A few familiar faces likely will return to the Boston Bruins lineup Thursday night.
Both Frank Vatrano and David Pastrnak were in the B’s pregame skate lines, which usually is a good indication they’ll play Thursday against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center.
Vatrano has been out the entire season after suffering a foot injury, which required surgery. He’s expected to take over at left wing on the third line alongside Austin Czarnik and Riley Nash.
Pastrnak likely will be back at right wing on the first line next to Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand after undergoing surgery on his right elbow. The injury forced him to miss two games, which was a huge loss considering he has 19 goals so far this season.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (17-14-3)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Ryan Spooner–David Krejci–David Backes
Frank Vatrano–Austin Czarnik–Riley Nash
Anton Blidh–Dominic Moore–Jimmy Hayes
Zdeno Chara–Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug–Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller–Colin Miller
Tuukka Rask
FLORIDA PANTHERS (15-13-5)
Jaromir Jagr–Aleksander Barkov–Seth Griffith
Reilly Smith–Vincent Trocheck–Jonathan Marchessault
Jussi Jokinen–Denis Malgin–Nick Bjugstad
Shawn Thornton–Derek MacKenzie–Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle–Jason Demers
Jakub Kindl–Aaron Ekblad
Michael Matheson–Mark Pysyk
James Reimer
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
