BOSTON –- The Bruins will close out the regular season against the Sabres on Saturday at the Garden, and they'll do it with a lineup pretty close to what they hope to roll out in the upcoming playoffs.
Brian Rolston will get the day off, but otherwise, the forward lines will be intact. Jordan Caron will fill in on the third line in Rolston's spot.
"We're going to sit Rollie out," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He's played a lot of hockey for us since he's been here and played well, so I think a rest will do him good."
On defense, rookie Torey Krug will sit out after playing the last two games. He is not eligible to play in the postseason. Johnny Boychuk (knee) and Adam McQuaid (eye) will also remain out on the blue line.
"Krug will be out," Julien said. "He's played a couple games for us, but obviously he can't play for us in the playoffs so we need to put some guys in that we may be utilizing in the playoffs."
In goal, Tim Thomas will return after not accompanying the team to Ottawa on Thursday to get some extra rest, and he is expected to play the full game.
"This is not training camp," Julien said.
Jhonas Enroth is expected to get the start for Buffalo. The Sabres will also get Brad Boyes and Matt Ellis back, so they returned Marcus Foligno and Corey Tropp back to their AHL affiliate in Rochester Friday. Defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers remain out with injuries.
Dan O'Rourke and Francois St. Laurent will be the referees, with Brad Kovachik and Tim Nowak working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Rich Peverley
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Jordan Caron
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Joe Corvo
Greg Zanon-Mike Mottau
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Anton Khudobin
Scratches: Marty Turco, Brian Rolston, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid (eye), Johnny Boychuk (knee), Nathan Horton (concussion), Tuukka Rask (groin)
Projected Sabres lines
Forwards
Ville Leino-Derek Roy-Jason Pominville
Nathan Gerbe-Cody Hodson-Thomas Vanek
Brad Boyes-Tyler Ennis-Drew Stafford
Matt Ellis-Cody McCormick-Patirck Kaleta
Defense
Andrej Sekera-Robyn Regehr
Jordan Leopold-Mike Weber
T.J. Brennan-Brayden McNabb
Goalies
Jhonas Enroth
Ryan Miller
Scratches: Christian Ehrhoff, Alexander Sulzer, Tyler Myers
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