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

The Boston Bruins will go for a sweep of their home-and-home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at Consol Energy Center.

The Penguins have been a disaster of late, dropping seven of their last nine games and being shut out in a 3-0 loss to the Bruins on Wednesday night.

Boston, meanwhile, has earned at least a point in 12 of its last 13 contests. Goaltender Tuukka Rask, who made 34 saves Wednesday and is expected to be back in net Friday, has been phenomenal for much of that span, allowing two goals or fewer in six consecutive starts.

One note on the Bruins’ lineup: Winger David Pastrnak did not travel to Pittsburgh as he continues his rehab from a fractured foot. The 19-year-old suffered the injury Oct. 27 and has not played since Oct. 31.

Here are Friday’s projected lines and pairings, as reported by the teams:

BOSTON BRUINS (17-9-4)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey — David Krejci — Loui Eriksson
Frank Vatrano — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Alex Khokhlachev — Max Talbot — Landon Ferraro

Zdeno Chara — Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg — Colin Miller
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (15-12-3)
Chris Kunitz — Sidney Crosby — Conor Sheary
David Perron — Evgeni Malkin — Phil Kessel
Sergei Plotnikov — Nick Bonino — Patric Hornqvist
Daniel Sprong/Kevin Porter — Matt Cullen — Eric Fehr

Olli Maatta — Trevor Daley
Ian Cole — David Warsofsky
Brian Dumoulin — Ben Lovejoy

Jeff Zatkoff

Thumbnail photo via Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports Images