BOSTON — One team will get pushed to the brink of elimination Saturday night at TD Garden.
The Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets’ Eastern Conference semifinal currently is tied at two games apiece, with Game 5 set to take place Saturday. Most recently, the Bruins won 4-1 in Thursday’s Game 4 to even the series.
There’s only one change expected in the Bruins’ lineup, and it might not even happen. Noel Acciari didn’t participate in morning skate and is considered a game-time decision. Should he be unable to go, Chris Wagner would take over on the fourth line right wing. Wagner has not played since Game 2 of the series.
As for the Blue Jackets, Riley Nash is expected to be out with an undisclosed injury. He was a late scratch in Game 4. As a result, Alexandre Texier and Ryan Dzingel, both of whom have been healthy scratched previously in this series, will be in Columbus’ lineup. The wingers are expected to skate together on the third line with Alexander Wennberg between them.
Tuukka Rask will start in net for Boston and will be opposed by Sergei Bobrovsky.
Here are the projected Game 5 lineups for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (2-2)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes
Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (2-2)
Artemi Panarin–Pierre-Luc Dubois–Oliver Bjorkstrand
Nick Foligno–Matt Duchene–Cam Atkinson
Alexandre Texier–Alexander Wennberg–Ryan Dzingel
Brandon Dubinsky–Boone Jenner–Josh Anderson
Zach Werenski –- Seth Jones
Dean Kukan –- David Savard
Scott Harrington -– Adam Clendening
Sergei Bobrovsky
