The Bruins host the Rangers today. The Rangers come to town after visiting Pittsburgh where they lost 6-2. The referees are Mike Leggo and Mike Hasenfratz.

The Bruins are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils on Thursday. New Jersey got plenty of bounces in that game, none going the Bruins' way. Chuck Kobasew, Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman scored for the Bruins.

Four of the last six games between these teams have been decided by shootout with Boston taking two and the Rangers two. Two of those shootout victories were 1-0 final scores last season with both goalies credited with shutouts in each game.

Pre-Game Puck Drop: Alicia Sacramone (Winchester, MA) will participate in a ceremonial puck drop before the game.

Goalies:
NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist (24-14-3, 2.61 GAA, .911 SV%), Steve Valiquette (5-3-1, 2.17 GAA, .929 SV%)
Boston: Tim Thomas (21-5-5, 2.15 GAA, .932 SV%), Tuukka Rask (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV%)

Injuries: Petteri Nokelainen, undisclosed, probable for the game. Manny Fernandez, back spasms, is out. Marco Sturm, knee surgery, out for the season.

Milestones: Zdeno Chara needs one point for 300 NHL points.

Today is the first home game of the season that I am missing. It's going to be a little weird. Make that very weird. I went to 24 straight home games, suffered through a sinus infection at the beginning of this month during the longest home stand of the season. Yet I never missed a game. Missed a first period, but not a game. With that said, keep an eye on my Twitter updates as I should be a frequent updater while I'm at work.

This will be the first Saturday where there will be a hockey and lacrosse doubleheader with the Blazers playing at 7:30. It will be interesting to see hockey many Bruins fans are still around for that game time.

Go Bruins!!

The New Jersey Devils visit the Bruins tonight in the second game of the Bruins' three-game homestand. It is the Devils first visit to Boston this season and the second meeting between these two teams. The Bruins won the first meeting of the season 2-0 in New Jersey on December 23rd.

The Bruins are coming off a 3-2 overtime win against the Southeast Division leading Washington Capitals. Tuesday's game was the return of Milan Lucic, Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron tallied an assist in the match up on Marc Savard's power play goal. The Bruins are 6-3-1 in their last ten games.

The Devils have a six game winning streak and are 7-3-0 in their last ten games. The Bruins will be looking to snap that winning streak as Phil Kessel (mononucleosis) and Michael Ryder (flu-like symptoms) will be returning to the line-up tonight.

Goalies: Projected starters in bold.
New Jersey: Kevin Weekes (4-4-0, 2.58 GAA, .914 SV%), Scott Clemmensen (20-9-1, 2.25 GAA, .923 SV%)
Boston: Tim Thomas (21-5-4, 2.08 GAA, .934 SV%), Tuukka Rask (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV%)

Injuries: Manny Fernandez, general soreness, is out. Marco Sturm, knee surgery, out for the season.

Milestones: Zdeno Chara needs one point for 300 NHL points.

Did You Know?: Phil Kessel missed his first game on Jan. 13 (mononucleosis), ending the team's longest current iron-man streak at 167 regular season games, dating back to Jan. 9, 2007 at Ottawa.

Did You Also Know?: Mark Stuart now has the team's longest current iron-man streak at 130 games dating back to Oct. 5, 2007, the first game of the 2007-08 season.

The Bruins will be wearing their third jerseys tonight. They are 6-1-1 while wearing those jerseys.

I got word late last night via a text message that Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference would be playing in tonight's game against the Capitals. It felt like Christmas Eve.

NESN was the first to break the news via GM Peter Chiarelli. And now it has been confirmed.

The last time I was this excited for a game was back in November. Unfortunately, I will be missing warm-ups tonight so pictures of the trio will have to wait until Thursday. I'm so glad to see them all back in the line-up. I have plans to lose my voice tonight.

The Bruins are back from their weekend break and practiced in Wilmington today. Excused were our All-Stars, Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard. Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ference and Milan Lucic all practiced. Tuukka Rask is even in the fold, recalled on an emergency basis.

