Today on Bruins Daily

For the second time this season, the Boston Bruins are featured on NBCSN’s “Wednesday Night Rivalry”. Tonight, the Black and Gold face their Original Six foes in the Detroit Red Wings for a Thanksgiving Eve showdown at the Joe Louis Arena. This will be the third meeting between the two teams – and the first matchup in Detroit this year – with each squad notching a victory during the first month of the season in Boston.

Follow us on Twitter for complete coverage at @BruinsDaily and be sure to include #DailyLive in your tweets.

In case you missed it

Anthony Travalgia posted his three takeaways from the Bruins’ overtime win over the Penguins Monday night on Boston.com.

Your’s truly chipped in on why headlines don’t do any justice for Torey Krug after his overtime winner.

Chris Chirichiello takes a look at Loui Eriksson’s hot streak during the month of November.

Dan St. Pierre goes inside the success of the Bruins’ third line.

And last, but not least, Erika Leigh and I present to you our Thanksgiving edition of Bruins Daily TV.

Know the enemy

Unlike the last meeting where the Red Wings came out on top in a 3-2 triumph, head coach Mike Babcock won’t have a full compliment of players tonight. Pavel Datsyuk, the team’s second leading scorer with 23 points on the year, is still recovering from a concussion he sustained from Senators defenseman Jared Cowen Saturday night in Ottawa, while Todd Bertuzzi will miss his third straight contest with an upper body injury and goaltender Jimmy Howard is also out.

Jonas Gustavsson, who made 28 saves in the last meeting on Columbus Day, will fill in for Howard and get his second straight start against the Black and Gold. “The Monster” is doing quite well since coming over from Toronto in the off-season, going 5-0-1 with a 2.35 goals against average and .926 save percentage. With a shorthanded roster, Gustavsson will need to pull off a similar performance if Detroit wants to come away with the victory.

Detroit comes in tied for third in the Atlantic Division standings with 29 points, but are just 2-3-5 in their last 10. But with guys like Henrik Zetterberg (the team’s leading scorer with 28 points), Daniel Alfredsson (16 points) and Niklas Kronwall (15 points), the Bruins will have their work cut out for them.

Bruins linkage

In another example of leading by example (try saying that word three times fast), Bruins captain Zdeno Chara has established quite the blueprint inside the team’s locker room. (Kevin Paul Dupont/Boston Globe)

Prospects guru and all-around good guy Kirk Luedeke gives his latest roundup of the Bruins’ future. (Bruins.com)

The NHL announced a new Canadian TV rights deal with Rogers SportsNet, and it even impacts the Black and Gold. (Joe Haggerty/CSNNE)

League linkage

Speaking of the new Canadian TV deal, there were winners and losers that came out of the new 12-year contract with Rogers SportsNet. (Greg Wyshynski/Puck Daddy)

And yes, there is another contract to discuss, as the Red Wings announced that Jonathan Ericsson just signed a 6-year contract extension this morning. (Helene St. James/Detroit Free Press)

After battling an upper-body injury, James Neal, who scored twice against the B’s Monday night, is finding his stride. (Sean Griffin/The Hockey Writers)

Bruins’ projected lines

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson
Reilly Smith-Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Johnny Boychuk-Matt Bartkowski
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Chad Johnson

Red Wings’ projected lines

Johan Franzen-Henrik Zetterberg-Gustav Nyquist
Danny Cleary-Stephen Weiss-Mikael Samuelsson
Justin Abdelkader-Darren Helm-Daniel Alfredsson
Drew Miller-Joakim Andersson-Tomas Tatar

Niklas Kronwall-Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey-Brendan Smith
Jakub Kindl-Brian Lashoff

Jonas Gustavsson
Jimmy Howard

Tweets of interest

NBCSN named the Boston Garden as the toughest NHL venue ever to play in, and we had some good responses when we asked Bruins fans about their memories of the old barn:

NBCSN names the Boston Garden No. 1 in their 10 toughest @NHL arenas to play in at all time. What are your memories of the old barn?

— Bruins Daily (@BruinsDaily) November 27, 2013

@BruinsDaily @_ErikaLeigh @NHL Sitting in Promenade seats & having some of your view obstructed by the, what else? Overhang of the balcony! — Scott Greene (@Scotty_Ballgame) November 27, 2013

 

@BruinsDaily @NHL rats crawling on the t platforms, workers finding a monkey carcass in rafters when tearing down, and vertical seats. best — Christopher McKenzie (@ccmckenzie) November 27, 2013

 

@BruinsDaily @NHL the great Bruins teams of the 80s that ran up against the greatest team of all time

— KennyJervis (@kennycooks) November 27, 2013

For something completely different…

The ever popular and controversial Deadspin bought a vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and are turning their ballot over to its readers. And yes, in a complete shocker, some people have already made clever comments on what Deadspin should do with the vote.