The Bruins will try to bounce back from Friday's disappointing showing against Carolina and continue their recent domination of the Thrashers in a late afternoon clash in Atlanta on Sunday.
But it won't be easy. The Thrashers have won four straight by a combined score of 15-2, and the Bruins will be short-handed because of a flu bug hitting the team. Forwards David Krejci and Jordan Caron didn't travel with the team on Saturday, and Jamie Arniel was called up from Providence on an emergency basis.
With no morning skate because of the early 5 p.m. faceoff, the exact lines Claude Julien will employ aren't certain. But in Saturday's practice, he kept Patrice Bergeron on the top line between Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton and the "energy line" of Brad Marchand, Greg Campbell and Shawn Thornton remained intact.
For the other two lines, Saturday's workout saw Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin sharing center duties on a line with Mark Recchi, while Marc Savard, back practicing as he works his way back from post-concussion syndrome issues, was between Daniel Paille and Michael Ryder.
Julien could simply slide Arniel, who will be making his NHL debut, into Savard's spot on that line to keep the other combinations intact, or he could reshuffle all the lines.
On defense, Adam McQuaid looks to be the odd man out again, as he joined Savard and Tim Thomas as the only Bruins skating in an optional workout Sunday morning. Thomas' presence with that group makes it likely that Tuukka Rask will get the start in goal. Rask is 3-0-0 with a 0.97 GAA, .963 save percentage and two shutouts in three career starts against Atlanta.
For the Thrashers, Ondrej Pavelec has started the last 11 games in goal and is expected to make it 12 on Sunday. There's no reason for coach Craig Ramsay, a former Bruins assistant, to go away from him, as Pavelec has stopped 114 of the 116 shots he's faced in the club's four-game winning streak.
Atlanta will again be without forward Fredrik Modin, who is sidelined with a rib injury, while Freddy Meyer is expected to be the odd man out on defense.
Projected Bruins lines:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Patrice Bergeron-Nathan Horton
Tyler Seguin-Blake Wheeler-Mark Recchi
Daniel Paille-Jamie Arniel-Michael Ryder
Brad Marchand-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Andrew Ference
Mark Stuart-Dennis Seidenberg
Matt Hunwick-Johnny Boychuk
Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Scratches: Adam McQuaid, David Krejci (flu), Jordan Caron (flu)
Projected Thrashers lines:
Forwards
Andrew Ladd-Rich Peverley-Niclas Bergfors
Evander Kane-Bryan Little-Anthony Stewart
Ben Eager-Alexander Burmistov-Nik Antropov
Eric Boulton-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn
Defense
Tobias Enstrom-Dustin Byfuglien
Johnny Oduya-Zach Bogosian
Ron Hainsey-Brent Sopel
Goalies
Ondrej Pavelec
Chris Mason
Scratches: Fredrik Modin (ribs), Freddy Meyer