Missing from practice are Manny Fernandez (Bruins need a goalie in practice to be productive) and Michael Ryder.

Phil Kessel took the ice solo after practice concluded.

Claude Julien is expected to address the media and explain about Fernandez and Ryder, and I will update as soon as that is available.

4:24 p.m. Fernandez will miss the next few games with "general soreness." Ryder has flu-like symptoms, but should be able to play tomorrow. Nothing too exciting. Ho hum.

- Source, The Boston Globe Bruins Blog

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Charles Dickens must have been talking about Monday's games against the St. Louis Blues.

The Bruins were down. Then the Bruins were up. They scored three goals in the third period in an insane amount of time that my hands were beet red from clapping so much. St. Louis had an empty net. The Bruins missed a chance. Then with about .7 seconds left on the clock, the red light behind Tim Thomas went on.

There was a review. A lengthy review. The replay was shown on the HDX jumbotron, something that doesn't happen often, especially before an official call is made. Fans made the unofficial call and chanted, "No goal!" But the reviewer saw it different. The stick might have started above the crossbar, but it matters where the stick met the puck. I know that, but I don't agree that it wasn't conclusive.

Then came overtime. The Bruins and Blues remained scoreless and I left after that. (I wanted to get back to work before the crowd followed. A Blues fan was there saying they left after the Bruins were up by two goals.) I got back to work just in time to see former Bruin Brad Boyes get the shootout winner.

I am hoping for a better result for tonight's game in Toronto. Aaron Ward might be back in the line-up, and Milan Lucic is questionable. I may check in during the game tonight. I know I say that and it doesn't happen, but I will at some point.

(If I made any mistakes regarding the game, don't be too harsh. I wrote this on the fly and turned a year older today.)

Tonight the Bruins host the Canadiens at the TDBanknorth Garden. After a blip in their season with a two game losing streak, the Bruins have won their last two games at home with 6-4 and 5-1 wins over Ottawa and Carolina, respectively. But the two game winning streak hasn't been quiet.

Manny Fernandez went down with "general soreness" after his win against Ottawa on Thursday. Tuukka Rask was recalled to back up Tim Thomas on Saturday. Then Kevin Regan was recalled, while Rask went back to Providence, and participated in practice yesterday. Now Rask is back in Boston to be back up tonight.

Milan Lucic also went down with an undisclosed injury suffered on January 6th. He skated with the team this morning and is listed as a game time decision.

Bruins fans received some bad news yesterday when reports came out that Phil Kessel will miss some significant time after being diagnosed with mononucleosis. He could miss up to a month.

The only good news is Shane Hnidy, after taking a puck in the eye in the game against the Wild, has been cleared to play tonight.

Rask isn't the only call-up from Providence. Martin St. Pierre has been steady in the Bruins line-up, even if he is sent down between games. Martins Karsums is also up in Boston and he recorded his first NHL point on Saturday. Lastly, Byron Bitz made his NHL debut on Saturday and notched his first NHL point assisting on Mark Stuart's goal.

Also out of the Bruins line-up are Marco Sturm (surgery today), Andrew Ference (leg) and Patrice Bergeron (concussion). Ference and Bergeron have been skating before the team the past couple of days. Bergeron took his first spin on the ice on Sunday, the Bruins' day off.

Across the Ice: The Montreal Canadiens have a four game winning streak. They have scored no less than five goals in each of those four games. In their last ten games, they are 8-1-1. Nine Canadiens players have point streaks. Don't think they're winning with a full line-up at the moment. They have a number of players out with injuries that include: Christopher Higgins, Mathieu Dandenault, Saku Koivu, Georges Laraque, Alex Tanguay and goaltender Carey Price.

Tonight will be a tough test for the Bruins facing their hot rivals in their last home game before a mini road trip on Thursday. The game can be seen on Versus.

The Bruins host the Senators tonight in their second match-up of the season. The Bruins visited Ottawa back in their season opening road trip. The Bruins won that game 4-2 with goals from Marco Sturm, Milan Lucic and two scored by Phil Kessel.

