The Boston Bruins (31-20-3) play host to the Philadelphia Flyers (24-19-9) on Thursday night. It is the first of three regular-season matchups between these two teams, and the first time these two teams will meet since the preseason. 

The Bruins have been hot; conversely, the Flyers have not been. The black and gold enter this game with an undefeated home record in January and with wins in 11 of their last 14. The Flyers, however, have two wins in their last 11 games, though they came against Vegas and Colorado.

In a tight Eastern Conference, the Bruins (65 points) sit in the second wild-card spot, the Flyers (57 points) sit two spots behind the B’s. 

Bruins Morning Skate Notes

The Bruins held a morning skate at the TD Garden on Thursday at 10:30 AM.

Elias Lindholm did not join the black and gold for the skate. He left Tuesday’s game early with a lower-body injury. 

“As of right now, day-to-day, so hopefully not too long,” Sturm said about Lindholm. “He just had treatments yesterday. Today, he’s going to be with the doctors. So, hopefully we are going to know more tonight.”

Fraser Minten will move up to the first line and play with Pastrnak and Geekie on his wings. Minten skated on the top line after Lindholm left Tuesday’s game. 

“He showed it before, [Minten] is an easy one for me,” Sturm said about Minten’s chemistry on the first line. “Nothing really should change in his game just because he’s playing with two really good players.”

Poitras has 24 points (8-16–24) with Providence this season, including six points in his last 10 games. He has skated in 66 games with the NHL side in his career, with six goals and 20 assists.

“I think just simplifying my game and trying to play fast and moving my feet,” Poitras said about the adjustments to his game. “I feel like when I simplify my game, the other stuff kind of just takes care of itself.” 

“He’s got to be himself, I don’t need to see anything special out of him,” Sturm said about Poitras. “I want to see him go up and down, and play really good defensively.” 

“He was a guy I really trust. Especially in the middle, so I’m not really worried about that. That’s why there was not really a hesitation to call him up.”

The Bruins announced Matt Poitras’ recall on Thursday morning. He will skate as the third-line center against Philadelphia, playing in between Mikey Eyssimont and Marat Khusnutdinov.  

Expected Bruins Lines
Forwards

Morgan Geekie – Fraser Minten – David Pastrnak

Casey Mittelstadt – Pavel Zacha – Viktor Arvidsson

Mikey Eyssimont – Matt Poitras – Marat Khusnutdinov

Tanner Jeannot – Sean Kuraly – Mark Kastelic

Defensemen

Jonathan Aspirot – Charlie McAvoy

Nikita Zadorov – Andrew Peeke

Hampus Lindholm – Mason Lohrei

Source: Belle Fraser (Boston Bruins)

Starting Goalie

Jeremy Swayman (21-12-2, 2.86 GAA, .903 SV%)

Source: Marco Sturm

Expected Flyers Lines
Forwards

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Nikita Grebenkin

Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett

Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink

Carl Grundstrom – Lane Pederson – Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Cam York – Travis Sanheim 

Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale

Emil Andrae – Noah Juulsen

Source: Last night

Starting Goalie

Samuel Ersson (8-9-5, 3.39 GAA, .860 SV%) 

Source: Expected (Dan Vladar played last night)

Special Teams

After going zero-for-four on Tuesday, the Bruins’ power play (26.9%) ranks fourth in the NHL. They have scored 12 goals on 35 attempts in January, which is the second-best in the league. The Bruins’ penalty kill (77.8%) has moved down a spot to 22nd; they went three-for-four against the Predators.

Philadelphia’s power play (15.1%) is dead last in the NHL. Since the New Year, they have scored six goals on 45 attempts, and they have also conceded three shorthanded goals. Their penalty kill (78.4%) ranks 20th. This month, in 13 games, they have allowed 14 power play goals, but they have scored three shorthanded goals themselves. 

Season Series

Thursday, January 29: Flyers @ Bruins

Saturday, February 28: Bruins @ Flyers

Sunday, April 5: Flyers @ Bruins

Upcoming Schedule

Sunday, February 1: Bruins @ Lightning, 6:30 PM 

Wednesday, February 4: Bruins @ Panthers, 7:00 PM

Olympic Break, February 6-24

Thursday, February 26: Blue Jackets @ Bruins, 7:00 PM

Saturday, February 28: Bruins @ Flyers, 3:00 PM

Thursday, March 3: Penguins @ Bruins, 7:00 PM

How To Watch

7:00 PM

TV: NESN

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub