As has been the theme for the Boston Bruins all season, a step forward on the injury front is being matched with a step back.
The Bruins are expected to receive a lift in Sunday afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, as Zdeno Chara appears set to return to the lineup after missing the last nine games with an upper body injury. Unfortunately for Boston, Chara’s return is met with troubling news on Brandon Carlo, who reportedly sustained a broken left fibula in Saturday’s win over the Florida Panthers.
On the bright side, the B’s enter the Easter Sunday tilt at Wells Fargo Center on a tear. Boston is 4-0-1 in its last five games and can extend its lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning atop the Eastern Conference standings to three points with a win against the Flyers. The Bruins are expected to turn to Anton Khudobin in between the pipes for the second game of their matinee back-to-back.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Sunday’s Bruins-Flyers game:
BOSTON BRUINS (49-17-11)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Ryan Donato
Danton Heinen — Tommy Wingels — David Backes
Tim Schaller — Noel Acciari — Brian Gionta
Zdeno Chara — Nick Holden
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid
Matt Grzelcyk — Kevan Miller
Anton Khudobin
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (39-25-14)
Claude Giroux — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom — Nolan Patrick — Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal — Valtteri Filppula — Wayne Simmonds
Jori Lehtera — Scott Laughton — Matt Read
Ivan Provorov — Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim — Andrew MacDonald
Brandon Manning — Radko Gudas
Petr Mrazek