The Senators are coming off a 4-2 loss in Buffalo on Tuesday. Jason Spezza scored both Ottawa goals. Alex Auld was in goal and made 22 saves. Perhaps the biggest story to come out of that game was the biting incident that took place between Jarkko Ruutu and Andrew Peters. Ruutu will miss tonight's game while he serves a two game suspension.

Goalies: Not a clue as to who is starting tonight.
OTTAWA: Martin Gerber (4-8-1, 2.69 GAA, .907 SV%), Alex Auld (9-11-5, 2.64 GAA, .907 SV%)
BOSTON: Tim Thomas (16-4-3, 2.13 GAA, .932 SV%), Manny Fernandez (13-3-1, 1.96 GAA, .932 SV%)

Thought: What the heck is with both teams' goaltenders sharing the exact same save percentage? Weird.

Who's Hot: Martin St. Pierre since being recalled has helped the Bruins a lot. St. Pierre has three points in eight games and kills penalties... Nobody else right now as the Bruins are in the midst of a losing streak. Here's hoping they get back to winning and scoring goals tonight.

Who's Not: Personally, I need to see more from Petteri Nokelainen.

Injuries: Milan Lucic, undisclosed, will not play tonight... Shane Hnidy, eye, will not play tonight... Andrew Ference, fractured tibia, will not play tonight... Patrice Bergeron, concussion, out indefinitely... Marco Sturm, knee, out indefinitely.

Milestones: Marc Savard is playing his 700th NHL game tonight... Zdeno Chara needs one assist for 200 NHL assists... P.J. Axelsson needs one goal for 100 NHL/Bruins goals.

All-Star Nods: The NHL announced the Eastern reserves for the All-Star game today. Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard will all be going to Montreal for the game in a couple of weeks. The Bruin trio played in the All-Star game last year in Atlanta. Claude Julien will be coaching the Eastern squad. Left out of the festivities are Phil Kessel and Dennis Wideman who definitely deserved a shot to be there too. Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Matt Hunwick and Blake Wheeler are reportedly expected to play in the inaugural rookies vs. sophomores game.

The Bruins are looking to get back on the winning track. Without Milan Lucic in the line-up, the Bruins are thinning a bit up front with only 12 healthy forwards. Other lines will have to step up and get the team on the scoreboard first. Bruins also need to stay out of the penalty box. On the blue line, Aaron Ward will return to the line-up. Ward was out with a charley horse.

Tonight's game is the halfway point of the season being game 41. Let's hope the second half of the season is just as good as the first half, except for the past two games. Go Bruins!

When you're a hockey fan, hockey jerseys are the common apparel. My first jersey, back in 1997, was a black replica. When I went to my first Bruins' Wives Charity Carnival also in 1997, I got it autographed by my first favorite player Adam Oates and Rick Tocchet.

My second jersey had to be a Joe Thornton white replica, when he was drafted and broke into the NHL wearing #6. That got autographed at some point. Later I upgraded to an authentic Thornton white jersey, this time #19 with a captain's C on the front. I can't recall if that one got autographed or not. Sometimes it is hard to keep track.

The next player jersey I got was the old style vintage authentic jersey (back in 2004 mind you) of Nick Boynton. I wore it to practically every game after I finally got it since it took so long to arrive. I even won a laptop while wearing it for the second time so it had to be a little lucky. But I never ended up getting it autographed.

Then came the game-worn jersey addiction. I focused on Boynton jerseys for a bit. My first game-worn jersey was the 2003-2004 playoff home jersey, the seven game bummer of a series (up 3-1 only to lose 4-3) against Montreal. It proved to be too worn for me to wear so I purchased a pre-season worn jersey that I wouldn't worry too much about while wearing. I think the last game-worn Boynton jersey I purchased was an ugly third jersey and only because of the letter it had on it. That's when I started to focus on game-worn jerseys that had some kind of special meaning.

