The Boston Bruins will visit the Pacific Division’s three northernmost members this week, beginning with Wednesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Bruins are expected to trot out a new-look third line against the Oilers, who own the NHL’s worst record thus far in their first season under former Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli.
Based on the reported lines at Tuesday’s practice (the team did not hold a mandatory skate Wednesday morning), it appears Landon Ferraro will line up at left wing on the third line, with Ryan Spooner returning to his natural position as the third-line center and Joonas Kemppainen dropping back down to center the fourth unit.
Ferraro was a fourth-liner in each of his first three games with the Bruins, and both Spooner and Kemppainen skated on the third in Friday’s win over the New York Rangers. Right wing Jimmy Hayes also is expected to skate with Ferraro and Spooner against Edmonton after being bumped down to the fourth line Friday night.
On defense, Kevan Miller has been cleared to return after missing the last five games with a concussion. The 28-year-old reportedly was one of just four players to take part in the Bruins’ optional morning skate, however, meaning he’ll likely watch Wednesday’s game from the press box.
Here are Wednesday’s projected lines and pairings, as reported by the teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (13-8-1)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Frank Vatrano
Matt Beleskey — David Krejci — Loui Eriksson
Landon Ferraro — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo — Joonas Kemppainen — Brett Connolly
Zdeno Chara — Zach Trotman
Dennis Seidenberg — Colin Miller
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
EDMONTON OILERS (8-15-2)
Taylor Hall — Leon Draisaitl — Jordan Eberle
Teddy Purcell — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Iiro Pakarinen
Matt Hendricks — Mark Letestu — Lauri Korpikoski
Luke Gazdic — Anton Lander — Jujhar Khaira
Darnell Nurse — Andrej Sekera
Oscar Klefbom — Mark Fayne
Justin Schultz — Eric Gryba
Anders Nilsson
Thumbnail photo via Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports Images
