Canada has been kind so far to the Boston Bruins this week. But some familiar faces could end that trend Thursday.
The B’s, winners of four straight contests, have opened their four-game Canadian road trip with a pair of wins, including Wednesday night’s 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames. Game 3 of the current trip will take place Thursday night against former Bruins forward Milan Lucic and the Edmonton Oilers. Former B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli also is in Edmonton as its president of hockey operations.
The Oilers, led by phenom Connor McDavid, currently are in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but they haven’t been playing their best hockey of late (4-5-1 in their last 10). Meanwhile, the Bruins continue to be one of the hottest teams in the league, and they now own a five-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division.
So, needless to say, this is an important one for both teams as they head toward potential Stanley Cup playoff berths.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (38-26-6)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Backes
Frank Vatrano–David Krejci–David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey-Ryan Spooner-Drew Stafford
Jimmy Hayes-Dominic Moore-Riley Nash
Zdeno Chara–Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug–Adam McQuaid
Colin Miller–Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
EDMONTON OILERSÂ (36-24-9)
Patrick Maroon–Connor McDavid–Leon Draisaitl
Milan Lucic–Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Jordan Eberle
Benoit Pouliot–David Desharnais–Zack Kassian
Drake Caggiula–Mark Letestu–Anton Slepyshev
Oscar Klefbom–Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera–Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse–Matt Benning
Cam Talbot
Thumbnail photo via Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports Images
