Hurricanes, Bruins face each other working through issues (Mar 12, 2018)
The Boston Bruins ran into a rare recent glitch in their last game, but they are getting at least some of their parts back together going into Tuesday night's game at Carolina.
The Hurricanes, on the other hand, will try to regroup quickly after suffering a 6-3 loss Monday night on the road against the New York Rangers.
For the Hurricanes, there's not an opportunity to be concerned about the Eastern Conference standings if they're not taking care of business.
"We have to worry about ourselves," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "There's no sense in looking at what's going on above you or below you."
This will be Carolina's first home game since the front-office shakeup last week that resulted in general manager Ron Francis reassigned.
Boston, which has the second-most points in the conference, is in need of some slight roster massaging despite a surge.
The Bruins have dealt with a bit of a snag because of an injury to forward Brad Marchand, the team's leading scorer.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said the stress on the forwards should be eased because the Bruins will have right winger David Backes back for Tuesday night as he has served a three-game suspension.
The Bruins were without Marchand in Sunday's 3-1 loss at Chicago because of an upper-body injury. His 29 goals and 69 points are tops among the Bruins and he's listed as day-to-day.
"We'll see how he is for Tuesday," Cassidy said.
Cassidy said the injury apparently occurred during Saturday night's matchup with Chicago when Marchand collided with Blackhawks forward Anthony Duclair. The extent of Marchand's ailment wasn't realized until prior to Sunday's game.
Marchand's absence put the Bruins in a predicament with 11 forwards.
"A little challenge for the coach to keep the guys fresh," center David Krejci said.
Marchand has been on a hot streak, receiving NHL Second Star of the Week recognition with four goals and four assists in three games despite the time missed.
The Chicago result ended Boston's six-game winning streak, which began with an overtime decision against Carolina. The Bruins have won both previous meetings with the Hurricanes this season, also winning 7-1 in Boston.
The Hurricanes ought to be in a desperate mood after failing to string together consistent outings and falling below the playoff line.
"Everyone has got more to give," Peters said. "Everyone has got to play. Everyone has to contribute. Everyone has got to make a positive contribution each and every night."
The final two goals allowed Monday night were in empty-net situations, so the margin is somewhat deceiving. The Hurricanes were tied with the Rangers with less than eight minutes to play.
Peters went with goalie Scott Darling in that game and he made only 17 saves. It's likely that Carolina will turn back to Cam Ward for Boston's visit.
For the Bruins, Tuesday's assignment marks the second game in a stretch of eight of nine games on the road.
This will be the lone home game for the Hurricanes during a 12-day span.
