The Boston Bruins suffered a few scares on the blue line Monday night, but it appears there’s little need to worry.
Both Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy suffered cuts in the B’s 6-4 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden on Monday, but both are fine and will play Tuesday in Montreal against the Canadiens.
With both defensemen available, the attention now shifts to what happens up front for the red-hot Bruins. Zach Senyshyn was called up from Providence on Tuesday, with a roster spot being created by Par Lindholm getting placed on injured reserve. Since Brett Ritchie’s infection isn’t a big deal and he played against the Pens, he’ll likely stay in the lineup, meaning the choice for Bruce Cassidy either is Senyshyn or Cameron Hughes, the latter of whom made his NHL debut Monday.
Senyshyn is a tremendous skater and plays a much faster game, which, as Cassidy points out, might make him a good fit against a fast Habs team.
“It’ll be a game-time decision, we’re looking at that,” Cassidy said of putting in Senyshyn, via the Bruins official Twitter account. “Ritchie had that infection, got to make sure he’s good to go, but looks like he will be. So then it becomes will it be Senyshyn or Hughes, who’s the better fit? Back-to-back situation, (facing) a team with a lot of speed, so we’re going to make that decision, but there’s a good chance (Senyshyn) will play.”
During his brief run with Boston at the end of last season, Senyshyn spent some time on a line with Charlie Coyle, which could be where he finds himself at Bell Centre, which would result in Ritchie going down to the fourth line.
“Last year with Coyle I thought (Senyshyn) played really well up in Minnesota,” Cassidy said. “Is that a coincidence? I don’t know, it’s one game, small sample size. Might be a good spot for him as well, so that’s what went into it, so we’ll see how it turns out.”
Tuukka Rask will be in net for the B’s, with Carey Price expected to go for Montreal.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (11-1-2)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Danton Heinen
Anders Bjork–Charlie Coyle–Zach Senyshyn
Chris Wagner–Sean Kuraly–Brett Ritchie
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
MONTREAL CANADIENS (7-5-2)
Tomas Tatar–Phillip Danault–Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin–Max Domi–Joel Armia
Artturi Lehkonen–Ryan Poehling–Paul Byron
Nick Cousins–Nate Thompson–Nick Suzuki
Victor Mete–Shea Weber
Ben Chiarot–Jeff Petry
Mike Reilly–Cale Fleury
Carey Price