Then Andrew Alberts entered the picture during the lockout season in Providence. I never got any other types of jerseys of Alberts other than game-worn and I was very picky about which ones I got (the Katrina charity auction autographed on the fight strap, his first NHL goal and then the third jersey vintage style).

I haven't made a player jersey purchase in quite some time. After the way my favorites turned out (Thornton - traded, Boynton - traded, Alberts - traded), I didn't exactly want to jinx any other players, especially a player that was a favorite. Come to think of it, I'm pretty certain there is a Oates replica practice jersey hanging in a closet between some other teams' jerseys, so add that to the jinx record.

I vowed I wouldn't buy another player jersey... at least until 2010. But I couldn't stop somebody from buying a player jersey for me for Christmas, now could I?

I received the gift after the last home game in 2008. I promised to wear it on January 1st when the Bruins hosted the Penguins, but after being welcomed to the New Year with an awful head cold, I didn't want to debut the jersey and cover it with germs. On the 3rd, I was late to the game because I was still sick. Then this past Tuesday I had to work before the game and I wanted to bring the least amount of stuff I could. Needless to say after a week's delay, the jersey will make its debut tonight.

I will post who the player's name is on the back on Friday... Unless he gets hurt. (Wouldn't that be the ultimate kicker in jinxes?) I will then deny I have a new player jersey. Although, I figured since I didn't buy the jersey myself, the curse should be broken. Right? All of the other jerseys I bought with my own tainted money.

Now I want you to tell me the story about your first Bruins (or other favorite team) jersey. Then what you prefer, blank or player jerseys? Do you only own one jersey? What are your fondest memories that involve your jersey(s)?

The Bruins are on a two game losing streak. The Buffalo Sabres handed them their first loss on Saturday, and the Minnesota Wild followed up by shutting the Bruins out 1-0 last night. It marked the first time the Bruins lost consecutive games in regulation this season.

Before the losing began, the Bruins had a 10 game winning streak and a 14 home game winning streak. Tomorrow when the Bruins host the Ottawa Senators in their first second match-up of the season would be a good time to start a new winning streak.

In season's past, fans were so used to losing that a win was often a welcomed surprise. Now it's the opposite of that happening. On Saturday, I noted how I would rather be used to winning than used to losing. I don't want to get used to losing this season.

The Bruins' play as of late started slipping. It didn't go unnoticed by fans and it certainly didn't go unnoticed by coach Claude Julien. One of the practices I attended in December, Julien made a defenseman repeat the breakout pass until he made it tape-to-tape. It took the defenseman (who I won't rat out) three attempts before he nailed it. Julien doesn't let the small things slide in practices, and I think the Bruins will come out all gears turning tomorrow.

One last thing worth mentioning is the great play of both Bruin goaltenders. There hasn't been many seasons where the team had two goalies that could easily come in and win a game and this season we have been blessed with that. The NHL took notice of it too, awarding the "First Star" for the month of December to both Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez. They combined for a 12-1-0 record (Thomas, 7-0-0; Fernandez, 5-1-0) with two shutouts on the month.

After battling my first cold of 2009 (ironically it started on New Year's Day), I will be back posting regularly so look for the preview tomorrow.

Hope everybody had a Happy New Year. I'm hunkered down on the couch watching the NHL's Winter Classic live from Wrigley Field in Chicago. I watched some of the NHL Network's coverage of the practices yesterday. I can't help thinking what a cool thing it would be to have one of these games at Fenway Park.

I was debating doing a live-blog, but I know little about either teams. I might pop in and jot some thoughts down during the game.

Meanwhile, the Bruins host the Penguins tonight at the TDBankNorth Garden. The two teams met on Tuesday and the Bruins won 5-2. Martin St. Pierre was sent down to Providence and has been recalled again. Petteri Nokelainen is still sidelined. Tim Thomas will be getting the start tonight.

I'll check in a bit with some thoughts on the Winter Classic. But for now, the rink looks amazing. The teams just walked out.