Bruins Morning Skate Notes: Projected Lines, Pairings Vs. Capitals

Capitals Jets Hockey BOSTON — The Bruins used the same lines and pairings at Saturday’s morning skate that they used in the first two regular-season games against the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings.

David Krejci still is “day-to-day,” according to B’s head coach Claude Julien. The veteran center skated for the first time Saturday morning. He suffered an undisclosed injury during a preseason game against the Red Wings on Oct. 4.

Julien said that fourth-line center Gregory Campbell, who also skated Saturday, hasn’t yet been cleared to take contact.

Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Capitals matchup. These combinations also were used during drills at morning skate. Tuukka Rask was the first goalie to exit the ice, so it looks like he will make his third straight start. The team hasn’t officially announced which goaltender will start, though.

Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly–Carl Soderberg–Loui Eriksson
Milan Lucic–Ryan Spooner–Matt Fraser
Daniel Paille–Craig Cunningham–Bobby Robins

Zdeno Chara–Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg–Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug–Kevan Miller
Extra: Matt Bartkowski

Tuukka Rask, Niklas Svedberg

— Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara was accidentally high-sticked by Milan Lucic during a drill at morning skate. The B’s captain took a few minutes to wipe his face and compose himself, but he finished practice and it didn’t appear to affect him after that.

— The Bruins registered just 17 shots on goal in Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, which matched their season-low from the 2013-14 campaign. Expect the B’s to be much more aggressive in the attacking zone Saturday night.

— Milan Lucic has started the regular season a little slower than most expected — zero points and just two hits in 30:24 of ice time. To be fair, he’s playing his first meaningful games since undergoing offseason surgery on his left wrist.

“I think as an individual, critiquing myself, I don’t think it’s acceptable the way I played the first few games,” Lucic said. “I’m aware of that, so I know what i have to do to get myself back into what I do best. And I need to start that here (Saturday night).”

— Alexander Ovechkin has played pretty well against the Bruins throughout his NHL career. Since the start of the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, Ovechkin has tallied five points (two goals, three assists) in five games versus Boston. Four of those points (two goals, two assists) came on the power play.

Ovechkin likes to position himself in the left faceoff circle during power plays, and the dark green dots on the chart below indicate he has a very high shooting percentage in that area when the Capitals have the man advantage.