Boston has one more game before this one: a Saturday matinee at home against Chicago. That result decides whether the Bruins come into Monday having stopped the slide or still in it, and it tells us who's in net, since Swayman's last start was one to forget. Vegas has nothing scheduled in between. It gets the cross-country flight and a couple of practice days to figure out why the offense went quiet after the 1st period against the Devils.
Coming home should help Boston. As of the Blues loss, the Bruins were 5-1-0 at TD Garden and 4-3-1 on the road, and 12 of their next 14 games are at home. The trip also left them with the same problem both nights: no scoring after the first goal. Hagens is giving them real production up front, with 10 points this season. David Pastrnak's message after St. Louis was simply to come to work the next day and get better. Saturday against Chicago is the first chance to show it.
For Vegas, Marner is the storyline. He's back, and he scored the overtime winner against the Kings earlier this month during that 4-game run. But the Devils game was a reminder that one returning star doesn't fix a team that got outscored 3-0 after the 1st period on its own ice. Puck drop is 7:00 PM ET. Two teams coming off a bad loss, one of them with a game still to play, so this one depends on which club shows up in better shape.