BOSTON — The Bruins continue their homestand by hosting the Penguins on Saturday afternoon, just five days after rallying to beat them in Pittsburgh with four goals in the final 3:23.
With the early start, there was no morning skate, but Claude Julien stated this morning that Tuukka Rask would start in goal. Rask last started against the Penguins on Monday, making 23 saves for his fourth win of the year. He’s 4-8-1 with a 2.53 GAA and a .927 save percentage overall.
Rask won’t have to face a major threat, as the Penguins will be without NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby, who will miss his fifth game with a concussion.
The Bruins will also be without their leading goal scorer, as Milan Lucic will miss his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. Defenseman Andrew Ference is also out with an upper-body injury. Lucic and Mark Stuart, who is out with a broken hand, skated on their own in the morning, but Ference did not work out on the ice.
Rookie Matt Bartkowski will get to play his second NHL game, both against the Penguins. The Pittsburgh native made his NHL debut on Monday in his hometown when Adam McQuaid was sidelined with an undisclosed injury, and Bartkowski was called back up on Friday after Ference was hurt in Thursday’s win over Philadelphia.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be in goal for Pittsburgh, which is also without enforcer Eric Godard (eye) and Mike Comrie (hip), while Ben Lovejoy is expected to be out with an illness.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Michael Ryder-Marc Savard-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler-David Krejci-Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Steven Kampfer
Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
Matt Bartkowski-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Scratches: Milan Lucic (undisclosed), Andrew Ference (upper body), Mark Stuart (hand)
Projected Penguins lines
Forwards
Chris Kunitz-Evgeni Malkin-Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy
Chris Conner-Maxime Talbot-Mike Rupp
Arron Asham-Mark Letestu-Craig Adams
Defense
Brooks Orpik-Kris Letang
Paul Martin-Zbynek Michalek
Deryk Engelland-Alex Goligoski
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Brent Johnson
Scratches: Sidney Crosby (concussion), Eric Godard (eye), Ben Lovejoy (illness)
