It's no Garden party for Penguins in Boston taken in Boston (Penguins)

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Sidney Crosby, Dan Vladar

BOSTON -- Recent events suggest that the Penguins have a pretty good chance of taking two points from Boston when they face the Bruins tonight at 7:08 at TD Garden.

A longer look at history says otherwise.

For while the Penguins have been on a roll of late, going 11-2-1 in their past 14 games, and Boston is just 7-6-3 in its past 16, the Penguins rarely depart TD Garden with anything more than crushed hopes.

They are 0-8-2 in their past 10 visits, including a 3-1 overtime loss Jan 26 and a 4-1 defeat two nights later.

Still, while there is much about the Bruins for which the Penguins can be concerned, from Boston's outstanding No. 1 line of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak to its top-ranked penalty-killing unit, Mike Sullivan said Thursday that the Penguins' inability to win here since Dec. 16, 2015 does not make the list.

"To me, tonight is a new experience," he said. "It's a new opportunity fo us, regardless of what the history looks like. We've got an opportunity to control what's in front of us, and that's what we look at. I don't think that what's happened in the past has any influence on our ability to perform. That's the way we have to look at it."

Sullivan went on to explain why games at the Garden are pretty much the same as others the Penguins play on the road.

"I don't think it's any different than any other building," he said. "We're still playing the same game. The rules are the same. The dimensions of the rink are the same. It's not like ... we're trying to build a game plan for home versus away, a unique game plan for every building that we go in.

"We're trying to play the game that gives us the ability to play to our strengths and gives us the best chance to win. Regardless of who our opponent is. Regardless of where the game's being played."

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• Sullivan said that, as expected, Casey DeSmith will start in goal for the Penguins, but noted that the usual No. 1 goalie, Tristan Jarry, is on the trip. That's significant, because the Penguins plan to return home after facing the Bruins Saturday afternoon, so having him travel with the team suggests that his unspecified upper-body injury isn't particularly severe. Jarry officially is listed as "day to day."

• Winger Brandon Tanev, who has missed the past six games because of an undisclosed injury, will be a game-time decision, Sullivan said, although most indications are that he'll be in the lineup. Sullivan said injured center Teddy Blueger will not play tonight.

• Seventeen players -- 15 skaters and two goalies -- participated in the Penguins' optional game-day skate.

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