BOSTON — The Boston Bruins will look to extend their season-high win streak to six when they welcome the reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals to TD Garden on Thursday night.
The Bruins are coming off a 4-0 dismantling of the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, while the Capitals claimed a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on the same night.
Washington is in a bit of a funk despite being atop the Metropolitan Division, having won just two of its last five games.
Boston still is without Charlie McAvoy, who’s recovering from a foot injury, but head coach Bruce Cassidy noted the young defenseman may be able to return Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The B’s haven’t had much luck against the Caps in recent memory, as they have a 0-10-3 record over their last 13 meetings, including a 7-0 loss opening night.
Cassidy will roll out the same lineup as Tuesday, with the only change being Jaroslav Halak between the pipes.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (25-14-4)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes
Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari — Chris Wagner
Danton Heinen — Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson — Ryan Donato
Zdeno Chara — Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug — John Moore
Matt Grzelcyk — Kevan Miller
Jaroslav Halak
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (26-12-4)
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Travis Boyd
Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitri Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
