The Boston Bruins could receive a huge boost on the blue line for Monday night’s game against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
Bruins coach Claude Julien said after the morning skate that No. 1 defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara is “more than likely probable” to return after missing the last six games with an undisclosed injury.
Boston went 3-2-1 in Chara’s absence, and his return would allow the team’s other defensemen to slot back into their more normal roles.
The Panthers, meanwhile, are off to a slow start this season and actually fired head coach Gerard Gallant last week.
Their offense has struggled mightily, ranking 24th in goals scored per game and 27th in power-play percentage. Veteran goalie Roberto Luongo is under a lot of pressure each start to be near-perfect because one or two goals might be enough to beat Florida with how its offense is churning.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (14-10-1)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Tim Schaller–David Krejci–David Backes
Ryan Spooner–Riley Nash–Austin Czarnik
Anton Blidh–Dominic Moore–Jimmy Hayes
Zdeno Chara–Brandon Carlo
Joe Morrow–Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller–Colin Miller
Tuukka Rask
FLORIDA PANTHERS (12-11-2)
Denis Malgin–Aleksander Barkov–Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen–Vincent Trocheck–Reilly Smith
Colton Sceviour–Nick Bjugstad–Paul Thompson
Kyle Rau–Derek MacKenzie–Shawn Thornton
Keith Yandle–Jason Demers
Jakub Kindl–Aaron Ekblad
Mark Pysyk–Michael Matheson
Roberto Luongo
Thumbnail photo via Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY Sports Images
