There will be at least one change in the Bruins' lineup on Thursday. The NHL saw to that.
The NHL suspended forward Brad Marchand for two games for an elbow to the back of the head of Columbus forward R.J. Umberger on Tuesday. That will put Michael Ryder back in the lineup after he was made a healthy scratch for the first time in his three seasons in Boston on Tuesday.
But while there's no question about who will play up front with just 12 forwards available, it's still a mystery how those 12 will line up when the Bruins play in Nashville on Thursday. The red-hot top line of David Krejci between Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton isn't going to be touched, and the fourth line of Greg Campbell flanked by Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton will remain intact.
The second and third lines, however, could see any number of different combinations. The Bruins held just an optional skate in the morning, so no hints were provided there, but the best guess would be keeping Patrice Bergeron with Mark Recchi and Rich Peverley. Bergeron and Recchi have played together extensively, though Peverley replaced Recchi on the wing opposite Marchand in recent games. That combination would leave Chris Kelly, Tyler Seguin and Ryder together on the third line.
There could also be changes on defense, with Andrew Ference (lower body) possibly ready to return after missing the last eight games. He will be a game-time decision.
Tuukka Rask was the first goalie off the ice at the skate. That's usually the indication of who will start that night, but that's not as definitive after an optional skate. Rask did have a strong game on Tuesday, making 34 saves and stopping all three Blue Jackets' attempts in the shootout.
A Rask start would spoil a showdown between the top two goalies in the NHL in goals-against average and save percentage. Nashville's Pekka Rinne (2.09 GAA, .929 save percentage) trails only Tim Thomas (2.03 GAA, .938 save percentage) in both categories. Rinne is expected to get the start on Thursday.
The Predators will be without forward Joel Ward (lower body), with J.P Dumont again filling in up front.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Mark Recchi-Patrice Bergeron-Rich Peverley
Michael Ryder-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille-Greg Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Tomas Kaberle-Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg-Steven Kampfer
Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Scratches: Brad Marchand (suspension), Andrew Ference (lower body), Shane Hnidy (shoulder)
Projected Predators lines
Forwards
Martin Erat-David Legwand-Patric Hornqvist
Sergei Kostitsyn-Mike Fisher-Colin Wilson
Jerred Smithson-Nick Spaling-Jordin Tootoo
J.P. Dumont-Blake Geoffrion-Matt Halischuk
Defense
Ryan Suter-Shea Weber
Kevin Klein-Jonathan Blum
Shane O'Brien-Cody Franson
Goalies
Pekka Rinne
Anders Lindback
Scratches: Joel Ward (lower body)
