Berkshire Bank Faceoff: Projected Lines, Pairings For Bruins-Leafs

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins used the same lines at Saturday’s morning skate that they used to score three goals in the third period of Thursday’s 3-2 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Brett Connolly, who played right wing on the fourth line for most of Thursday’s matchup, skated at right wing with Milan Lucic and Ryan Spooner. He replaced 18-year-old rookie David Pastrnak, who was dropped to the fourth line alongside Gregory Campbell and Chris Kelly.

David Krejci played center between Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson to start Thursday’s game, but he could move back to right wing on the Patrice Bergeron line, which is where he played in the previous four games since returning from injury. Bruins head coach Claude Julien said Krejci is “comfortable” on the wing despite being a natural center.

Daniel Paille and Max Talbot were the extra forwards at the morning skate, which usually indicates they will not play. Both of them were healthy scratches Thursday. That said, the lines at game time could be a lot different than what was seen at the morning skate.

Having lots of options when it comes to line combinations forces a coach to make several tough decisions, but it’s certainly better than having a less than ideal amount of depth.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. “It’s not a bad thing at all. You’re going to go with the best combinations that you have at that time and if it doesn’t work you’ll find some other ones. But, you know, at least you can move guys around and guys have had success with different players so I don’t think it’s a bad situation. I’m comfortable with that.”

Tuukka Rask is expected to start for Boston after practicing in the home end of the ice during the morning skate. He’s 10-3-1 with a 1.92 goals against average and a .933 save percentage against Toronto in his career.

The Leafs will be without forward Peter Holland, per head coach Peter Horachek. James Reimer will start in net for Toronto. He’s 5-5-1 with a 2.64 GAA and a .921 save percentage all-time versus the Bruins.

Here are the projected lineups and goaltenders for both teams:

BOSTON BRUINS (40-25-13, fourth in Atlantic)
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Krejci
Milan Lucic-Ryan Spooner-Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson-Carl Soderberg-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Gregory Campbell-David Pastrnak

Zdeno Chara- Zach Trotman
Torey Krug-Dennis Seidenberg
Matt Bartkowski-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (29-43-6, seventh in Atlantic)
James van Riemsdyk-Tyler Bozak-Phil Kessel
Leo Komarov-Nazem Kadri-Joakim Lindstrom
David Booth-Trevor Smith-Joffrey Lupul
Casey Bailey-Zach Sill-Richard Panik

Eric Brewer-Dion Phaneuf
Jake Gardiner-Morgan Rielly
Tim Erixon-TJ Brennan

James Reimer