NHL Preview: Pens Take on Bruins in Pittsburgh

Boston Bruins (2.10) at Pittsburgh Penguins (1.77)

The Boston Bruins couldn’t have asked for better goaltending to start the 2010 NHL regular season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins could.

Yes, tonight’s game is a battle of netminders going in opposite directions as the Bruins travel to the Consol Energy Center to take on the Penguins. It’s unclear who Boston will start in net, but the numbers suggest it doesn’t really matter — Tim Thomas is 7-0-0 with a 1.05 GAA; Tuuka Rask has a .921 save percentage and a 2.66 GAA and both have been outstanding as Boston has jumped out to a 7-3-1 start to the year.

As for Pittsburgh’s goaltending situation…If numbers mean anything, this should be Brent Johnson’s game. With a win over Phoenix on Saturday, Johnson improved to 6-1-1 with a 1.63 GAA. His counterpart, Marc-Andre Fleury, has struggled mightily while posting a 3.55 GAA and going 1-6-0, but he may get the start Wednesday after Johnson missed Monday’s practice with an illness.

Don’t be surprised if there’s a fair bit of bad blood spilled in tonight’s contest. Last March, Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke KO’ed Boston’s Marc Savard with a questionably-late hit, a hit that has Savard still on the shelf with post-concussion syndrome. Cooke was dealt some retribution when the teams met late last season, but many of the Bruins players have long memories when it comes to this notorious incident.

Speaking of concussions, the Bruins were dealt a further blow in that department on Saturday when No. 1 centre David Krejci — Savard’s replacement on the top line, ironically enough — suffered a concussion against St. Louis. He’ll be out for a week, and that’s a big blow for the Bruins. Krejci has performed well as Boston’s first-line center, playing alongside Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic to form a trio that has combined for 13 goals and 18 assists in 11 games.

In other NHL games this evening:

— Two of the biggest disappointments in the Eastern Conference face off as the New Jersey Devils host the Buffalo Sabres. The Devils (4-10-1) and Sabres (4-9-2) are at the bottom of the East and desperately need to get things on track if they have any hope for a postseason berth.

— The red-hot St. Louis Blues travel to Columbus to take on the equally-scorching Blue Jackets. St. Louis has been the surprise of the season thus far, racking up a 9-1-2 record for top spot in the West behind the stellar play of goalie Jaroslav Halak. The Blue Jackets have been surprising themselves — they’ve gone 7-3 over their last ten and are just two points out of second place in the West.

— The slumping Chicago Blackhawks will look to turn things around against the Phoenix Coyotes at the United Center. the defending Stanley Cup Champs have fallen on hard times as of late, going 4-6 over their last 10. Chicago has also allowed a whopping 51 goals — third-most in the NHL — which is a stunning turn for a team with Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith manning the back-end.