The Boston Bruins have been plenty familiar with making changes on the fly, and they’ll do just that again Saturday.
Boston on Saturday is set to host the New York Rangers in a matinee at TD Garden, and the B’s will be making a few personnel changes.
Ninety minutes before puck drop, it was announced that Jake DeBrusk would be out due to COVID-19 protocols. Between that and Zach Senyshyn sustaining an injury Thursday, Anders Bjork and Chris Wagner, both healthy scratches Thursday, will draw back into the lineup.
Brad Marchand is still considered a game-time decision but is expected to play, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy announced ahead of the game. With the top line in tact, the expectation is the second line will consist of Nick Ritchie, David Krejci and Charlie Coyle.
Bjork will slot in on the third line with Jack Studnicka and Craig Smith, while Trent Frederic, Sean Kuraly and Wagner will form the fourth unit. It’s possible the Bruins could elect to put Studnicka on the second line right wing and return Coyle to centering the third line.
If Marchand goes through warmups and decides he can’t play, Greg McKegg will draw into the lineup.
The Bruins also plan to tweak the back end, with Urho Vaakanainen getting put with Connor Clifton so he can play his natural left side. That means Jakub Zboril will play on his off side on a pairing with Jarred Tinordi.
As for the Rangers, Artemi Panarin is expected back in the lineup for the first time since Feb. 20 due to a leave of absence. He’ll go in his typical spot on the Rangers’ second line, bumping Chris Kreider up to the first line with David Quinn employing a kid third line of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko.
Jaroslav Halak will be in net for the Bruins. He’ll be opposed by Keith Kinkaid.
BOSTON BRUINS (14-6-4)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie–David Krejci–Charlie Coyle
Anders Bjork–Jack Studnicka–Craig Smith
Sean Kuraly–Trent Frederic–Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk–Charlie McAvoy
Jarred Tinordi–Jakub Zboril
Urho Vaakanainen–Connor Clifton
Jaroslav Halak
NEW YORK RANGERS (10-12-3)
Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad–Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin–Ryan Strome–Julien Gauthier
Alexis Lafreniere–Filip Chytil–Kaapo Kakko
Brendan Lemieux–Brett Howden–Kevin Rooney
Ryan Lindgren–Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller–Jacob Trouba
Libor Hajek–Brendan Smith
Keith Kinkaid
