BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have gone without David Krejci for the last five games due to an upper-body injury the veteran center sustained Oct. 14 against the Anaheim Ducks, but that will change Tuesday night.
The 33-year-old was activated by the B’s on Tuesday ahead of Boston’s contest against the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden. Krejci will dress and is projected to slot back into his typical position centering the second line, bumping Charlie Coyle and Brett Richie down to the third line while Danton Heinen moves up to the second.
Wagner also is expected to return to the ice Tuesday after blocking a shot Saturday against the St. Louis Blues and spending Sunday’s game out of the lineup. Joakim Nordstrom (elbow infection) and Par Lindholm (upper-body) remain out.
Brad Marchand will try to extend his point streak to 11 games in the B’s 12th tilt of the season, while David Pastrnak will look to up his point streak to 10. Tuukka Rask is expected to be in net.
And with the Bruins and Sharks meeting only twice this season, this could be the final time Joe Thornton, who is in the latter portion of his NHL career, plays at TD Garden. And the 40-year-old had a few things to say about that notion prior to Tuesday’s game.
Here are the projected lineups for Tuesday’s Bruins-Sharks game:
BOSTON BRUINS (8-1-2)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Danton Heinen
Anders Bjork–Charlie Coyle–Brett Ritchie
Chris Wagner–Sean Kuraly–David Backes
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
SAN JOSE SHARKS (4-7-1)
Patrick Marleau–Logan Couture–Kevin Labanc
Evander Kane–Tomas Hertl–Lukas Radil
Marcus Sorensen–Joe Thornton–Timo Meier
Barclay Goodrow–Dylan Gambrell–Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic–Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon–Erik Karlsson
Mario Ferraro–Tim Heed
Martin Jones
