The Boston Bruins have one final bit of business to handle before they return home: a matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Bruce Cassidy is expected to stick with the same lines and pairings that have helped the Bruins win four out of the five games they've played so far on this soon-to-be concluded road trip. The re-shuffled combinations Cassidy unveiled last week have worked well, as Boston has scored 21 goals and allowed just nine during this trip.
Jeremy Swayman, who has been impressive lately, will continue as the Bruins' starting goaltender, with Linus Ullmark serving as his backup.
The Bruins-Blue Jackets game represents a homecoming, of sorts, for Nick Foligno. The ever-physical Bruins left wing played for Columbus between 2012 and 2021 and served as captain of the Blue Jackets for six seasons. It's his first time back at Nationwide Arena as an opponent.
"I think the way it ended, it was kind of quick to get traded out of here, so it's nice to come back and in a way for me to say thank you to everybody," Foligno said Saturday at a press conference, per BlueJackets.com's Jeff Svoboda. "I'm enjoying it. My head is spinning a little bit obviously, but it's just great to see everybody."
NESN will air Bruins versus Blue Jackets in full, with pregame coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Bruins-Blue Jackets:
BOSTON BRUINS (33-18-4)
Brad Marchand--Patrice Bergeron--Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall--Erik Haula--David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic--Charlie Coyle--Craig Smith
Nick Foligno--Tomas Nosek--Jesper Froden
Mike Reilly--Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk--Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort--Connor Clifton
Jeremy Swayman
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (28-25-2)
Gustav Nyquist--Boone Jenner--Patrik Laine
Jakub Voracek--Jack Roslovic--Oliver Bjorkstrand
Max Domi--Sean Kuraly--Justin Danforth
Yegor Chinakhov--Cole Sillinger--Emil Bemstrom
Zach Werenski--Andrew Peeke
Vladislav Gavrikov--Dean Kukan
Gabriel Carlsson--Gavin Bayreuther
Elvis Merzlikins
These projected lines and defensive pairings are presented by Berkshire Bank, the official bank of NESN's Boston Bruins coverage.
