BOSTON — The Boston Bruins begin a back-to-back set at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers are four points behind the Bruins for the last wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with two more games played than the Original Six club. It goes without saying that Saturday is as close to a must-win as it gets for the Flyers.
The Bruins likely will use the same lines and pairings that head coach Claude Julien deployed at the end of Thursday night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames.
Chris Kelly should remain on the third line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. Max Talbot will remain on the fourth line, but his exact position is unknown because normal fourth-line center Gregory Campbell is returning to the lineup following a short absence with an upper body injury. Talbot is a versatile player capable of playing down the middle or on either wing, so Julien is able to mix and match players on that line if needed.
Campbell’s insertion into the lineup will result in young right winger Brian Ferlin being a healthy scratch, per Julien. Ferlin played well when he was recalled for his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 20, but he hasn’t made much of an impact with zero points and four combined shots over the last four games
Tuukka Rask is expected to start in net for the Bruins. He made 29 saves on 32 shots Thursday against the Flames.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (31-22-10, fourth in Atlantic)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Reilly Smith
Milan Lucic–Ryan Spooner–David Pastrnak
Chris Kelly–Carl Soderberg–Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille–Gregory Campbell–Max Talbot
Zdeno Chara–Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski–Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug–Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (28-25-12, fifth in Metropolitan)
Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek
Ryan White-Brayden Schenn-R.J. Umberger
Chris VandeVelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Zac Rinaldo
Nick Schultz-Mark Streit
Michael Del Zotto-Luke Schenn
Carlo Colaiacovo-Andrew MacDonald
Steve Mason
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
