Berkshire Bank Hockey Night In New England: Projected Bruins-Red Wings Lines, Pairings

The Boston Bruins, both for reasons within and beyond their control, are shaking things up Friday night.

Due in large part to injuries, the Bruins will trot out a lineup with a few notable changes when they take on the lowly Detroit Red Wings on Friday.

Jake DeBrusk is out with a lower-body injury. He played through the ailment Tuesday night in Montreal, but it’ll keep him out against Detroit. As such, Peter Cehlarik was called back up and will skate in DeBrusk’s spot on the second line with David Krejci and Danton Heinen. Joakim Nordstrom, David Backes and Par Lindholm remain out, so Brett Ritchie keeps his spot as the fourth line’s right wing, while Bruce Cassidy will keep the Anders Bjork-Charlie Coyle-Zach Senyshyn third line together after they showed great promise against the Canadiens.

At the blue line, the Bruins will give the Boston University pairing of Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy a run. Both the eye test and the analytics point to the duo being effective together, but they haven’t been utilized together too often. As a result, Zdeno Chara and Connor Clifton will form a pairing.

Robby Fabbri, acquired from the St. Louis Blues earlier in the week, will make his Detroit debut Friday. Typically a third- or fourth-line forward with the Blues, Fabbri will be with Andreas Athanasiuo and Valtteri Filppula on the Red Wings’ second line.

Tuukka Rask will be in net for the Bruins, with Jonathan Bernier expected to get the nod for the hosts.

Here are the projected lineups for both teams:

BOSTON BRUINS (11-2-2)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Peter Cehlarik–David Krejci–Danton Heinen
Anders Bjork–Charlie Coyle–Zach Senyshyn
Chris Wagner–Sean Kuraly–Brett Ritchie

Matt Grzelcyk–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Zdeno Chara–Connor Clifton

Tuukka Rask

DETROIT RED WINGS (4-12-1)
Tyler Bertuzzi–Dylan Larkin–Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou–Valtteri Filppula–Robby Fabbri
Brendan Perlini–Frans Nielsen–Adam Erne
Justin Abdelkader–Christoffer Ehn–Darren Helm

Patrick Nemeth–Filip Hronek
Dennis Cholowski–Dylan McIlrath
Madison Bowey–Mike Green

Jonathan Bernier

Click here for why the Bjork-Coyle-Senyshyn trio is so promising >>>