The red-hot Boston Bruins will look to extend their winning streak to seven games and point streak to 20 games Sunday night when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Bruins, playing on the second half of a back-to-back, are coming off a thrilling victory over the Ottawa Senators. The incredible run has Boston four points clear of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division.
As for the Penguins, they’re 8-3-2 in their last 13 games and in control of the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot.
The Bruins once again will be without the services of wingers David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk and Marcus Johansson, who remain sidelined with various injuries. Defenseman Kevan Miller (upper body) also will miss Sunday’s game.
Jaroslav Halak will start in net for Bruce Cassidy’s club.
Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for Sunday night’s Bruins-Penguins game:
BOSTON BRUINS (42-17-9)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom–David Krejci–Lee Stempniak
Peter Cehlarik–Charlie Coyle–David Backes
Sean Kuraly–Noel Acciari–Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–John Moore
Jaroslav Halak
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (36-23-9)
Jake Guentzel — Sidney Crosby — Dominik Simon
Zach Aston-Reese — Evgeni Malkin — Phil Kessel
Jared McCann — Nick Bjugstad — Patric Hornqvist
Teddy Blueger — Matt Cullen — Garrett Wilson
Brian Dumoulin — Zach Trotman
Jack Johnson — Justin Schultz
Marcus Pettersson — Erik Gudbranson
Casey DeSmith
