BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins are opening a five-game homestand on Tuesday when they host the Utah Mammoth for a 7 p.m. matchup.
It is the second of two regular-season meetings between the teams; the Bruins fell 3-2 to the Mammoth in Salt Lake City on Oct. 19. Now, though, the B’s feel like a new group.
“We looked at the game from when we played in Utah; we did some dumb stuff there. We came a long way, I can tell you that,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “It’s a good team. Very skilled, they play a high-paced game. We have to make sure we keep them off most of the time, on their long game.”
The Bruins are coming back from a three-game road trip, having collected four of the six available points. The team has won four of its last five games.
Charlie McAvoy returned to the lineup for Thursday’s win against the Winnipeg Jets after missing 11 games due to injury. He will remain on the first pair with Nikita Zadorov at TD Garden against the Mammoth.
“Happy to be back. Any time you’re out, you’re trying to put in a lot of work to get back. It’s always rewarding to come back,” McAvoy said. “We’ve been a really good team at home this year, so looking forward to keeping that going.”
Viktor Arvidsson (lower body) and Jonathan Aspirot (upper body) will not play on Tuesday after suffering injuries in Winnipeg, Sturm said. The next-man-up mentality is nothing new to the Bruins this season.
“It’s been really good. I think you’ve seen it this year, how it’s progressed when we started to understand Sturm’s system better, as the team has continued to grow and grow together,” McAvoy said. “We’ve pulled a lot of guys in here that we’ve gotten a lot out of; guys who have come in and been part of winning efforts. The group is big right now, but everybody brings something special to it.”
