BOSTON — The Bruins will host Anaheim on Monday night in a rare matchup with the Ducks.
They will likely have Tim Thomas in goal again after his third-period heroics on Saturday, but they will be without fourth-line spark plug Brad Marchand.
Marchand was injured in Saturday's win over Washington on a second-period hit and did not play in the third. Marchand also did not participate in Monday's morning skate, though the Bruins didn't disclose the exact nature of his injury.
"He's day to day," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "From what we know right now, it's not long term. He's still stiff and that's all I can basically tell you right now. I guess it escalated from that hit near the penalty box the other day. So hopefully we get him back soon."
Marchand was rocked by a huge hit in the previous game, when he was caught coming into the offensive zone up in Montreal on Thursday, taking the worst of a full-speed collision with Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban. That hit may have contributed to the injury, but Julien stated the rookie forward was hurt Saturday on a hit "near the penalty box."
With Marchand out for at least this game, Daniel Paille skated on the fourth line with Greg Campbell and Shawn Thornton at the morning skate and will return to the lineup after being scratched the last two games. Paille has played in just 11 of Boston's first 31 games.
Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at the skate, indicating he will likely get the start in this one again after making 39 saves in Saturday's 3-2 win. Most of those came in the third, when Washington outshot Boston 26-2 but managed to get just one of those shots past Thomas, who made sure Boston hung on for the one-goal win.
Anaheim comes in having lost two straight after a 4-0-1 run. The Ducks switched up their lines in Saturday's 4-2 loss at Carolina, moving veteran Teemu Selanne up to the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, while Bobby Ryan moved down to the second line with Saku Koivu and Jason Blake.
The Ducks are carrying eight defensemen on their roster, so two blueliners have to be scratched each game. Andy Sutton and Andreas Lilja were the odd men out on Saturday as former Bruins and Belmont, Mass., native Paul Mara returned to the lineup after sitting out the previous three games.
Projected Bruins lines:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Mark Recchi-Patrice Bergeron-Blake Wheeler
Tyler Seguin-Marc Savard-Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Steven Kampfer
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Brad Marchand, Mark Stuart (hand)
Projected Ducks lines:
Forwards
Teemu Selanne-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Jason Blake-Saku Koivu- Bobby Ryan
Brandon McMillan-Nick Bonino-Joffrey Lupul
Todd Marchant-Kyle Chipchura-George Parros
Defense
Lubomir Visnovsky-Toni Lydman
Cam Fowler-Paul Mara
Luca Sbisa-Sheldon Brookbank
Goalies
Jonas Hiller
Curtis McElhinney
Scratches: Andy Sutton, Andreas Lilja
