The Edmonton Oilers square off against the NHL’s best team when they face the Boston Bruins Monday night at Rogers Place (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 5 p.m., game at 6:30 p.m.).
The Bruins are 45-8-5 and lead Carolina by nine points for top spot in the NHL.
“They’re a very balanced team. They can hit in you different ways. They play the game simple. It’s simple but it’s done very well,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “They don’t beat themselves. There’s nothing for free out there when you play them.”
“It’s a hard-nosed, nothing easy, nothing free, hard working team,” said Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “They have to skill players to make you pay if you start making mistakes.”
Klim Kostin is expected to return to the Oilers lineup after missing five games with an illness.
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“I couldn’t even talk. My throat was that sore,” said Kostin. “Three, four days was really tough.”
The Bruins will be without former Oiler Taylor Hall. He’s returned to Boston with a lower body injury.
Jeremy Swayman will start in net for the the Bruins. Fellow keeper Linus Ullmark scored an empty net goal Saturday to seal a 3-1 win in Vancouver.
“Go in! Go in!” said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery when asked what he was thinking when Ullmark tried the shot. “Our goalies have tried a couple of times and just missed.”
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