Anton Khudobin

Oilers' McDavid invades Boston for 1st time (Jan 05, 2017)

Published Jan. 5, 2017 12:44 a.m. ET

BOSTON -- Bruins fans get their first up-close look at young Edmonton star Connor McDavid when the Edmonton Oilers visit TD Garden on Thursday night.

The home faithful will also get to see old friend Milan Lucic in another uniform for the second time as he returns with the Oilers.

McDavid, who turns 20 on Jan. 13, didn't play when the Oilers visited last season because of an injury, but he hits Boston locked in a league scoring battle with a pair of Pittsburgh Penguins.

Starting play Wednesday, McDavid was tied with Evgeni Malkin with 43 points, Malkin with two more goals and McDavid two more assists, atop the scoring. Sidney Crosby was just a point behind.

McDavid didn't add to his point total Tuesday night in Columbus, where the Oilers (19-13-7) became the 16th straight victims of the Blue Jackets and didn't offer up much resistance in the opener of a four-game trip.

"We didn't even come close to their pace or their tenacity or their relentlessness," McLellan said after the lackluster 3-1 loss. "We weren't anywhere near it."

Lucic said: "It was an opportunity for us to rise to the challenge and maybe play a bit of a better game to give ourselves a chance to win. But we never had a spurt where we were really good. I don't think we really rose to the occasion like we could have or should have."

Lucic, who helped the Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup, was traded to the Los Angeles Kings after the 2014-15 season, spent a year in LA and then signed a big free agent deal with the Oilers. He is seen as protection for McDavid, but has also had 10 goals and 26 points in 39 games.

He had a goal and two assists in two games against the Bruins last season.

The Oilers, who have lost three of their last four games, swept the two-game series with the Bruins last year, both by a 3-2 score -- one in overtime and the other in a shootout.

The Bruins, who have lost exactly as many games as they won (20-16-4) are coming off a dreadful performance as well, falling sheepishly to the New Jersey Devils 3-0 in Newark, N.J.

"Obviously, you lose games. And sometimes you can take a lot of positives out of it, despite the losses, but today I don't think there was too much," goaltender said Tuukka Rask after another loss to one of the lower-level teams in the NHL.

The loss came after a sweep of a home-and home with the Buffalo Sabres.

"We built something good against Buffalo, but you can't just expect things to fall in lace because of that. You have to show up every night," said Patrice Bergeron. "When you don't show up, I think everyone has to look at themselves in the mirror and realize that we're professionals and we're here to work hard every single game and night."

The Bruins got some good news Wednesday when David Backes returned to practice, cleared for full contact, after missing just two games with a concussion -- a problem he's dealt with before.

The club also placed goalie Anton Khudobin, signed to a two-year contract during the offseason for a second tour with the team on waivers. He was just 1-5-1 with unimpressive 3.06 goals-against average and .885 save percentage numbers.

The move cleared the way for Zane McIntire, who was 10-0 with a 1.41 goals against and .951 save percentage at Providence. The AHL's goaltender of the month for December was 0-2 with a 4.04 GAA in three games for the Bruins earlier this season.

The Bruins family was saddened Wednesday by the passing of 98-year-old Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt, the oldest living NHL player -- and the only person ever to be a player, captain, coach and general manager.