BOSTON — The Boston Bruins are shaking things up for Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Mired in an underwhelming 3-2-4 stretch, the Bruins have played inconsistent hockey for the last month, with secondary scoring continuing to be a major problem for Bruce Cassidy’s club. As a result, the Bruins’ vaunted top line will be broken up for Saturday’s matinee at TD Garden.
Star forward David Pastrnak will move down to the second line alongside David Krejci and Peter Cehlarik, while Danton Heinen will move up to the top line.
Jake DeBrusk, who hasn’t scored a goal since Jan. 8 and has just two assists in his last eight games, will slide down to the second line and play alongside Sean Kuraly and David Backes. Defenseman John Moore, a healthy scratch for Boston’s last three games, will get the start in front of goalie Tuukka Rask.
As for the Kings, they sit in dead last in the Western Conference standings but have won three straight games.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Saturday’s Bruins-Kings game.
BOSTON BRUINS (29-17-8)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Danton Heinen
Peter Cehlarik — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — Sean Kuraly — David Backes
Joakim Nordstrom — Noel Acciari — Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller
John Moore — Brandon Carlo
Tuukka Rask
LOS ANGELES KINGS (23-27-4)
Alex Iafallo — Anze Kopitar — Dustin Brown
Brendan Leipsic — Michael Amadio — Tyler Toffoli
Carl Hagelin — Adrian Kempe — Ilya Kovalchuk
Kyle Clifford — Nate Thompson — Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort — Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez — Sean Walker
Oscar Fantenberg — Dion Phaneuf
Jonathan Quick
