Returns. Debuts. Wednesday’s Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins game will have it all.
The two East Division foes will meet at TD Garden marking, perhaps of chief importance, the return of Zdeno Chara to the arena he called home from 2006 through 2020.
But on the Bruins’ side, there will be a flurry of moves transpiring.
For one, new defenseman Jarred Tinordi, claimed Saturday off waivers, will make his Bruins debut. He slots in on the third pairing alongside Connor Clifton.
A pair of injured Bruins likely will make their return, as Matt Grzelcyk and David Krejci should be good to go, head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated after Wednesday’s morning skate. Grzelcyk will play in his usual spot on the second pairing with Brandon Carlo.
With Tinordi and Grzelcyk in the mix, John Moore, Steven Kampfer and Urho Vaakanainen all will be bumped out of the lineup.
As for Krejci, his return will shuffle the bottom three forward lines. He’ll be flanked on the second unit by Nick Ritchie and Jake DeBrusk, while the Trent Frederic-Charlie-Coyle-Craig Smith line gets put back together.
Jack Studnicka, who has played well since getting moved to wing, will pivot the fourth line with Sean Kuraly to his left and Chris Wagner his right.
Tuukka Rask will be in net for the Bruins.
Here are the projected lineups for Wednesday’s Bruins-Capitals game.
BOSTON BRUINS (12-5-2)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie–David Krejci–Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic–Charlie Coyle–Craig Smith
Sean Kuraly–Jack Studnicka–Chris Wagner
Jakub Zboril–Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk–Brandon Carlo
Jarred Tinordi–Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (12-5-4)
Alex Ovechkin–Evgeny Kuznetsov–Conor Sheary
Jakub Vrana–Nicklas Backstrom–Tom Wilson
Richard Panik–Lars Eller–T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin–Nic Dowd–Garnet Hathaway
Brendan Dillon–John Carlson
Smitri Orlov–Justin Schultz
Zdeno Chara–Nick Jensen
Vitek Vanecek
