The only two NHL teams with unbeaten interconference records clash Friday night as the Boston Bruins play the first of a road back-to-back before Christmas against the Winnipeg Jets.
Atlantic Division-leading Boston has gone 1-0-3 across four consecutive overtime games, including Tuesday’s 4-3 home loss to Minnesota. The Bruins are 9-0-2 against Western Conference opponents this season.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg climbed to the top of the Central following a 5-2 win on Wednesday over Detroit and extended its unbeaten mark against the East to 8-0-3.
Boston’s top-scoring winger David Pastrnak — who scored his team-leading 18th and 19th goals of the season in Tuesday’s first period — knows that the Bruins have what it takes to shake off surrendering third-period leads in their last two games.
“We win together, we lose together,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously, we’re a much younger team than the last couple years, but everybody’s buying in and wants to learn. … We all have something to give each other. We’re coming together and trying to make each other better.”
Boston’s goal scoring is down from a season ago, but the goaltending duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark has helped keep the team’s goal differential at an Eastern Conference-best plus-20.
Despite that fact, Boston coach Jim Montgomery has more concern about the team’s overall defensive game. The Bruins have allowed 30 or more shots in six straight and nine of their last 11 games.
“We expected (scoring) to be down,” Montgomery said. “We are a little more concerned about how hard and firm we are defensively. … Myself and the coaching staff need to be better to make sure that we’re … not giving up as many quality chances as we are.”
Montgomery did not rule defenseman Matt Grzelcyk out from playing on the trip — which continues Saturday in Minnesota — following an apparent shoulder injury that forced him to miss most of Tuesday’s first period and Thursday’s practice.
“It’s one of those things where it literally could be 24 hours and he’s feeling like he could play, so he’s day-to-day,” Montgomery said.
The Jets gained points in eight of their last nine games (7-1-1) and are on an extended 15-5-1 run that includes separate win streaks of three, four and five games.
The Wednesday win marked Winnipeg’s 21st straight game allowing no more than three goals.
“That’s our game plan. We play well defensively, we know we’re good enough to get our chances offensively,” Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “We don’t have to cheat for that if we play the right way defensively. We’ve done that really well.”
Gabriel Vilardi, who returned from a knee injury Nov. 30, scored his fifth goal in a four-game span and added two assists against Detroit. His goal streak is the longest by any first-year Jets player.
“You watch (Vilardi) every game, his confidence is growing,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “He’s so good around the net because he hangs on to it. He’s so big and strong, (he’s) got great vision and has patience with the puck of when to pass it and when not to pass it and hang on to it.”
Ehlers has four goals and nine points across a four-game point streak.
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby’s first goal of the season was the game-winner, while Neal Pionk and top-line center Mark Scheifele also lit the lamp.
–Field Level Media
