The Bruins get right back to work Sunday, traveling to Philadelphia looking to put Saturday's overtime loss to the Rangers behind them.
They'll do it without defenseman Andrew Ference, however. Bruins coach Claude Julien stated that Ference has been suspended by the league for his hit from behind on Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. That earned Ference a five-minute major for charging and game misconduct, with New York scoring the game-winner on the power play with 3.6 seconds left.
Now Ference will miss at least Sunday's game against Philadelphia. Whether he'll be out longer is not yet known, as the NHL has yet to announce the length of the suspension. Steven Kampfer will return to the lineup to replace Ference, likely playing with Adam Mcquaid on the third pairing. That would put Joe Corvo, who had played with Ference in the last few games, back with Dennis Seidenberg.
The Flyers might be the right team for the Bruins to face to get back on track, even without Ference. Philadelphia is just two points behind Boston in the standings, but the Bruins rolled to a 6-0 victory in their last visit to Philadelphia on Dec. 17 and the Flyers lost forwards Danny Briere (concussion), Jaromir Jagr (groin) and Zac Rinaldo (upper body) to injuries in Saturday's 4-1 win over New Jersey.
They join an injured list that already includes top defenseman Chris Pronger, who is out for the season with a concussion, and forwards James van Riemsdyk (concussion) and Blair Betts (knee).
Tim Thomas is expected to get the start in goal after Tuukka Rask played on Saturday. Thomas is 11-3-2 with a 2.04 GAA and .939 save percentage against the Flyers, including a 31-save shutout in that 6-0 win last month.
Chris Rooney and Dan O'Halloran will be the referees, with Brian Murphy and Brad Kovachik working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Dennis Seidenberg-Joe Corvo
Steven Kampfer-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Andrew Ference (suspension), Zach Hamill
Projected Flyers lines
Forwards
Scott Hartnell-Claude Giroux-Maxime Talbot
Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Wayne Simmons
Jakub Voracek-Brayden Schenn-Harry Zolnierczyk
Jody Shelley-Ben Holmstrom-Tom Sestito
Defense
Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Colburn
Erik Gustafsson-Andrej Meszaros
Matt Carle-Marc-Andre Bourdon
Goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky
Ilya Bryzgalov
Scratches: Jaromir Jagr (groin), Danny Briere (concussion), Zac Rinaldo (upper body), James van Riemsdyk (concussion), Blair Betts (knee), Andreas Lilja
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