But Boston has also benefited from the consistent play of Patrice Bergeron and from stellar goaltending by rookie Tuukka Rask, who has been excellent between the pipes while filling in for the injured Tim Thomas.
The Wild, while 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, have struggled after losing the likes of Marian Gaborik on the ice and their only coach in franchise history, Jacques Lemaire. Minnesota has had its way over the years with the Bruins, but this may be the night a hot Bruins team starts to turn the tide in the all-time series.
The Bruins are gaining on the Northeast Division-leading Senators and could pass them in the standings with an Ottawa loss and a Bruins win. They will also have the chance to gain or build a lead in the division on Saturday when they face the Senators at the TD Garden.
But Wednesday night, the focus is on containing the Wild and completing their current four-game road trip with their fourth straight victory.
When And Where
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 8 p.m. (NESN)
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.
Records
Bruins (11-8-4, 26 points, third place in Northeast Division, sixth place in Eastern Conference)
Wild (8-12-2, 18 points, fifth place in Northwest Division, 15th place in the Western Conference)
Head to Head
This is the only meeting of the season between the Wild and Bruins.
Last season the Wild beat the Bruins 4-3 on Oct. 10 in their first of two meetings with the Bruins. Eric Belanger scored twice, and the Wild rallied to a three-goal second period that was enough to hang on for a 4-3 victory over the B's. Marc Savard had two goals and former Bruin Phil Kessel also scored.
In the second game between the two clubs, the Wild shut the Bruins out 1-0 at the TD Garden on Jan. 6. Niklas Backstrom made 28 saves and defenseman Marek Zidlicky scored the lone goal of the game on a second-period power play.
Minnesota is 8-1-0 all time against Boston, its best points percentage (.889) against any NHL team.
Skinny
Before Savard’s return, the power play was the second-worst in the league at 13.2 percent. But on Monday, with Savard back in his usual spot on the No. 1 power play unit, Claude Julien is now able to slot other players back into their normal spots. Consequently, the No. 2 unit with Patrice Bergeron as the centerpiece (four assists on Monday) connected for two power-play tallies. The Bruins were 2-for-3 on the power play, but Savard wasn’t on the ice for either.
“It just goes to show that there’s more in our dressing room than just one player," Julien said. "But still him coming back and giving us that look on one power play, and being able to move some guys around and making both power plays work pretty good was important for us. It was nice to get that going. Although we’ve been playing better, it’s been a thorn in our side. Our power play just hasn’t been good enough.’’
Amid his return, rumors continued to circulate that Savard will sign a seven-year extension with Boston that could pay him upwards of $6 million per season. An announcement could come as early as Friday.
This season begins a new era for the Minnesota Wild, under general manager Chuck Fletcher and head coach Todd Richards. Wild owner Craig Leipold named Fletcher general manager on May 22.
Things have not gone as well as Fletcher may have hoped thus far, but he has proven to be patient and been part of successful and patient management regimes in both Florida and Pittsburgh, where he won a Stanley Cup last season.
Richards comes to the Wild after one season as an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks, helping the team to an NHL-best 53-18-11 record and the Presidents’ Trophy in 2008-09. Richards spent two seasons as a head coach with the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, including a Calder Cup final berth. Richards has advanced to the playoffs in all 13 of his professional seasons as a player, and in all seven as a head coach or an assistant coach.
Richards thinks he can turn around the Wild despite key players being injured.
"The way that I handle certain things, the way I communicate and probably my tone [will change]," Richards said. "The one thing I've been pretty consistent throughout is I've been very supportive and I've been also protective of the players. And it's gotten us to where we're at now.
"You're going to have lots of injuries and lots of adversity throughout a season," Richards added. "This is just something we're going through. You can sit back and go, 'He's out and he's out and he's out.' Bottom line is you've got to find a way to win a game."
The Wild traded for a familiar face to the Bruins on Monday, acquiring former Canadiens forward Guillaume Latendresse in exchange for Benoit Pouliot.
Projected Lineups
Bruins
Forwards
Marco Sturm–Marc Savard–Byron Bitz
Milan Lucic–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton–Steve Begin–Daniel Paille
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Derek Morris
Andrew Ference–Dennis Wideman
Mark Stuart–Matt Hunwick
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Wild
Forwards
Andrew Brunette–Mikko Koivu–Antti Miettinen
Owen Nolan–Eric Belanger–James Sheppard
Robbie Earl–Kyle Brodziak–Cal Clutterbuck
Derek Boogaard–Nathan Smith/Andrew Ebbett–Danny Irmen
Defensemen
Greg Zanon–Nick Schultz
Marek Zidlicky–Kim Johnsson
Shane Hnidy- John Scott
Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
Goaltender Matchup
Bruins
Tim Thomas is 5-6-3 with a 2.33 GAA and .918 save percentage. Thomas has three shutouts this season.
Tuukka Rask has started the last four games for the Bruins, the longest string of starts in his NHL career. Rask has won three straight and is 6-2-1 with a 2.27 GAA and .919 save percentage.
Wild
Niklas Backstrom is 8-9-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Josh Harding is 0-3-0 with a 3.92 GAA and .849 save percentage.
