Need to Know: Bruins vs. Capitals

BOSTON - The Bruins will wrap up their five-game homestand on Sunday afternoon when they welcome the Washington Capitals to TD Garden. The Caps were in town last Sunday for the homestand opener, which resulted in an 8-1 drubbing of the banged up Black & Gold.
Boston is hoping for a much different result this time around with a number of different bodies in the lineup, including Tuukka Rask, who will make his second start since returning from an upper-body injury.
The Bruins will also have new acquisitions Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, and Mike Reilly, all three of whom have made noticeable impacts over the course of their first three games in the Spoked-B.

Reilly has helped to shore up Boston's back end, which was ravaged by injuries when these teams met last weekend. The 27-year-old blue liner has played over 22 minutes in each of his three games with the Bruins and has picked up assists in each of the last two, including a stellar feed to David Pastrnak in Friday night's win over the Islanders.
"That's exactly what I wanted," Reilly said of joining a contender. "I played against Boston a lot when I was in Montreal. From years past, playing against one another, I know the build of the team and the guys they have, seems like they have a ton of depth here. That's the first thing I saw. And obviously the leadership…just trying to round out my game more and more.
"The defensive side of things, be hard on guys and when I can try to be physical a little bit. That's been huge for me, being able to get the puck back more, jump in the play more and get to play a little more offense too. I think if you have that mentality it's gonna be great for all five guys on the ice.
"It's been a great couple days here. Everyone's been really welcoming to me, including [the media]. Definitely appreciate it."
Matt Grzelcyk (upper body), Brandon Carlo (upper body), and Kevan Miller (undisclosed) will remain out of the lineup against the Capitals.

Opposing View

Like the Bruins, Washington will look a bit different than when the team's met last Sunday at TD Garden. The Capitals made their own moves at the deadline, shipping forwards Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for burly winger Anthony Mantha.
The 6-foot-5, 234-pounder brings plenty of size and power to Washington's lineup and has already made an impact with two goals and an assist in two games.
The Caps also acquired forward Michael Raffl from the Flyers for a 2021 fifth-round pick.
Washington, coming off a 5-2 loss to the Sabres on Thursday night, hit the road for a back-to-back slate to take on Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon (a 6-3 victory) before Sunday's matinee against the Black & Gold.

By the Numbers

• Charlie Coyle is one point shy of his 300th NHL point
• David Pastrnak is three goals short of his 200th NHL goal.
• Brad Marchand is four points shy of his 700th NHL point
• The Bruins have scored 20,995 goals in their history (deciding shootout goals not included) and are now five shy of their 21,000th goal.

Sunday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - David Krejci - Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly - Curtis Lazar - Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Jeremy Lauzon - Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly - Connor Clifton
Jakub Zboril - Steven Kampfer
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask
Jeremy Swayman