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

The Boston Bruins will attempt to snap their season-long five-game losing streak Saturday night against a Toronto Maple Leafs team that enters ranked dead last in the NHL.

The Bruins have not won a game since March 12, losing five in a row in regulation for the first time since 2010. They entered Saturday in third place in the Atlantic Division, just one point ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings.

All four of Boston’s matchups with Toronto this season have been tightly contested affairs, with three being decided by one goal and two requiring overtime. The Bruins went 3-0-1 in those games, with their lone loss coming in the teams’ most recent meeting last month at TD Garden.

Defenseman John-Michael Liles did not make the trip to the Air Canada Centre after suffering a lower body injury in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. Joe Morrow is expected to replace Liles in the Bruins’ lineup after sitting out the last six games as a healthy scratch.

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

BOSTON BRUINS (39-28-8)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Lee Stempniak
Matt Beleskey — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano — Ryan Spooner — Loui Eriksson
Landon Ferraro — Noel Acciari — Jimmy Hayes

Zdeno Chara — Kevan Miller
Joe Morrow — Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (27-35-11)
Michael Grabner — Nazem Kadri — Milan Michalek
Zach Hyman — William Nylander — P.A. Parenteau
Connor Brown — Tyler Bozak — Brad Boyes
Colin Greening — Brooks Laich — Ben Smith

Morgan Rielly — Martin Marincin
Jake Gardiner — Connor Carrick
Rinat Valiev — Frank Corrado

Jonathan Bernier

Thumbnail photo via Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports Images