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

The Boston Bruins have a tough road stretch ahead of them, but first, they’ll need to take care of business in their own building.

The Bruins will play host Saturday afternoon to the New York Islanders at TD Garden before embarking on a four-game road trip that includes contests on the West Coast against the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

The Islanders enter Saturday on a bit of a roll, having won four straight before falling to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. However, they suffered a major blow after starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak left Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’ll miss a minimum of six weeks with a lower body injury, leaving backup Thomas Greiss to start in his place.

Boston earned a bittersweet result in its last game, falling to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime Thursday but passing the Tampa Bay Lightning for sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division in the process. The Lightning lost Friday night and still trail the Bruins by a point.

Bruins center Patrice Bergeron took a maintenance day at practice Friday and is expected to play. Defenseman Kevan Miller, who hasn’t played since suffering an upper body injury last Saturday against the Washington Capitals, is a game-time decision.

Here’s a look at the projected lineups for both teams, which are subject to change and could be altered if Miller is a go:

UPDATE (12:40 p.m.): Miller indeed will return to action Saturday, joining Dennis Seidenberg on Boston’s second defensive pairing. That pushes Joe Morrow out of the lineup as a healthy scratch along with Zach Trotman and Tyler Randell.

BOSTON BRUINS (38-23-8)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Lee Stempniak
Loui Eriksson — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Landon Ferraro — Noel Acciari — Brett Connolly

Zdeno Chara — John-Michael Liles
Dennis Seidenberg — Kevan Miller
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (37-20-8)
Josh Bailey — John Tavares — Kyle Okposo
Nikolay Kulemin — Frans Nielsen —  Ryan Strome
Shane Prince — Brock Nelson — Anders Lee
Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Nick Leddy — Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey — Travis Hamonic
Brian Strait — Ryan Pulock

Thomas Greiss

Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images