Berkshire Bank Hockey Night In New England: Projected Bruins-Kings Lines, Pairings

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

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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

About the Author

Dakota Randall

Plymouth State/Boston University product from Wolfeboro, NH, who now is based in Rhode Island. Have worked at NESN since 2016, covering the Patriots since 2021. Might chat your ear off about Disney World, Halo 2, and Lord of the Rings.