• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Bruins try to avoid first loss to Oilers in over 10 years

Feb 27, 2011 - 4:01 PM (Sports Network) - So far, so good for Boston on its six-game road trip. That isn't likely to change given the club hasn't lost to Edmonton in over 10 years.

The Bruins take aim at their ninth straight victory over the Oilers this evening at Rexall Place in the first NHL battle between the top two picks of the 2010 draft.

Boston has won the first four contests of its road trip, improving to 20-7-4 as the guest this season. The Bruins have outscored their opponents, 16-7, so far on the swing and are coming off Saturday's 3-1 victory over the NHL- leading Canucks.

Vancouver native Milan Lucic had the game-winning goal for Boston in the third period and also assisted on Patrice Bergeron and Nathan Horton's goals.

"It's almost the perfect ending to a perfect couple of days here in Vancouver for myself," said Lucic. "It was great to see our whole team battle throughout the whole night and get that win."

Tim Thomas made 27 saves for the Bruins, who remained four points up on the second-place Canadiens in the Northeast Division but did lose defenseman Andrew Ference to a lower-body injury in the first period.

Boston, which ends its road trip on Tuesday in Ottawa, hasn't lost to the Oilers since an Oct. 17, 2000 road setback. That eight-game run includes three straight shutout victories as well as three wins in a row at Edmonton.

The Oilers haven't scored versus the Bruins since their 5-4 overtime loss at home on Dec. 3, 2005.

Edmonton, which is last in the NHL with 48 points, may struggle ending that scoring drought tonight given that it is coming off a 5-0 loss to St. Louis that snapped a three-game home winning streak in the opener of a four-game residency. The Oilers had won four of five overall coming into the game.

"We have to look at the positives out of this," said Edmonton defenseman Jim Vandermeer. "I mean, we came into the game winning four of five, but we just came out flat. We just have to remember what we were doing and forget about this game."

Devan Dubnyk gave up all five goals on 22 shots and was backed up by Martin Gerber as Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to miss a few days of action because of an eye infection.

Tonight is expected to be the first meeting between Taylor Hall, the 2010 top overall pick by the Oilers, and the Bruins' Tyler Seguin, who went second in the draft. Hall has 21 goals and 19 assists in 62 games this year, while Seguin has posted 10 goals and 11 helpers in 57 games.

Edmonton head coach Tom Renney doesn't think it is fair to compare the two prior to this meeting.

"Taylor gets a lot of minutes and plays a pretty significant role on our team, and Tyler is on a team that's deeper and with more experience and is a legitimate contender, so it equates into exactly what it is, where one is getting a little bit more opportunity than the other," Renney told Edmonton's website.

Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff is questionable tonight with a groin injury after getting hit by a shot versus the Blues, while Gilbert Brule is set to return to the ice after missing 27 of the past 30 games due to illness.