of that past success to help these guys win some games."
With the deal -- the Jets received a conditional sixth-round draft pick -- Stafford went from being on the outside of the playoff picture to being right in the middle of a race. The Bruins, losing Thursday night for only the second time in nine games under interim coach Bruce Cassidy, were in third place in the Atlantic Division through Thursday.
Stafford watched that game, meeting the media between the second and third periods of the 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers.
"I know a lot of the guys here are focused on getting back into the playoffs and back into the hunt," Stafford said. "I'm going to do the best I can to my ability to help this team win games. The way this team has been playing as of late, from what I've heard and what I've seen, we're in the mix to get back into the playoffs."
The Devils are technically alive in the Eastern playoff chase. But through Thursday night's 1-0 loss in Washington, they were eight points out of a wild card spot. They were also much closer to last place that the playoffs -- they were ahead of only Carolina and Detroit, who both have games in hand.
On Thursday night, Mike Cammalleri suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury when he went into the boards and he is considered week-to-week. His place Saturday could be taken by rookie Pavel Zacha, who has missed the last three games with his second concussion of the season and just returned to practice Friday.
The Devils don't want to rush him and coach John Hynes said he didn't plan on using newly acquired defenseman Dalton Prout.
Short a forward, New Jersey could either bring one up from Albany or could go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Speaking of that practice, New Jersey skated at Boston University's Agganis Arena -- a special day for former Boston University player Hynes.
"Yeah, it's nice to be back in Boston but then, particularly, in having an opportunity to practice here," Hynes said. "I haven't had a lot of opportunities to get back and see the building but also the guys that work at the rink that I knew when I was real young.
"Most of my adult life is attributed to the relationships that I've created through BU and the opportunities I had in college and as a grad assistant coach."
The Bruins outplayed the visiting Rangers Thursday night, but ran into a red-hot Henrik Lundqvist as Cassidy lost at home for the first time in five games behind the bench.
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