BOSTON BRUINS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME
-The Bruins visit the Red Wings tonight in the fourth and fnal game between these teams this season and the second of two games at Little Caesars Arena this year … The Bruins are 21-7- 6 overall this season and they are 10-5-3 on the road … They are 12- 5-4 in games vs. Eastern Conference teams this season. – The Bruins are playing their sixth of 12 sets of back-to-back games vs. New Jersey last night (5-2 win) and tonight in Detroit … They are currently 4-2-0 in the frst game of those sets and 2-2-1 in the second games. -The Bruins will open 2024 in Columbus on 1/2 … They will then return home to host Pittsburgh on 1/4 and Tampa Bay on 1/6.
RECENT GAMES
-The Bruins have won consecutive games with a 4-1 win in Buffalo on 12/27 and a 5-2 win vs. New Jersey last night … They are now 4-3-3 in their last ten games, and they are 7-6-3 in their last 16 contests.
– 12/23: Bos 2 at Min 3 … David Pastrnak scored his 20th of the season and Morgan Geekie closed to 3-2 but dropped their fourth decision … Linus Ullmark took the loss in goal … SOG: Bos 21, Min 35 … PP: 1/2 … PK: 1/5
– 12/27: Bos 4 at Buf 1 … Charlie Coyle scored twice and Mason Lohrei and Morgan Geekie tallied singles to snap the team’s winless streak … Jeremy Swayman earned the win in net … SOG: Bos 25, Buf 26 … PP: 3/4 … PK: 0/6
– 12/30: Bos 5 vs NJ 2 … The Bruins surrendered the frst two goals but came back on goals by David Pastrnak (2-1=3), Kevin Shattenkirk (2G) and Jake DeBrusk (1-1=2) … Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand added 2A each … Linus Ullmark earned the win in goal … SOG: Bos 31, NJ 33 … PP: 2/2 … PK: ½
INJURIES (59 Man-games lost)
– Derek Forbort: LTIR
BOSTON vs RED WINGS, LIFETIME SERIES
– The Bruins and Red Wings are meeting for the 618th time in their histories with Detroit holding a 260-257-95-5 margin and the Bruins having a 1,873-1,841 scoring edge in those games. – The Bruins are 87-165-52-3 lifetime in 307 road games vs. the Red Wings with a Detroit having a 1,026-786 scoring advantage in those contests
SEASON NOTABLES
– The Bruins started the 2023-24 season with a ten-game point streak at 9-0-1 from 10/11-11/2/2023), which was their longest such streak in club history … The Bruins had opened their season at 6-0-0, tying their 1937-38 Bruins for the longest win streak to open a season in franchise history. – The Bruins had a streak of 22 straight penalty kills from 11/27-12/15. – Jeremy Swayman started his 2023-24 season with his longest such win streak at 6-0-0 … That tied Tuukka Rask (2016-17) and Tiny Thompson (1937-38) for second-longest such stretch in club history ahead of Tim Thomas (7-0-0 in 2010-11). – Swayman extended his point streak to nine straight games to start this season at 7-0-2 before falling on 11/24 vs. Detroit. – Brad Marchand scored fve straight Boston goals from 12/2-7/2023 (OTG 12/2 at TOR, 3G 12/3 vs CMB, 1G 12/7 vs BUF) … The longest goals-scored streak by a Bruin was a six-goal stretch by Glen Murray in 2003-04. – Marchand has passed Bobby Orr into sixth place on the team’s all-time scoring list … Rick Middleton is ffth on the list with 898 points.
