BOSTON — For the 1,000th time in his NHL career, Patrice Bergeron will lace up his skates for the Boston Bruins.
The B’s longtime center will be celebrating game No. 1000 on Tuesday when the New York Islanders visit TD Garden.
With their win Sunday over the Capitals, the Bruins snapped a three-game losing streak as well as a 14-game skid against Washington that dated back to March 2014. Now, they’ll be tasked with beating a tough Isles team that came out of nowhere to sit atop the Metropolitan Division.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy will do a little bit of shuffling on the blue line, with Charlie McAvoy bumping down to the third pairing to skate alongside fellow ex-Boston University Terrier Matt Grzelcyk. Brandon Carlo will skate to the right of Zdeno Chara on the top pairing, while Torey Krug and Kevan Miller will occupy the second duo.
Danton Heinen, John Moore and Steven Kampfer will remain the healthy scratches.
Tuukka Rask, who earned the franchise lead for goaltender wins with Sunday’s victory, will be in net for the Bruins. The Islanders are expected to counter with Robin Lehner.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Tuesday night’s Bruins-Islanders game.
BOSTON BRUINS (28-17-7)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Peter Cehlarik
Joakim Nordstrom–Trent Frederic–David Backes
Sean Kuraly –Noel Acciari– Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara–Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug–Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk–Charlie McAvoy
Tuukka Rask
NEW YORK RANGERS (30-15-6)
Anders Lee–Brock Nelson–Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier–Mat Barzal–Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle–Valtteri Filppula–Leo Komarov
Matt Martin–Casey Cizikas–Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy–Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech–Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews–Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
