BOSTON — The Bruins should be at full strength Monday night as they return home to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.
Center Ryan Spooner, who missed the final game of Boston’s six-game road trip with an illness, and defenseman Torey Krug, who left that game early after sustaining a hit from behind late in the third period, both participated in Monday’s morning skate and are expected to be in the lineup against Columbus.
The Bruins took eight of a possible 12 points on their season-long trip, capping it off with a 7-3 rout of the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Their task now will be translating that momentum into success on home ice, where the Bruins have struggled this season, going just 12-14-3 in games at the Garden.
The Blue Jackets also have given the Bruins problems this season, taking them to overtime in each of the teams’ first two meetings. Boston was able to pull out wins in both of those games, but players on Monday stressed the importance of not underestimating the Metropolitan Division bottom-feeders.
“They’re actually a really good team,” Bruins winger Brad Marchand said. “I think if you take their start away, then they’re a really tough team to play against, and they’ve been playing a lot better lately. It’s always a hard game. They play hard, they battle hard, they compete, and I think we just try to play a similar game. They’ve been very close games, and I’m sure again it’ll be a very close game (Monday night).”
Here are projected lines and pairings for Monday’s matchup:
BOSTON BRUINS (32-21-6)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Loui Eriksson — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo — Joonas Kemppainen — Landon Ferraro
Zdeno Chara — Kevan Miller
Joe Morrow — Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid
Jonas Gustavsson
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (23-29-7)
Boone Jenner — Brandon Dubinsky — Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell — Alexander Wennberg — Brandon Saad
Matt Calvert — William Karlsson — Nick Foligno
Rene Bourque — Gregory Campbell — Kerby Rychel
Ryan Murray — Seth Jones
Jack Johnson — David Savard
Fedor Tyutin — Dalton Prout
Joonas Korpisalo
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
