Tuesday’s game between the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets carries huge implications for both teams.
The Bruins, losers of two straight, are looking to take a giant step toward locking up home-ice advantage for their first-round playoff series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston currently is four points clear of Toronto for second place in the Atlantic Division with three games remaining on both squads’ regular-season schedules.
As for the Jackets, they can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a win at Nationwide Arena.
Boston will be without the services of forward Danton Heinen, who is under the weather, according to the team. Forward Marcus Johnasson will slide down to replace Heinen on the third line. Rookie Karson Kuhlman will start at right wing alongside David Krejci on the second unit.
Tuukka Rask will start in net for the Bruins.
Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for Tuesday’s Bruins-Blue Jackets game:
BOSTON BRUINS (47-23-9)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Karson Kuhlman
Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Chris Wagner
Joakim Nordstrom — Noel Acciari — David Backes
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk — Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (45-30-4)
Artemi Panarin — Matt Duchene — Cam Atkinson
Ryan Dzingel — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Josh Anderson
Boone Jenner — Alexander Wennberg — Oliver Bjorkstrand
Brandon Dubinsky — Riley Nash — Nick Foligno
Zach Werenski — Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara — David Savard
Scott Harrington — Dean Kukan
Sergei Bobrovsky
