The game will mark the Bruins debut of newly-acquired forward Rich Peverley and Boston will have its entire new-look lineup together for the first time with Tomas Kaberle and Chris Kelly also slated to play their second games with the club.
Peverley and Kelly will be together on the third line with Michael Ryder, which drops Tyler Seguin to the fourth line. NESN's Naoko Funayama reported from the morning skate that Seguin was at center on that line with Greg Campbell and Shawn Thornton. If that formation remains intact for the game, Daniel Paille will be the healthy scratch up front.
On defense, Funayama reported that Steven Kampfer could be the scratch on defense. That would put Johnny Boychuk back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the second time in the last three games Friday in Ottawa. The Boston Globe also reported that Kampfer remained on the ice with Paille for extra work after the morning skate, indicating he would be out of the lineup on Tuesday.
Boychuk is an Alberta native, albeit from Edmonton, but he did play his junior hockey for the Calgary Hitmen in the Western Hockey League. Bruins coach Claude Julien has proven he's not sentimental about homecomings though, as Kampfer's only previous scratch came in Detroit earlier this month where the rookie had over 40 friends and family on hand expecting to see the Michigan native play his first pro game in his home state.
Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at the skate, indicating he will get the start in this one after getting some well-earned time off with Tuukka Rask starting the last two games. Thomas has allowed 14 goals in his last three starts, but still leads the NHL with a 2.02 GAA and a .938 save percentage. He's also 1-1-0 with a 1.51 GAA, .957 save percentage and one shutout against Calgary.
The Flames will counter with Miikka Kiprusoff, who's expected to make his 14th straight start. Kiprusoff is coming off the first outdoor shutout in NHL history after a 39-save performance against Montreal in Sunday's Heritage Classic.
Calgary forward Niklas Hagman cleared waivers on Tuesday and can be assigned to the minors, but he remained with the team at the morning skate and is expected to be in the lineup for the game. Hagman has no points in his last five games and no goals in his last 15.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Michael Ryder
Greg Campbell-Tyler Seguin-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Tomas Kaberle-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Daniel Paille, Steven Kampfer
Projected Flames lines
Forwards
Alex Tanguay-Brendan Morrison-Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross-Olli Jokinen-David Moss
Rene Bourque-Matt Stajan-Tim Jackman
Niklas Hagman-Mikael Backlund-Tom Kostopoulos
Defense
Jay Bouwmeester-Robyn Regehr
Cory Sarich-Mark Giordana
Steve Staios-Anton Babchuk
Goalies
Miikka Kiprusoff
Henrik Karlsson
Scratches: Brendan Mikkelson
