The Bruins’ first game without Patrice Bergeron began with a 4-2 win over the Wild, who have only won once since January 9th. That day ended with the Bruins taking over second place in the Atlantic Division, and with Mike Yeo being relieved of his duties as head coach after spending nearly three and a half seasons in Minnesota.

Well, the B’s have a tougher test ahead of them this afternoon when they face the Red Wings who trail the Black and Gold by one point in the standings. A Bruins’ win will put them just two points behind the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic, but they are going to need a healthy Bergeron (game-time decision, undisclosed injury) to help the cause.

Gametime: 3:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: NBC/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 30-19-6 (66 points), Red Wings 28-18-9 (65 points)
Location: Joe Louis Arena

Bruins projected lines

Brad Marchand-Ryan Spooner-Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Loui Eriksson-Joonas Kemppainen-Jimmy Hayes
Landon Ferraro-Max Talbot-Zac Rinaldo

Zdeno Chara-Zach Trotman
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Morrow
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson

Red Wings projected lines

Henrik Zetterberg-Pavel Datsyuk-Justin Abdelkader
Dylan Larkin-Brad Richards-Tomas Tatar
Gustav Nyquist-Andreas Athanasiou-Tomas Jurco
Riley Sheahan-Luke Glendening-Darren Helm

Kyle Quincey-Danny DeKeyser
Brendan Smith-Mike Green
Xavier Ouellet-Alexey Marchenko

Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard

Matchup to watch: Spooner (or Bergeron) line vs. Datsyuk line

With 30 points in 40 games, veteran Pavel Datsyuk is still providing plenty of production for the Red Wings. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

Whether it’s Bergeron or Ryan Spooner centering the top line, the trio will have a tough task ahead defending against the Red Wings first line of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader. Sure, both Zetterberg and Datsyuk are seeing a decline in their stats with age, but their production is still valuable to the Red Wings. As for Abdelkader, the power forward creates space and can deliver bone-jarring hits at any second.

Dylan Larkin is making headlines as one of the leading Calder Trophy candidates, and certainly the Bruins D will have to keep an eye on him throughout the contest. The Bergeron or Spooner line, however, will need to dictate the tempo, and assuming they get the assignment against the Datsyuk line, the B’s top trio will need to keep the two veterans and the power forward in check.

Storyline to watch: Can the Bruins get a decisive win against a top-8 team?

With goals in six straight games and 11 of 12, Brad Marchand hopes to spark the Bruins past the Red Wings in a pivotal Valentine’s Day matchup. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

The last time the Bruins’ beat a current top-eight team — in either the East or the West — was over a month ago when they handled a shorthanded Devils squad in Newark. Since then, the Black and Gold are 0-3-0 current playoff teams, which includes the two blowout losses to the Kings and the Ducks on home ice.

Back in November, the Bruins defeated the Red Wings in both meetings, including an overtime win the day before Thanksgiving in a game where they were heavily outplayed for the majority of the contest. Beating them a third time can only help the B’s cause as GM Don Sweeney and company try to figure out how to shape their roster before the February 29th trade deadline.