The Boston Bruins found success with their slightly new-look lineup Sunday night, and Bruce Cassidy likely will run the same group back Wednesday.
There is a chance for one change, however.
Cassidy, who opted for seven defensemen in the Bruins’ Game 5 loss to the St. Louis Blues, gave Karson Kuhlman a go in Game 6 at the Enterprise Center. Kuhlman responded by lighting the lamp in Boston’s 5-1 win, which seems to have solidified the 23-year-old’s spot in the lineup for the Stanley Cup Final finale. If the Bruins are going to change anything for the winner-take-all tilt at TD Garden, it likely will come on the blueline.
“Yeah, we’ll have a better idea Wednesday morning. I mean, (Matt) Grzelcyk is a wild card,” Cassidy told reporters Monday. “We’ll have to make a decision if he gets cleared. He’s missed some games now. Do you want to mess with the back end? Up front, obviously, Kuhlman did a good job, so he’ll probably stay in. I don’t have any injury reports for the other forwards, so that’s good news. Something could happen, obviously, but that’s the way we’re leaning.”
Grzelcyk, who’s been in the NHL’s concussion protocol since Game 2, practiced ahead of the last two contests but has yet to be cleared to play. Should Grzelcyk earn the green light and be reinserted into the lineup, John Moore all but certainly would take in Game 7 as a spectator.
Chris Wagner also practiced prior to Game 6, and Cassidy hinted the fourth-line forward could be available for Game 7. But given the way Kuhlman performed Sunday night, it seems as though Wagner won’t get the nod Wednesday even if he’s fully healthy.
Furthermore, David Backes appears unlikely to return to the lineup after playing in the first four games of the series.
