The Bruins get right back in action Sunday night, finishing another busy week with a clash in Philadelphia.
The Flyers won't be any more rested than Boston, as they also played on Saturday. While the Bruins dropped a 1-0 decision to the Rangers on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers beat the Islanders 4-1 later in the evening.
With both teams playing back-to-back games, and the Wells Fargo Center in use for a Philadelphia 76ers matinee against the Sacramento Kings, neither team skated Sunday morning. That means no early indication on the lineups for this matchup.
The Bruins are likely to stick with the lineup they've been using all week, though at some point Claude Julien will want to work Daniel Paille and Steven Kampfer back into action to keep them from getting too rusty, and he'll want to get Shane Hnidy some work soon as well. Hnidy needs to play a few games if he is going to be available as a postseason injury replacement, as he has not played all season after suffering a shoulder injury in a camp tryout with Phoenix. Julien stated he would get Hnidy the game action he needs, but the importance of these games in the playoff race have made that difficult.
Tim Thomas could be back in goal for this one after getting Saturday off, with Tuukka Rask playing against the Rangers.
The Flyers shouldn't be making many changes, either. They are without their leader on defense, as Chris Pronger is sidelined with a broken right hand. Defenseman Oskars Bartulis is also out with a shoulder injury, while enforcer Jody Shelley is out with a broken orbital bone suffered when hit by a puck in practice last week.
That leaves just one extra healthy body for Philadelphia. Forward Nikolay Zherdev has been a healthy scratch for the last nine games and even with the injuries, he's unlikely to get back into action in this one or any game in the near future.
Sergei Bobrovsky has started the last four games for the Flyers, though he was pulled on Tuesday when he allowed three goals on nine shots against Washington. Brian Boucher could be due for a start and has had some success against the Bruins (7-5-1, 2.47 GAA, .914 save percentage vs. Boston).
The Bruins will also run into some familiar faces, as Philadelphia claimed former Bruin blueliner Nick Boynton on waivers from Chicago last month. He joins former Bruins Sean O'Donnell and Kris Versteeg in Philadelphia.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin
Michael Ryder-Greg Campbell-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, Shane Hnidy
Projected Flyers lines
Forwards
Andreas Nodl-Claude Giroux-Jeff Carter
Scott Hartnell-Danny Briere-Ville Leino
James van Riemsdyk-Mike Richards-Kris Versteeg
Dan Carcillo-Blair Betts-Darroll Powe
Defense
Andrej Meszaros-Matt Carle
Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn
Nick Boynton-Sean O'Donnell
Goalies
Brian Boucher
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratches: Nikolay Zherdev, Chris Pronger (hand), Oskars Bartulis (shoulder), Jody Shelley (orbital bone)
