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

The Boston Bruins will be shorthanded again as they attempt to bounce back against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

The Bruins still will be without suspended star Brad Marchand and injured captain Patrice Bergeron. Bruce Cassidy revealed to reporters Saturday in a pregame press conference Matt Grzelcyk will miss the Bruins-Senators matchup due to the upper-body injury he suffered he suffered Thursday in Boston’s last outing, a 6-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Jack Ahcan, whom Boston recalled from Providence on Friday, is expected to start alongside Charlie McAvoy on the top defensive pairing.

Cassidy likely will make one tweak to the Bruins’ forward lines, moving Trent Frederic from the third- to second-line left wing position, and dropping Jake DeBrusk from the second to the third line on the left.

Jeremy Swayman is expected to be Boston’s starting goaltender, with Linus Ullmark serving as his backup.

NESN will air Bruins versus Senators in full, with pregame coverage starting at noon ET. Puck drop from Canadian Tire Centre is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET.

Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Bruins-Senators:

BOSTON BRUINS (26-14-3)
Taylor Hall–Erik Haula–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–Charlie Coyle–Craig Smith
Trent Frederic–Jack Studnicka–Nick Foligno
Anton Blidh–Tomas Nosek–Curtis Lazar

Jack Achan–Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly–Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort–Connor Clifton

Jeremy Swayman

OTTAWA SENATORS (16 – 23 – 4)
Brady Tkachuk–Tim Stutzle–Adam Gaudette
Alex Formenton–Nick Paul–Connor Brown
Chris Tierney–Mark Kastelic–Tyler Ennis
Zach Sanford–Dylan Gambrell–Austin Watson

Thomas Chabot–Nikita Zaitsev
Nick Holden–Artem Zub
Erik Brannstrom–Josh Brown

Matt Murray

These projected lines and defensive pairings are presented by Berkshire Bank, the official bank of NESN’s Boston Bruins coverage.