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NHL on NBCSN: Penguins and Bruins renew hostilities

Pittsburgh Penguins v Boston Bruins - Game Four

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 07: Dennis Seidenberg #44 and Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins shake hands with Sidney Crosby #87 and Paul Martin #7 of the Pittsburgh Penguins after the Bruins defeated the Penguins 1-0 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the TD Garden on June 7, 2013 in Boston, United States. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Throughout the season, NBCSN will feature the NHL’s fiercest rivalries on Wednesday nights. Tonight the Boston Bruins will head to CONSOL Energy Center to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8:00 p.m. ET. In addition to NBCSN, you can also watch the game online.

When the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins faced off in the Eastern Conference Final last season, many expected it to be a knock-down, drag-out war on the ice. Instead, the Bruins gave the Penguins the bum’s rush, sweeping them out in four straight.

Now that they’re meeting for the first time this season, both teams have seen plenty of changes. Jarome Iginla switched sides, signing with the Bruins over the summer after choosing to be traded to Pittsburgh instead of Boston from Calgary last season.

Gone are Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, and Nathan Horton and new guy Loui Eriksson is out with a concussion, although that’s getting better. Boston’s favorite player to hate, Matt Cooke, left Pittsburgh for Minnesota in the offseason, taking some of the heat of this rivalry with him.

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The Penguins return home coming off a win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Before that, however, they had lost three in a row. Kris Letang’s return to action helped get their defense back to full speed for all of a game and a half before Rob Scuderi went out with an ankle injury.

Scuderi isn’t alone on the injured list. James Neal is still out with an upper-body ailment and Chuck Kobasew will be out for Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury. Beau Bennett is still day-to-day.

The Bruins would like to forget all about their loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Boston held a 3-1 lead after the first period only to see the struggling Devils chip away and score twice in the final two minutes en route to a 4-3 win. You’d never know the Bruins had won four in a row previous to that with how disappointed they were in losing to the Devils.

This game boils down to its stars though. David Krejci and Milan Lucic lead the way on offense for Boston while Sidney Crosby has 20 points in 12 games to lead the NHL. Patrice Bergeron may have his hands full in trying to shut down Crosby the way he and Zdeno Chara did in the playoffs.

In goal, Tuukka Rask is off to a great start for Boston and Marc-Andre Fleury is playing strong in his own right for the Penguins.

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT