The Boston Bruins look to return to form against the Ottawa Senators.
Bruce Cassidy is tweaking Boston’s forward lines and defensive pairings for Thursday night’s matchup at TD Garden. The B’s have lost two consecutive games this week, and the head coach is keen to eliminate some “mistakes,” which have crept into their play.
As injury continues to sideline David Pastrnak, Jesper Froden moves into the second-line right-wing spot, bumping Marc McLaughlin to the fourth-line center position.
Tomas Nosek replaces Trent Frederic as left wing on the third line. Cassidy told reporters Thursday following morning skate benching Frederic is part of his “learning curve.” McLaughlin has played right wing in his Bruins career to date, but he’s comfortable at center, having featured there in college.
Matt Grzelcyk has recovered from the upper-body injury he suffered Sunday and will partner with Josh Brown on Boston’s third defensive pairing. With Brandon Carlo out due to injury, Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton both move up to form the second pairing, pushing Mike Reilly onto the top pair, where he’ll join Charlie McAvoy.
Linus Ullmark replaces Jeremy Swayman as the Bruins’ starting goaltender.
NESN will air Bruins-Senators in full, with pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., and postgame coverage immediately will follow the final horn. On the go? Stream all the action online at Watch NESN Live.
Here are the teams’ projected lines and pairings.
BOSTON BRUINS (45-23-5)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall–Erik Haula–Jesper Froden
Tomas Nosek–Charlie Coyle–Craig Smith
Nick Foligno–Marc McLaughlin–Curtis Lazar
Mike Reilly-Charlie McAvoy
Derek Forbort–Connor Clifton
Matt Grzelcyk–Josh Brown
Linus Ullmark
OTTAWA SENATORS (27-40-6)
Brady Tkachuk–Josh Norris–Parker Kelly
Alex Formenton–Tim Stützle–Drake Batherson
Chris Tierney–Colin White–Connor Brown
Adam Gaudette–Dylan Gambrell–Austin Watson
Michael Del Zotto–Travis Hamonic
Erik Brannstrom–Artem Zub
Nick Holden–Nikita Zaitsev
Anton Forsberg
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