BOSTON — The Bruins get back into action Wednesday night against the Islanders, looking to put Monday's third-period collapse against the Rangers behind them.
They will likely have a familiar face back in the lineup to help. Shawn Thornton, who has missed the last three games after suffering a cut to his forehead that required over 40 stitches to close, is expected to return for this game.
"I don't know yet," Thornton said after Wednesday's optional morning skate. "I'm preparing as such, but I haven't gotten the word yet either way. I feel great, feel awesome."
Thornton got the stitches removed after practice on Tuesday and hopes to play, but noted the final decisions rested with Bruins coach Claude Julien, and Julien indicated that Thornton will likely be back for this one.
"We'll see tonight," Julien said. "Thornton is probably going to end up coming into our lineup. I think he's ready to go. He's had the stitches out. And so we'll make a couple other decisions here just before the game."
Thornton's return means another forward will have to sit. Based on Tuesday's practice, Tyler Seguin and Michael Ryder are the likely candidates as they split time on the third line alongside Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly. It's also possible that Julien could take the opportunity to give another veteran a night off, but he doesn't appear inclined to do that just yet.
"I guess you could call it a catch-22 here, as far as where are we in the standings, what we can accomplish," Julien said. "Even look around the league, not too many players that have been given nights off here. It's a tough situation to be in. We still want to win. You still want to make sure your team is close to what it should be because you want to build some momentum. At the same time, you want to give some guys some rest. … I think right now we want to look at what we have with more of our main core. And we'll see after tonight, we'll kind of have a look again and see where we go next game. It's basically a game-to-game process right now. Depending on what's going on in the standings and everything else, we can adjust accordingly."
If Julien does play his main core, that likely leaves Steven Kampfer and Shane Hnidy as the scratches on defense.
Both Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask participated in the optional skate, along with Seguin, Thornton, Kelly, Hnidy, Patrice Bergeron, Kampfer, Adam McQuaid and Ryder. Thomas was the first goalie off, but that may not be as sure an indicator of who's starting as usual given the optional nature of the workout.
The Islanders will definitely have former Boston University star Rick DiPietro in net. They will also have another local college product on the blue line, as University of New Hampshire defenseman Matt Campanale is set to make his NHL debut in this game.
"I'm still trying to grasp the situation," Campanale said after New York's morning skate. "I couldn't even imagine that I'd be here two weeks ago. My head's still kind of spinning around. I don't think it will become a reality until tonight."
Campanale was signed to an amateur tryout agreement and added to the roster under emergency conditions with Jack Hillen and Ty Wishart suffering shoulder injuries.
The Islanders are already without 10 players due to injury. Defensemen Mark Eaton (hip), Andrew MacDonald (hip), Mike Mottau (hip/eye), Milan Jurcina (hip) and Mark Streit (shoulder), forwards Doug Weight (back), Trent Hunter (knee) and Frans Nielsen (concussion) and goalie Kevin Poulin (knee) are all done for the year, while defenseman Bruno Gervais (foot) is day to day.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin/Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Greg Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Tomas Kaberle- Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Seguin/Ryder, Shane Hnidy, Steven Kampfer
Projected Islanders lines
Forwards
Matt Moulson-John Tavares-P.A. Parenteau
Michael Grabner-Josh Bailey-Kyle Okposo
Matt Martin-Blake Comeau-Jesse Joensuu
Micheal Haley-Zenon Konopka-Trevor Gillies
Defense
Mark Katic-Radek Martinek
Ty Wishart-Travis Hamonic
Matt Campanale-Dylan Reese
Goalies
Rick DiPietro
Al Montoya
Scratches: Jack Hillen (shoulder), Bruno Gervais (foot), Frans Nielsen (concussion)
