The Bruins escaped the cold and snow of New England with their trip down South, but they still couldn’t get away from the cold and flu season altogether.
Fourth-line center Greg Campbell is sick and missed the morning skate for Thursday’s highly-anticipated clash with the Thrashers in Atlanta. He will be a game-time decision, but is likely going to miss his first game as a Bruin.
Campbell’s absence would lead to quite a shakeup of Boston’s lines. Daniel Paille would return to the lineup, but it wouldn’t be a simple switch as Paille does not play center. In the morning skate, the Bruins’ effective “energy line” was broken up further, with Brad Marchand moving up alongside Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. Paille slid into Marchand’s spot, with Tyler Seguin also moving down to that line with Shawn Thornton.
Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at the skate, indicating he’ll likely start his seventh straight game in this one.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Thrashers will counter with Ondrej Pavelec. Kicking off a stretch of back-to-back games, the Thrashers did not hold a morning skate on Thursday.
Atlanta has its own health issues. Nik Antropov is expected to miss another game as he is still feeling the effects of an undisclosed injury suffered when he crashed into the net against Toronto back on Dec. 20. Evander Kane is also hurting from a hit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and will be a game-time decision.
If Kane can’t go, Niclas Bergfors will get back into the lineup. Freddy Meyer, who sparked last week’s line brawl with his high hit on Milan Lucic, is expected to be the healthy scratch on defense. He has not played since last week’s game in Boston, and has dressed for just two games since October.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Marc Savard-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Tyler Seguin-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Steven Kampfer
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Greg Campbell (illness), Mark Stuart (hand)
Projected Thrashers lines
Forwards
Evander Kane-Alexander Burmistrov-Bryan Little
Andrew Ladd-Rich Peverley-Anthony Stewart
Ben Eager-Patrice Cormier-Freddy Modin
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: Nik Antropov, Niclas Bergfors, Freddy Meyer
