The Bruins open up a short two-game road trip out West with a matinee matchup with the Avalanche in Colorado on Saturday.
With the early start, neither team had a morning skate, but there was still plenty of action on the ice. Peter Forsberg, who last played in the NHL with Colorado in 2007-08, skated with the Avs for the first time, working out with assistant coach Steve Konowalchuk and injured forward Ryan O'Reilly. Forsberg has not been signed, but is merely trying to see if he physically is capable of attempting a comeback after years of foot injuries that limited him to just 39 games in the NHL and Sweden since 2007.
As for the players who will actually dress for this matchup, the lineup decisions are largely a mystery with no morning skates. Tim Thomas is likely to be back in goal for the Bruins after Tuukka Rask got the start in Thursday's 4-2 loss to Buffalo, but that won't be confirmed until the warm-up.
Daniel Paille and Adam McQuaid are also expected to be the scratches again now that the Bruins are fully healthy. The line combinations and defense pairings aren’t expected to change from Thursday's game.
Colorado does have plenty of injury problems, losing forward Tomas Fleischmann for the season with pulmonary emboli – blood clots in each of his lungs. He joins defenseman Kyle Quincey (shoulder surgery) on the sidelines for the season, while forward Peter Mueller is on injured reserve with a concussion, and O'Reilly is out until February with a shoulder injury.
Even with all the injuries, former Bruin Matt Hunwick was a healthy scratch for the first time on Thursday. Hunwick has 0-3-3 totals and is a minus-9 in 23 games with the Avs. He's had plenty of time to show what he could do, as he's played more than 18 minutes in 17 of those games after topping 18 minutes just four times in 22 games with Boston.
T.J. Galiardi was recalled from the AHL on Friday after a one-game stint with the Lake Erie Monsters. He could return to the lineup in place of former Boston University star Brandon Yip or enforcer David Koci. Yip returned to the lineup Thursday after being scratched the previous two games, while Koci has played the last three games after being scratched for six of the previous seven.
Craig Anderson, briefly a Bruin in 2006, has started the last three games in goal for Colorado and will likely get the nod in this one as well. Anderson did not appear in a game for Boston, but did dress as a backup for five games in January, 2006.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Michael Ryder-Marc Savard-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Tyler Seguin
Blake Wheeler-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Steven Kampfer
Andrew Ference-Dennis Seidenberg
Mark Stuart-Johnny Boychuk
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Daniel Paille, Adam McQuaid
Projected Avalanche lines
Forwards
Chris Stewart-Matt Duchene-Ryan Stoa
David Jones-Paul Stastny-Milan Hejduk
Cody McLeod-Kevin Porter-Daniel Winnick
David Koci-Philippe Dupuis-Brandon Yip
Defense
John-Michael Liles-Ryan O'Byrne
Ryan Wilson-Kevin Shattenkirk
Kyle Cumiskey-Adam Foote
Goalies
Craig Anderson
Peter Budaj
Scratches: Matt Hunwick T.J. Galiardi, Ryan O'Reilly (shoulder)
