BOSTON — The Bruins will try to get into the win column Saturday night after falling to the Flyers in an emotional season opener on Thursday.
That game was preceded by a ceremony to raise the club's Stanley Cup banner. This one won't have any of that pageantry, but it still promises to be an emotional and eventful night as the Bruins face the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time since their epic seven-game clash in the Eastern Conference final.
The Bruins should have their full lineup available to them. Defenseman Adam McQuaid missed the opener with flu-like symptoms, but practiced Friday and participated in Saturday's morning skate. If he can go, Matt Bartkowski will sit.
There's still a decision to be made up front as well. Jordan Caron got the nod on Thursday, but newcomer Benoit Pouliot could get a chance to make his Bruins debut in that spot alongside Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin on Saturday. Bruins coach Claude Julien hasn't been tipping his hand on that decision, but he did make it clear that any change would not be based on Caron's performance on Thursday, but rather a chance to get both players some playing time.
"I don't think I would make any changes based on the result of the game and the way it was played," Julien said. "I don't think I would ever do that. I didn't think we played well as a team, but that's about where I'll leave it."
The Bruins' morning skate was optional, with Shawn Thornton and goalie Tim Thomas among the players taking the opportunity for some extra rest. It is possible that Tuukka Rask could get the start after Thomas played on Thursday, but that won't be revealed until the pregame warm-up. Julien has stated that he wants Rask to have a bigger workload this season to help keep Thomas fresh after such a long playoff run and short offseason.
For the Lightning, Mathieu Garon is expected to get the start in goal after Dwayne Roloson played in Tampa Bay's opener Friday night in Carolina. Garon is 3-1-0 with a 1.75 GAA and a .947 save percentage in his career against Boston.
Tampa Bay is without veteran defenseman Mattias Ohlund, who is sidelined with a knee injury, while former Canadien Tom Pyatt is expected to play his first game with the Lightning after sitting out Friday. Blair Jones will join Mattias Ritola and Bruno Gervais as healthy scratches.
Eric Furlatt and Ghislain Hebert will be the referees, with Pierre Champoux and Steve Barton working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Rich Peverley
Jordan Caron/Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Joe Corvo
Dennis Seidenberg-Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ference-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Caron/Pouliot, Matt Bartkowski, Steven Kampfer (knee)
Projected Lightning lines
Forwards
Steve Downie-Steven Stamkos-Martin St. Louis
Ryan Malone-Vincent Lecavalier-Teddy Purcell
Brett Connolly-Dominic Moore-Ryan Shannon
Tom Pyatt-Nate Thompson-Adam Hall
Defense
Victor Hedman-Eric Brewer
Matt Gilroy-Brett Clark
Pavel Kubina-Marc-Andre Bergeron
Goalies
Mathieu Garon
Dwayne Roloson
Scratches: Mattias Ohlund (knee), Blair Jones, Mattias Ritola, Bruno Gervais
