Berkshire Bank Hockey Night In New England: Projected Bruins-Lightning Game 3 Lines, Pairings

The Boston Bruins’ lineup could look quite different Wednesday night for Game 3 of their second-round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters Wednesday morning his team has an unnamed forward who will be a game-time decision in the second leg of the back-to-back. It’s possible, Cassidy said, Boston could go with seven defensemen if the forward can’t play.

“We’ve kind of contemplated that going into the back-to-back — on the second night of the back-to-back — that’s something we’re mulling over,” Cassidy told reporters. “We’ll make a decision by game time.”

Cassidy even hinted at the possibility of defenseman Connor Clifton playing some up front, especially if the Bruins lost another forward during the game.

“If he’s in the lineup he’s not unfamiliar with that,” Cassidy said. “It’s not ideal obviously but it is a situation – an emergency situation that, he played some forward in Providence so he could pinch-hit up there if something were to happen.”

Cassidy did, however, make one thing clear: Jaroslav Halak will start in net for the Bruins.

On the other side of the ice, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper declined to name his starting goalie. He did, however, confirm defenseman Ryan McDonagh would also miss Game 3.

Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for each team.

Boston Bruins (1-1)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — Ondrej Kase
Nick Ritchie — Charlie Coyle — Anders Bjork
Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

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

Jaroslav Halak

Tampa Bay Lightning (1-1)
Ondrej Palat — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn — Anthony Cirelli — Tyler Johnson
Barclay Goodrow — Yanni Gourde — Blake Coleman
Pat Maroon — Cedric Paquette

Victor Hedman — Kevin Shattenkirk
Braydon Coburn — Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev — Erik Cernak
Luke Schenn

Andrei Vasilevskiy