The Boston Bruins, again, have some lineup decisions to make.
With injuries to a handful of forwards already this season, consistent lines, to the fault of no one, have been hard to come by. And with David Pastrnak looking like he’ll play Saturday night against the Washington Capitals, more moves are coming.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy made clear that Pastrnak is going to be in his usual first-line, right-wing spot.
Ideally, Cassidy wants to keep the Trent Frederic-Charlie Coyle-Craig Smith third line together. The fourth line of Anders Bjork, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner is coming off its best game of the season.
So, as has been the case many times, the vacancy is the second line right wing.
Jack Studnicka was banged up by a hit he took Thursday, and Jake DeBrusk isn’t expected to be ready in time for Saturday’s game. With the preference to not use Par Lindholm as a winger in mind, it looks like we might see Karson Kuhlman riding shotgun with David Krejci.
“Don’t think Jake will be ready to go (Saturday), so is it Kuhlman?” Cassidy said after Friday’s practice. “He’s on the taxi squad, Jack was off the ice today, got hit yesterday, will he be ready to go? Do we move Bjork up and mess with the fourth line, who had a great game the other day. So there will be a little domino effect there based on the availability of a couple players.”
According to Providence Bruins reporter Mark Divver, Kuhlman, Anton Blidh and Steven Kampfer all were off the ice Friday for the AHL team, meaning they potentially could be making the road trip to Washington with the big club.
As Cassidy alluded to, a lot of this is predicated on the availability of some guys, and a clearer picture won’t come into focus until after Saturday’s morning skate. So, time will tell.
