Berkshire Bank Hockey Night In New England: Projected Bruins-Oilers Lines, Pairings

The Bruins have a tall task ahead of them Thursday night if they wish to remain perfect at home this season.

Boston welcomes the Oilers to TD Garden to wrap up its homestand. The Bruins are coming off a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, while Edmonton hopes to bounce from a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

The lines will look a bit different than the last few Bruins games. Nick Foligno will slot into a second-line spot, meaning Craig Smith will play on the third-line wing. Foligno was dealing with an upper-body injury he suffered in the Bruins’ second game of the season, while Smith hasn’t been able to generate much with Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle.

Anton Blidh will take over Trent Frederic’s spot on the fourth line after the forward was knocked out of Tuesday’s win after being on the receiving end of a big hit from Josh Brown.

Linus Ullmark will start between the pipes for Boston, opposite Mikko Koskinen.

NESN will air Bruins-Oilers in full, with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. If you’re on the go, you can stream the game on Watch NESN Live.

Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for the teams:

BOSTON BRUINS (6-4-0)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall–Charlie Coyle–Nick Foligno
Jake DeBrusk–Erik Haula–Craig Smith
Anton Blidh–Tomas Nosek–Curtis Lazar

Derek Forbort–Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk–Brandon Carlo
Mike Reilly–Connor Clifton

Linus Ullmark

EDMONTON OILERS (9-2-0)
Zach Hyman–Connor McDavid–Jesse Puljujarvi
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Leon Draisaitl–Kailer Yamamoto
Warren Foegele–Derek Ryan–Kyle Turris
Brendan Perlini–Ryan McLeod–Colton Sceviour

Darnell Nurse–Evan Bouchard
Duncan Keith–Cody Ceci
Slater Koekkoek–Tyson Barrie

Mikko Koskinen