The Boston Bruins face one of their biggest tests of the season Saturday night, and they’ll have to do it without their starting goalie.
Tuukka Rask is day to day with a lower body injury, and he didn’t travel with the B’s to New York for their showdown with the Islanders. That means backup Anton Khudobin will be in net as the Bruins try to keep pace with the Isles for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Both teams have 82 points, but New York officially passed Boston for the final playoff spot in the East thanks to its 4-3 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. The B’s now are three games behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the No. 3 spot in the Atlantic Division.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (38-30-6)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Backes
Drew Stafford–David Krejci–David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano–Ryan Spooner–Jimmy Hayes
Dominic Moore–Riley Nash–Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara–Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug–Adam McQuaid
Colin Miller–Kevan Miller
Anton Khudobin
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (35-26-12)
Andrew Ladd–John Tavares–Josh Bailey
Anders Lee–Anthony Beauvillier–Josh Ho-Sang
Brock Nelson–Alan Quine–Jason Chimera
Nikolay Kulemin–Casey Cizikas–Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy–Adam Pelech
Calvin de Haan–Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey–Scott Mayfield
Thomas Greiss
Thumbnail photo via Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports Images
