The Boston Bruins face another stiff test in the form of the Carolina Hurricanes.
The 3-2-0 Bruins visit the Hurricanes on Thursday night at PNC Arena, looking both to bounce back from their loss to the Florida Panthers and to stop Carolina from improving to 6-0-0 and setting a record for the best start in franchise history.
Bruce Cassidy is expected to deploy the same lines and pairings he used in Wednesday’s defeat. Most notably that means Jack Studnicka likely will remain at center on the second line even though Cassidy bluntly admitted he struggled there against the Panthers.
Having made his long-awaited return from injury, Curtis Lazar probably will skate again as the fourth-line right wing.
Jeremy Swayman is expected to replace Linus Ullmark as the Bruins’ starting goaltender against the Hurricanes.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Bruins-Hurricanes. NESN will air the game in full, with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. If you’re on the go, you can stream the game on Watch NESN Live.
BOSTON BRUINS (3-2-0)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall–Jack Studnicka–Charlie Coyle
Jake DeBrusk–Erik Haula–Karson Kuhlman
Trent Frederic–Tomas Nosek–Curtis Lazar
Matt Grzelcyk–Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly–Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort–Connor Clifton
Jeremy Swayman
CAROLINA HURRICANES (5-0-0)
Andrei Svechnikov–Sebastian Aho–Teuvo Teravainen
Jesperi Kotkaniemi–Vincent Trocheck–Martin Necas
Nino Niederreiter–Jordan Staal–Jesper Fast
Jordan Martinook–Derek Stepan–Steven Lorentz
Jaccob Slavin–Ethan Bear
Brady Skjei–Brett Pesce
Ian Cole–Tony DeAngelo
Frederik Andersen
