Berkshire Bank Faceoff: Projected Lines, Pairings For Bruins-Rangers

The Boston Bruins won’t have to face one of the NHL’s best goaltenders when they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist won’t play, per the team. He was hit with a puck in the throat area during a game on Jan. 31.

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Backup goalie Cam Talbot will start in net for the Blueshirts. He started in New York’s first meeting with Boston this season and gave up three goals in a 3-0 loss at TD Garden on Jan. 15. Talbot is 4-4-1 with a .926 save percentage in 11 games played.

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Tuukka Rask is expected to start in net for Boston after being the first netminder off the ice at the morning skate. He was 7-1-3 with a league-leading .949 save percentage and a 1.61 goals against average in January.

Bruins forward Milan Lucic didn’t practice Tuesday because of the flu, but he did travel to New York on Wednesday.

Here are the projected lineups for both teams:

BOSTON BRUINS (27-16-7, fourth in Atlantic)

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Reilly Smith
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-David Pastrnak
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Craig Cunningham

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Adam McQuaid
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

NEW YORK RANGERS (29-15-4, third in Atlantic)

Rick Nash-Derek Stepan-Martin St. Louis
Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin-Derick Brassard-Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Lee Stempniak

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Kevin Klein
John Moore-Dan Boyle

Cam Talbot