The Boston Bruins have one win in their last seven games and face another tough test on the road Wednesday night against the Minnesota Wild.
Bruins first-line center David Krejci might return to the lineup. He has missed the last 11 games and 20 of 31 overall with an undisclosed injury.
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If Krejci does play, Loui Eriksson should be on his right wing. Eriksson has scored just five goals this season and must prove he’s still a legitimate top-six forward. Playing Eriksson alongside an elite playmaker such as Krejci should put the Swedish winger in better scoring positions.
The Wild are facing some injury/illness problems of their own. Veteran Niklas Backstrom is not at 100 percent, forcing the team to call up former Boston University goaltender John Curry.
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Tuukka Rask has started nine of the last 10 games in net for Boston, so backup netminder Niklas Svedberg could play against the Wild. Starting a goalie on the second leg of a back-to-back after he also played the previous night normally is a bad idea.
The Wild defeated the Bruins 4-3 on Oct. 28 at TD Garden. Wednesday’s matchup is the final regular-season meeting between these teams.
Here are the projected lineups for Bruins-Wild:
BOSTON BRUINS (15-13-3, sixth in Atlantic)
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Loui Eriksson
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Seth Griffith
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Craig Cunningham
Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Morrow
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller
Niklas Svedberg
MINNESOTA WILD (16-12-1, fifth in Central)
Zach Parise-Mikael Granlund-Thomas Vanek
Jason Zucker-Mikko Koivu-Jason Pominville
Nino Niederreiter-Charlie Coyle-Justin Fontaine
Brett Sutter-Erik Haula-Kyle Brodziak
Ryan Suter-Jonas Brodin
Marco Scandella-Christian Folin
Nate Prosser-Justin Falk
Niklas Backstrom
Click for a Bruins-Wild preview >>
Thumbnail photo via Kevin Hoffman/USA TODAY Sports Images
