The Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins are two teams moving in opposite directions. Boston will host Edmonton for the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season looking to snap a four-game losing skid while the Oilers will be seeking their fourth consecutive victory.

1. The first meeting between the Oilers and Bruins this season came back on December 19 in Edmonton. Boston got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Elias Lindholm and Mark Kastelic but they weren’t able to hold the lead.

Zach Hyman put the Oilers on the board in the second period and Connor McDavid tied the score at 2-2 in the dying minutes of the third frame. Just over one minute into overtime, Mattias Ekholm ripped a shot past Jeremy Swayman to give Edmonton the win.

2. If the Oilers can beat the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday, they’ll sweep the season series between the two teams for the first time since 2016-17. The Oilers and Bruins have split their season series in each of the past six seasons with one win each.

A win for Edmonton would also mark five consecutive seasons with a win in Boston. The last time the Bruins beat the Oilers at home was back in October of 2018.

3. The Bruins sit in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 20-17-5 record. They’re on pace to finish the season with 88 points, which would be their worst result since the 2006-07 season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers are fighting for the top spot in the Atlantic and the Bruins are working to hold off the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, who are three and five points back with multiple games in hand on Boston.

If the Bruins don’t turn things around in the second half of the season, they could miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

4. Jim Montgomery was fired after the Bruins got out to an 8-9-3 start and they’ve gone 12-8-2 with Joe Sacco as head coach.

The team got a bump immediately after the coaching change but it didn’t last long. The Bruins won seven of their first nine games with Sacco behind the bench and then went cold when they hit the road for a five-game trip against Western Conference teams in December.

They started with an 8-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets and then lost 5-1 to the Seattle Kraken. Boston managed wins over the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames and then lost to the Oilers in overtime to wrap up the trip.

The Bruins haven’t won more than two games in a row in over a month. Their current four-game skid has seen losses to the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Islanders.

5. Given the fact the Bruins rank 25th in the NHL in both goals for and against, their middling record is actually quite flattering.

David Pastrnak leads the team with 17 goals and Brad Marchand is right behind him with 15 goals. Justin Brazeau and Charlie Coyle are the only other players on the team who have reached 10 goals.

The Bruins signed Elias Lindholm to a seven-year contract worth $7.75 million annually and he’s been a massive disappointment in his first season in Boston. Just a few years removed from scoring 42 goals and 82 points as a member of the Flames, the Swedish pivot has just seven goals and 20 points in 42 games this year.

Another player who’s been very disappointing since signing a huge contract is Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins traded Linus Ullmark in the off-season and later came to terms on an eight-year, $66 million deal with their goaltender of their future. Through 29 appearances this season, Swayman owns an .891 save percentage.

6. The Bruins have been without top defender Hampus Lindholm since mid-November because of a lower-body injury and the team has badly missed his presence on their blueline.

Eight defencemn have suited up for the Bruins this season and three of them have an on-ice goal differential in the green: Lindholm at 11-7, Jordan Oesterle at 10-8, and Charlie McAvoy at 29-26. Parker Wotherspoon is breaking even at 7-7 while Brandon Carlo (25-28), Andrew Peeke (19-22), and Mason Lohrei (22-28) are all in the red.

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