FUN FACTS
– The Bruins currently have 22 players on their active roster (1 in LTIR) … 12 were drafted by the team, three were acquired in trade and seven were signed as free agents. – The Bruins play 11 matinees this season (local time 4:00 pm or earlier) … They have a 1-2-0 record in afternoon games so far. – The Bruins play 12 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 4-2-0 in the frst game of those sets and 2-2-1 in the second games. – The Bruins conclude their 13-game December schedule tonight (six home/seven road, 6-3-3) … They will play 14 games in January (seven home/seven road) …They will play 12 games in February (eight home/four road) … They will play 14 games in March (seven home/seven road) … They will play seven games in April (three home/four road) … They played nine games in October (8-0-1); and 13 games in November (7-4-2). – The Bruins have eight players on the current roster new to the organization this season – Johnny Beecher, Morgan Geekie, Danton Heinen, Mason Lohrei, Georgii Merkulov, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk, Parker Wotherspoon – The Bruins have ten players on the current roster who played college hockey – Johnny Beecher, Charlie Coyle, Derek Forbort, Trent Frederic, Danton Heinen, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Georgii Merkulov, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk – The Bruins have 11 former frst round draft picks on the current roster – Johnny Beecher, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Derek Forbort, Trent Frederic, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Kevin Shattenkirk, James van Riemsdyk, Pavel Zacha
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
December 30: Ian Mitchell returned to Providence.
DETROIT RED WINGS NOTES:
MAN GAMES LOST (games missed / out since)
Klim Kostin – upper body (12 / Dec. 18)
Ville Husso – lower body (7 / Dec. 18)
Christian Fischer – upper body (3 / Dec. 23)
Joe Veleno – undisclosed (2 / Dec. 23)
Total Man Games Lost: 69
Individual Man Games Lost: Robby Fabbri (12), Dylan Larkin (6), David Perron (6), J.T. Compher (5), Alex Lyon (5), Jeff Petry (4), Austin Czarnik (3), Olli Määttä (2), Jake Walman (2)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
12/31 – Activated forward Christian Fischer from injured reserve
12/30 – Assigned forwards Jonatan Berggren and Austin Czarnik to Grand Rapids
12/29 – Activated goaltender Alex Lyon from injured reserve … Assigned goaltender Michael Hutchinson to Grand Rapids … Reassigned goaltender John Lethemon from Grand Rapids to Toledo (ECHL)
TONIGHT’S GAME
DETROIT RED WINGS (17-15-4) vs. BOSTON BRUINS (21-7-6)
Sunday, December 31, 2023 / 5:00 P.M. ET / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: Bally Sports Detroit / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
TONIGHT: 618th all-time meeting, 308th in Detroit … Fourth of four games this season, second of two at Little Caesars Arena
ALL-TIME vs. BOS: 265-251-95-6 / HOME: 168-84-52-3 / LAST 10: 5-5-0 / IN 2022-23: 1-2-0 / THIS SEASON: 2-1-0
DET top scorers vs. BOS: Dylan Larkin (10-11-21 in 27 GP), Patrick Kane (8-11-19 in 24 GP), David Perron (7-12-19 in 28 GP), Alex DeBrincat (6-5-11 in 15 GP), Lucas Raymond (2-5-7 in 10 GP), J.T. Compher (2-5-7 in 11 GP), Moritz Seider (1-4-5 in 10 GP
BOS top scorers vs. DET: Brad Marchand (17-23-40 in 40 GP), David Pastrnak (15-16-31 in 27 GP), James van Riemsdyk (12-8- 20 in 34 GP), Kevin Shattenkirk (4-15-19 in 33 GP), Charlie Coyle (7-6-13 in 26 GP), Pavel Zacha (3-9-12 in 20 GP), Charlie McAvoy (4-7-11 in 16 GP), Jake DeBrusk (6-4-10 in 20 GP), Parker Wotherspoon (0-1-1 in 1 GP), Mason Lohrei (0-1-1 in 2 GP)
A NEW YEAR’S EVE TRADITION
* The Red Wings are 34-23-7-2 when hosting a game on New Year’s Eve, and 3-1-1 inside Little Caesars Arena. * Detroit is 12-3-0-2 when hosting a game on New Year’s Eve since 2000. * The Red Wings erased a two-goal deficit to capture a 4-2 win vs. Ottawa on Dec. 31, 2022. Lucas Raymond, Elmer Söderblom and Michael Rasmussen combined to score three goals in a 1:55 span during the third period. * Tonight marks the sixth time the Red Wings have hosted the Bruins on New Year’s Eve. Detroit is 3-2-0 when hosting Boston on New Year’s Eve, earning three victories in a four-year span (1966, 1967, 1969). * Steve Yzerman is Detroit’s all-time leading scorer on New Year’s Eve with 24 points (7-17-24) in 20 games
