Fresh off their first regulation home loss of the season, the Boston Bruins will get reinforcements as they start a three-game road trip.
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron will return to the lineup Monday night against the Ottawa Senators, B’s coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed following the team’s morning skate. It will be Bergeron’s first appearance since Nov. 23, as he’s been dealing with a lower-body injury.
The Bruins played well without Bergeron, going 6-1-1 in eight games. However, the team started to show some defensive cracks of late, allowing eight goals in the last two games, an overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and the aforementioned home regulation setback against the Colorado Avalanche.
Bergeron’s return will restore some order among the Bruins’ top-six forwards. He’ll be back centering Boston’s top line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, while second-line pivot David Krejci will be flanked by Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen.
Tuukka Rask was the first Bruins goalie off the ice at morning skate and is expected to start in net, while Ottawa’s Anders Nilsson is expected to get the call between the pipes for the Sens.
Here are the projected lines for both clubs.
BOSTON BRUINS (20-4-6)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Danton Heinen
Anders Bjork — Charlie Coyle — Brett Ritchie
Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo
John Moore — Matt Grzelcyk
Tuukka Rask
OTTAWA SENATORS (12-17-1)
Brady Tkachuk — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis — Artem Anisimov — Colin White
Vladislav Namestnikov — Chris Tierney — Anthony Duclair
Nick Paul — Logan Brown — Jonathan Davidsson
Thomas Chabot — Dylan Demelo
Mark Borowiecki — Nikita Zaitsev
Ron Hainsey — Cody Goloubef
Anders Nilsson
