Game Day Notes: Bruins at Penguins, 7:30 p.m. -- Last game before the bye week

PITTSBURGH -- The Boston Bruins 11-1-2 in their last 14 games and have earned points in 10 straight with an 8-0-2 record. They're coming off a 7-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night at TD Garden and will face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at PPG Paints Arena.

It's the last game before the bye week and the Bruins are hoping to finish on a strong note. After tonight's game, the Bruins won't be on the ice again until the team's practice on Friday in Montreal in preparation for its game against the Claude Julien and the Canadiens on Saturday at Bell Centre.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy isn't sure how the team will react with the bye week, especially with the team on a roll.

"We'll see what happens," Cassidy said. "It's always good to get rest in the middle of the year. It's going to  be the second (break) of three in a short period of time, so for me, if they're spaced out a little better it would probably be more effective for the players. It is what it is but we're going on (break) feeling good about our game, which is the good news and hopefully we'll come back re-energized."

A win before the five-day hiatus between games would help.

"We'd like to have it," he said. "Don't think it's going to affect us a whole lot. We want to go out and play well. We talked about play our game, play to our identity and usually it'll work out fine. We're playing a very good hockey club, the Stanley Cup champions, so we're going to have to play well and hopefully we do get the result we want."



Friend or foe: As far as tonight's game, both team are coming off impressive wins. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby registered a four-point game during Pittsburgh’s 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday. He had one goal and three assists in that game and now has 31 career games with at least four points, which is the most by any player in the NHL since making his debut in 2005-06.

Crosby's good friend, Patrice Bergeron did one better against the Hurricanes. He scored four goals and added an assist to match a career-high with a five-point game.

Masked men: Tuukka Rask enters tonight's game with a career-best 12-game point streak with an 11-0-1 record, including his 39th and 40th shutouts. He has a 1.26 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage in his last 13 games. Overall, he's 14-8-3 with a 2.09 GAA and a .925 SP in 26 games this season. In 17 career games against the Penguins, Rask is 9-6-2 with a 2.30 GAA and a .926 SP, including two shutouts. Tristan Jarry will get the nod for the Penguins tonight. He's 2-2-0 with a 1.13 GAA and a .963 SP in his last four games.

Special teams: This is an important game for the Bruins to remain disciplined against a potent Penguins power play, which is ranked No. 1 in the league. Boston went 2-for-3 on the PK against the Hurricanes and overall the Bruins are 100-for-119 this season. On the power play, the Bruins are 27-for-128.

Injury update: Cassidy plans on using the same lineup, but Ryan Spooner will be a game-time decision. He missed the final 10 minutes of Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury. The Bruins held an optional skate Sunday morning. If Spooner is unavailable, Frank Vatrano will return to the lineup.