Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien announced Thursday night that winger Jarome Iginla would return to the lineup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. At the same time, a loud exhale could be heard across New England.
Iginla was a late scratch Wednesday night in Detroit, which had some B’s fans expecting the worst. Iginla’s lower body injury isn’t anything to be too concerned with, however.
Iginla will replace Carl Soderberg in the lineup. The third-line forward has returned home to be with his wife as she is about to go into labor. That means Chris Kelly will slide over to center, and Jordan Caron will occupy the third-line left wing position.
Backup goalie Chad Johnson will start for the Bruins, and Jonathan Bernier is expected to be between the pipes for the Maple Leafs.
See the projected lines and defensive pairs for both clubs below.
Bruins (52-18-6, 110 points)
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Jarome Iginla
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly — Carl Soderberg — Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara — Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski — Johnny Boychuk
Kevan Miller — Torey Krug
Maple Leafs (37-32-8, 82 points)
James van Riemsdyk — Tyler Bozak — Phil Kessel
Mason Raymond — Nazem Kadri — Joffrey Lupul
Nikolai Kulemin — Dave Bolland — David Clarkson
Troy Brodie — Jay McClement — Paul Ranger
Carl Gunnarsson — Dion Phaneuf
Cody Franson — Jake Gardiner
Morgan Rielly — Tim Gleason
