Today on Bruins Daily

The injury riddled Bruins make their second stop in their Western Canadian trip where they take on former Bruin defenseman Andrew Ference and the rest of the Edmonton Oilers. Dan St. Pierre will have a statistical outlook of tonight’s matchup later on, and of course you can follow us on Twitter at @BruinsDaily for updates. Also be sure to include #DailyLive in your tweets.

Relive what Ference had to say about leaving Boston during the team’s breakup day back in June

In case you missed it

Want to relive Jarome Iginla’s return to Calgary Tuesday night? Of course you do! Here is my piece on Iginla’s emotional return to the Saddledome.

Know the enemy

When will the rebuilding mode end in Edmonton? At this rate that is a good question.

Some pundits predicted that this Oilers team would finally make the playoffs for the first time since making a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006. There was good reasoning for that, too, as youngsters like Taylor Hall, Nail Yakupov, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were looking to take the next step in their careers.

So far, Hall, Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins are producing at a good rate, but Yakupov is fighting a sophomore slump and the Oilers aren’t getting much secondary scoring from their bottom-six forwards. Moreover, despite the addition of Ference, Edmonton’s blue-line is still a work in progress, and Devan Dubnyk’s production is regressing with every game.

On paper, the Black and Gold should walk away with two points. They will have their hands full with Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins and former St. Louis forward David Perron, but, despite the injury bug, they still have the edge in experience. And that could play a factor again if they fall behind, much like it did in Calgary Tuesday night.

Bruins linkage

The Bruins put out another teaser for “Bear & The Gang” and the Days of Y’Orr crew is speechless – we think – after seeing the Bear use the Shake Weight. (DOY)

Another leftover from Saturday’s ugly night against the Penguins as Mick Colageo says Thornton’s ban will be a lengthy one. (Standard Times’ Rink Rap Blog)

It’s no secret that Reilly Smith has gotten a lot of praise here at Bruins Daily as our own Chris Chirichiello has already named him Player of the Week three times during the 2013-14 season. That praise continues with Jesse Connolly’s stellar piece on “The life of Reilly…” (New England Hockey Journal)

League linkage

Patrick Sharp is living up to his reputation – and his last name – as his versatility continues to help the Chicago Blackhawks. (Nina Falcone/CSN Chicago)

Brandon Dubinsky makes his return to New York as the Blue Jackets and Rangers face off in a Metropolitan Division snoozefest matchup. (NHL.com)

These 10 players have seen their Olympic stock plummet, including Pens defenseman Kris Letang who still looks as lost as Tom Hanks in the movie “Cast Away”. (Greg Wyshynski/Puck Daddy)

Bruins’ projected lines

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Matt Fraser-Ryan Spooner-Carl Soderberg
Nick Johnson-Gregory Campbell-Jordan Caron

Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Matt Bartkowski
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Chad Johnson

Oilers’ projected lines

David Perron-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall-Sam Gagner-Nail Yakupov
Jesse Joensuu-Mark Arcobello-Ales Hemsky
Luke Gazdic-Aaron Lander-Ryan Jones

Phillip Larsen-Andrew Ference
Nick Schultz-Justin Schultz
Anton Belov-Jeff Petry

Devan Dubnyk
Jason LaBarbera

Tweets of interest

Breaking news in Calgary as they finally give its GM the pink slip:

Breaking: Jay Feaster fired as Flames GM.

— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) December 12, 2013

I’m sure Dan will include this tidbit in his statistical outlook for tonight:

Last time EDM beat BOS was in Oct 2000. Dan LaCouture’s first career NHL goal was the game winner. And he’s from Massachusetts

— Kevin Gibson (@TSNResearch) December 12, 2013

For something completely different

George Takei is well-known for his role as Hikari Sulu in “Star Trek”, but even these days, he knows how to stay in shape. Don’t believe me? Just ask Conan O’Brien.