The Bruins will take on Washington for the third time already this season when the clubs meet up again at the Verizon Center on Friday night.
Tim Thomas dominated the Capitals in both of those games, just as he's dominated everyone else in the NHL so far this season en route to a 7-0-0 start with a league-best 0.72 GAA and .977 save percentage. Thomas stopped 73 of 75 shots he faced in a home-and-home sweep of the Caps last month, improving to 12-4-2 all time against Washington.
He's expected to go for lucky win No. 13 against Washington on Friday, though as usual, Claude Julien wouldn't tip his hand on who would be starting in net for this one. At least the Bruins didn't attempt the ruse they did before the last meeting, when Tuukka Rask left the ice first at the morning skate and feigned that he would be in goal when speaking to the media.
On Friday, Thomas didn't skate at all in the morning, while Rask got in some extra work as the Bruins held an optional skate. Mark Recchi and Zdeno Chara also stayed off the ice this morning.
If Thomas does start again on Friday, Rask would likely get the call on Saturday back at the Garden against St. Louis. Of course, if Thomas picks up another shutout, all bets are off, and Rask might be waiting even longer for his next chance to play.
There aren't any other lineup changes expected in this one for Boston, with Daniel Paille and Brian McGrattan remaining the healthy scratches and Johnny Boychuk still out for a couple more weeks with a fractured forearm.
The Capitals are expected to counter with Michal Neuvirth in goal, as the rookie was the first off the ice at Washington's morning skate, according to the Washington Post's Capitals Insider Blog. The NHL's rookie of the month is 8-3-0 with a 2.31 GAA and a .920 save percentage, but was pulled from his only start against Boston last month, giving up two goals on seven shots while battling the flu.
Washington also expects to have Matt Hendricks, the player the Bruins traded to Colorado to acquire Boychuk, back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Wednesday. That could mean more fireworks between Hendricks and Greg Campbell, who fought off the opening faceoff in a preseason game at the Garden, then again early in the first regular-season meeting.
But Hendricks' return likely means heavyweight D.J. King will be a healthy scratch, so Shawn Thornton might be able to keep the gloves on in this meeting. That pair also hooked up for a bout in the preseason.
Rookie Marcus Johansson is also expected to be out up front, though he is close to returning from a hip injury and has resumed practicing. Defenseman Tyler Sloan will return after missing one game with a hip flexor. The Caps sent Brian Fahey back to Hershey on Thursday, so they won't have any healthy scratches on defense. Tom Poti (lower body) remains out, as does goalie Semyon Varlamov (groin).
The Capitals will have high-scoring defenseman Mike Green in the lineup. He missed the first two games against Boston with an upper-body injury, but is at full strength now and comes in having put up 2-3-5 totals in his last three games.
Washington's big guns up front are also red hot. Coach Bruce Boudreau put Alexander Semin back with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom on the top line two games ago and the trio has combined for 5-9-14 totals in those two games.
Projected Bruins lines:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Jordan Caron-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler-Tyler Seguin-Michael Ryder
Brad Marchand-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Andrew Ference
Mark Stuart- Dennis Seidenberg
Matt Hunwick-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Daniel Paille, Brian McGrattan, Johnny Boychuk (forearm)
Projected Capitals lines:
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Alexander Semin
Brooks Laich-Tomas Fleischmann-Mike Knuble
Jason Chimera-Boyd Gordon-Eric Fehr
Matt Hendricks-David Steckel-Matt Bradley
Defense
Jeff Schultz-Mike Green
John Carlson-Karl Alzner
John Erskine-Tyler Sloan
Goalies
Michal Neuvirth
Braden Holtby
Scratches: D.J. King, Marcus Johansonn (hip), Tom Poti (lower body), Semyon Varlamov (groin).
