The Boston Bruins will try to rebound from a difficult loss in the Winter Classic with a Tuesday night matchup against one of the NHL’s best teams.
The Washington Capitals are at TD Garden boasting the top record in the Eastern Conference. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games with a well-balanced roster that ranks second in goals scored per game and goals against average.
The B’s have lost five of their last seven meetings with the Capitals, but they might be receiving some reinforcements even as they remain without winger Brad Marchand, who will serve the second leg of his three-game suspension Tuesday.
Center Joonas Kemppainen has been removed from injured reserve and could play against the Capitals. Kemppainen is a good defensive forward who excels on draws, wins 50-50 puck battles and clears the zone. He’s also capable of killing penalties.
The Finnish center is exactly the type of player Boston’s bottom-six needs against a Washington forward group with lots of offensive firepower.
The expected lines and pairings for both teams are below.
BOSTON BRUINS (20-13-14, 4th in Atlantic)
Loui Eriksson – Patrice Bergeron – Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey – Ryan Spooner – Landon Ferraro
Frank Vatrano – Joonas Kemppainen – Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo – Max Talbot – Tyler Randell
Zdeno Chara – Zach Trotman
Dennis Seidenberg – Colin Miller
Torey Krug – Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (28-7-3, 1st in Metropolitan)
Alexander Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Justin Williams
Jason Chimera – Marcus Johansson – Tom Wilson
Brooks Laich – Zach Sill – Stanislav Galiev
Matt Niskanen – Karl Alzner
Dmitry Orlov – Nate Schmidt
Aaron Ness – Taylor Chorney
Braden Holtby
Thumbnail photo via Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