Stat Sheet
Bruins
Patrice Bergeron continued his brilliant season with four assists in the Bruins’ 4-2 win over the Blues on Monday night. Bergeron has five points in his last two games and leads the team in goals with seven and points with 18.
Captain Zdeno Chara has four points in his last five games. He is now second on the team in points and first on the Bruins' blue line with 13. He also leads the Bruins in assists with 12.
Marco Sturm scored a shorthanded goal, giving the Bruins a 4-2 lead in the third period Monday to seal the game. Sturm (six goals, six assists) is now tied for third on the team in points with 12 and has three points in his last three games.
Blake Wheeler also has six goals and six helpers for 12 points. Wheeler scored a power-play goal Monday night and has four points in his last five games.
Mark Recchi scored a power-play goal Monday and has four points in his last five games. “The Wrecking Ball” has 10 points this season with four goals and six assists.
The Bruins have been outscored 55-54 this season. They are averaging 2.35 goals per game and 2.39 goals against.
The Bruins went 2-for-3 on the power play Monday and are 12-for-79 on the power play this season with a 15.2 percent success rate.
The Bruins penalty kill has allowed only 13 goals on 84 power plays and is ranked fourth in the NHL with an 84.5 percent success rate.
The Bruins are 5-3-2 on the road this season.
The Bruins are 1-1-0 against the Northwest Division this season.
The Bruins are 4-4-0 against the Western Conference this season.
Wild
Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu (six goals, 15 assists) leads the Wild with 21 points. The brother of Ducks forward Saku Koivu has a three-game point streak with a goal and two assists in that span. He also has five points in his last five games.
Andrew Brunette (eight goals, nine assists) is second on the team in scoring with 17 points. Brunette also has a three-game point streak with four points during that span.
Forward Eric Belanger (four goals, 10 assists) is third on the team in scoring with 14 points. Belanger had two helpers in a 3-2 win over the Islanders on Friday.
Forward Owen Nolan (six goals, four assists) has three points in his last three games. The only native of Northern Ireland in the NHL, Nolan scored the game-winner with 1:07 left in the 3-2 win over the Islanders on Friday. Nolan had two goals in the game for his 75th multi-goal game of his career.
Defenseman Marek Zidlicky (two goals, 10 assists) leads the Minnesota blue line with 12 points.
Former Bruin Chuck Kobasew has just three assists with the Wild since being traded to Minnesota on Oct. 18. He has one goal but that came with the Bruins.
The Wild has been outscored 66 to 53 this season and are averaging 2.41 goals per game and allowing three goals per game.
The Wild power play is 17-for-93 with an 18.3 success rate.
The Wild penalty kill has allowed power-play goals in six of their last eight games and nine goals total during that span. It has allowed 15 goals on 85 power plays and has an 82.4 percent success rate.
Minnesota is 6-3-0 at home this season.
Minnesota is 1-0-0 against the Northeast Division this season.
Minnesota is 5-1-2 against the Eastern Conference this season.
Black and Blue
Bruins
Goalie Tim Thomas is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that the "undisclosed" injury is in Thomas' right hand.
Wild
Forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Petr Sykora as well as defenseman Brent Burns are all out indefinitely with concussions. Sykora and Bouchard are on injured reserve.
Forward Martin Havlat is doubtful with a hamstring injury.
Forward Chuck Kobasew is probable with an upper-body injury.
This Date in Bruins History
On Nov. 25, 1984, Steve Kasper scores a hat trick in a 7-4 win over the Canadiens.
Overheard
“What you see tonight is what you get every night. He just works extremely hard. Some nights will go better than others. But he’s been reliable. Best faceoff man. We use him in all situations — late in games, power plays, PKs. He’s been doing it all. He’s been a big part of our success this year because of the way he’s handled himself.’’
—Head coach Claude Julien on Patrice Bergeron.
Press Box
Bruins
Bruins goalie Tim Thomas is still day-to-day with an injury.
Has Tuukka Rask become goalie 1A for the Bruins in Thomas’ absence?
The Bruins are finding their identity on this road trip.
Wild
The Wild are looking to build momentum after a five-day layoff.
Wild GM Chuck Fletcher is ready to wheel and deal at any time.
Here’s a great Wild blog by one of the best in the business, Michael Russo.
NHL
Who are the best 10 players of the decade?
Georges Laraque is asking for forgiveness from Niklas Kronwall after injuring the Red Wiings blue-liner with a knee-on-knee hit on Saturday.
Leafs GM Brian Burke is standing by his gay son.
Outlook
The Bruins must keep up their solid work ethic and passion which they have shown over the course of this three-game win streak. They also need to continue to work as a team and not think that the return of Lucic and Savard will equate to success coming any easier. Both of those players will obviously help, but as the Bruins showed recently, they are a deep team that is simply more within their element with Savard and Lucic on the ice.
The Bruins have a good chance to beat a Minnesota squad that is clearly down on itself, being the last place team in the Northwest Division and Western Conference. As long as the Bruins don’t enter the game with too much confidence, they should be able to complete the sweep of their four-game road trip.
