BOSTON — The Bruins are getting closer to full strength.
Boston on Wednesday will welcome the return of second-line winger Marcus Johansson and second-pairing defenseman Torey Krug for its tilt at TD Garden against the New York Rangers.
Krug, who will skate alongside Brandon Carlo and likely will return to his role on the top power-play unit, has been out since suffering a concussion against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 12. Johansson, who has played in just four games since being acquired by the B’s at the trade deadline, will be playing in his first contest since suffering a lung contusion March 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He’ll join Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci on the second line.
With the return of Johansson, Karson Kuhlman will be the odd man out up top. Despite Krug coming back, both Connor Clifton and Steven Kampfer will remain in action on the blue line since John Moore now is out. Clifton and Kampfer will skate together on the third pairing.
Jaroslav Halak will start in goal for the Bruins, while Henrik Lundqvist is expected to go for New York.
Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for Wednesday night’s Bruins-Rangers game.
BOSTON BRUINS (46-21-9)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Marcus Johansson
Danton Heinen–Charlie Coyle–Chris Wagner
Joakim Nordstrom–Noel Acciari–David Backes
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton–Steven Kampfer
Jaroslav Halak
NEW YORK RANGERS (29-33-13)
Brendan Lemieux–Mika Zibanejad–Pavel Buchnevich
Vladislav Namestnikov–Filip Chytil–Vinni Lettieri
Jimmy Vesey–Lias Andersson–Ryan Strome
Boo Nieves–Brett Howden–Brendan Smith
Fredrik Claesson–Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei–Kevin Shattenkirk
John Gilmour–Neal Pionk
Henrik Lundqvist
