BOSTON — Pregame warm-ups aren't usually a source of great drama, but there will be plenty of interest in watching the Bruins and Maple Leafs take the ice prior to their matchup Thursday night at the Garden.
Both teams have questions to answer before finalizing their lineups for this key Northeast Division clash.
For the Bruins, the biggest issue is the status of center David Krejci, who has missed the last three games with a core injury but returned to practice Wednesday and participated in Thursday's morning skate.
"I felt pretty good," Krejci said. "It was a good morning skate and I feel pretty good about myself."
But Krejci stopped short of declaring himself ready to return. That decision will be made by coach Claude Julien and the training staff after the pre-game warm-ups.
"I feel pretty good, but before I make any decision I have to talk to Coach and the trainers," Krejci said.
If he plays, Krejci will be returning to a much different lineup. Julien juggled the top three lines Wednesday at practice and stuck with the new combinations at Thursday's morning skate. Krejci worked with Rich Peverley on the right side and Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron alternating on the left. Nathan Horton has been moved down to the right side of Patrice Bergeron's line with Brad Marchand on left wing, while Chris Kelly is up between Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin.
The Kelly line was wearing the white jerseys in Wednesday's practice that typical signify the first line, but Julien doesn't want to label what he feels can be three equally important and effective lines.
"I don't look at it that way," Julien said. "I just made three lines. I just tried to put a line together that will bring something to our team and that's what I did with all three lines. We have enough depth that three lines should be goal-scoring lines that should give us some opportunities to score goals on a regular basis every night."
If Krejci plays, either Pouliot or Caron will be the healthy scratch, with Caron (0 points, minus-2 in 4 games) likely to return to the press box. If Krejci can't go, Peverley has experience at center and could slide in between Pouliot and Caron, but Julien indicated he might shake up the lines again if Krejci remains out, perhaps with Seguin moving back to center again.
"It's still up in the air," Julien said. "We want to see first of all whether David is a go or not. And if he's not, then you might see some changes in our lines as well because there's some centermen that will have to move to play in that position."
The Leafs have their own decisions to make. They did not skate Thursday morning after beating Winnipeg in a shootout Wednesday night. Colby Armstrong was injured in that game and did not make the trip, while fellow forward Clarke MacArthur was also banged up and is questionable for the game.
Nazem Kadri was recalled to replace Armstrong and if MacArthur can't go, then either Jay Rosehill or Colton Orr will return to the lineup. The Leafs could insert either of those two regardless of MacArthur's status if they feel the need for some added muscle against the Bruins, who racked up 72 penalty minutes Tuesday against Carolina.
Cody Franson is the likely scratch on defense, but Toronto could opt to sit Lucic's longtime punching bag Mike Komisarek instead.
With James Reimer playing Wednesday, Jonas Gustavsson is expected to get the start in goal for Toronto. Tim Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate for the Bruins and is expected to be in net after Tuukka Rask played Tuesday.
Eric Furlatt and Francois St. Laurent will be the referees, with Pierre Racicot and Chuck Napoli working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Nathan Horton
Benoit Pouliot-David Krejci-Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Andrew Ference-Steven Kampfer
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Jordan Caron, Adam McQuaid (neck)
Projected Maple Leafs lines
Forwards
Joffrey Lupul-Tyler Bozak-Phil Kessel
Clarke MacArthur-Mikhail Grabovski-Nikolai Kulemin
Nazem Kadri-Matthew Lombardi-Matt Frattin
David Steckel-Pascal Dupuis-Mike Brown
Defense
Carl Gunnarsson-Dion Phaneuf
John-Michael Liles-Luke Schenn
Jake Gardiner-Mike Komisarek
Goalies
Jonas Gustavsson
James Reimer
Scratches: Colby Armstrong (lower body), Colton Orr, Jay Rosehill, Cody Franson
