Boston Bruins hockey officially will return Sunday afternoon.
The B’s are set to meet the Philadelphia Flyers in both sides’ first contest of the Eastern Conference round-robin tournament. Boston skated Saturday morning, and here’s what we know so far: Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie will be out, while Brad Marchand is expected to be in.
Tuukka Rask’s status is unclear after he missed Saturday’s session. Should he be unable to go, then Jaroslav Halak will start for Boston and either Maxime Lagace or Dan Vladar will back him up.
Jack Studnicka appears to have secured, at least for Sunday, the second line right wing spot. In Saturday’s session he split reps with Ritchie, who won’t play.
Karson Kuhlman skated on the third line left wing along with Sean Kuraly. Seeing as Kuraly all but certainly won’t be healthy scratched, it’s probably safe to assume the third line will be Kuraly and Anders Bjork on the wings with Charlie Coyle between them.
If that’s the case, then Joakim Nordstrom, Par Lindholm and Chris Wagner will make up the fourth line.
There are no surprises on defense, as Jeremy Lauzon will be the right side third pairing blueliner alongside Matt Grzelcyk.
Here were the full lines and pairings Saturday, according to the team.
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Jack Studnicka/Nick Ritchie
Karson Kuhlman/Sean Kuraly–Charlie Coyle–Anders Bjork
Joakim Nordstrom–Par Lindholm–Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–Jeremy Lauzon
John Moore–Connor Clifton
Puck drop for Bruins-Flyers is set for 3 p.m. ET.
