BOSTON — The Bruins have returned to TD Garden, where they will play four of their next five games and own a 12-6-4 record.
The next test is Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils, and Boston is expected to use a similar lineup to the one we saw in Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The only notable change should be rookie winger David Pastrnak’s insertion into the lineup. He has played in five games for Boston this season with one assist and 14 shots on goal.
Tuukka Rask might make his second consecutive start in net for the Bruins. He made 37 saves on 39 shots Wednesday night.
The Devils are aiming for their first three-game win streak since the beginning of the season. They’ve lost 10 of their last 14 games and were defeated 4-2 in the first meeting between these teams Nov. 10 at TD Garden.
New Jersey ranks 27th in the NHL in goals scored per game and 20th in goals against average, and even though its penalty kill has been OK this season, the unit has given up a power-play goal in three consecutive games.
Talented Devils rookie defenseman Damon Severson won’t play Thursday because of a fractured left ankle. Former Boston College star Cory Schneider will start in net for the Devils. He’s 14-18-4 with a 2.41 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (20-15-6, fourth in Atlantic)
Brad Marchand-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Milan Lucic-Patrice Bergeron-Daniel Paille
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Reilly Smith
Jordan Caron-Gregory Campbell-Craig Cunningham
Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller
Niklas Svedberg
NEW JERSEY DEVILS (15-20-7, seventh in Metropolitan)
Adam Henrique-Scott Gomez-Jaromir Jagr
Patrik Elias-Travis Zajac-Mike Cammalleri
Martin Havlat-Dainius Zubrus-Michael Ryder
Tuomo Ruutu-Tom Sestito-Jordin Tootoo
Andy Greene-Adam Larsson
Mark Fraser-Marek Zidlicky
Seth Helgeson-Jon Merrill
Cory Schneider
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
