Thursday October 9, 2014

Joe Louis Arena in Detroit

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On Thursday night, the Boston Bruins will go up against the Detroit Red Wings in an early Atlantic Division matchup. This will be the Red Wings' first game of 2014-15 and the Bruins' first road game of the season.

The Red Wings beat the Bruins in three out of four regular season matchups last year. Boston had a 4-1 in the first week of the season, but then Detroit the next three by a combined score of 12-5. Even though they lost the season series against the Red Wings, the Bruins still ended up at the top of the Atlantic Division while Detroit finished 24 points back.

The aging Red Wings were able to limp into the playoffs with 93 points last year and ended up losing to the Bruins in the first round. Veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall had a team-high 41 assists and finished with 49 points in 79 games. Goalie Jimmy Howard won 21 games and had a .910 save percentage.

The Red Wings did give extensions to some of their best talent over the offseason, but they didn't make a single significant signing or trade. They did, however, allowed veterans Mikael Samuelsson, David Legwand and Todd Bertuzzi move to other teams to open up spots on their roster. They are now expected to give a lot more minutes to their younger players this season.

Injuries to Watch

Boston Bruins

10/06/14 C David Krejci Undisclosed probable Wednesday vs. Philadelphia
10/06/14 C Gregory Campbell Abdominal doubtful Wednesday vs. Philadelphia
10/05/14 C Marc Savard Concussion out indefinitely

Detroit Red Wings

10/06/14 D Jonathan Ericsson Hip is upgraded to probable Thursday vs. Boston
10/05/14 C Darren Helm Groin probable Thursday vs. Boston
10/05/14 C Pavel Datsyuk Shoulder out indefinitely
10/05/14 C Tomas Tatar Concussion probable Thursday vs. Boston

Guy's Pick: Take Boston

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