Brad Marchand, who had offseason hip surgery, showed no signs of rust in his season debut Thursday night, scoring two goals and adding an assist as the Boston Bruins coasted to a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.
The B’s will be without Marchand for Friday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, though, as they ease the veteran winger back into action. And an injury to center David Krejci — sustained on a high stick from Michael Rasmussen that resulted in a two-game suspension for the Red Wings forward — will further stack the deck against Boston in its second game of a back-to-back.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said Friday that Marchand is feeling “great” after Thursday’s debut. Krejci, meanwhile, is considered “day to day,” with more information expected Saturday.
The Bruins recalled forward Jakub Lauko from Providence before Friday’s game. He and A.J. Greer will slide into Boston’s lineup with Marchand and Krejci sidelined. Craig Smith will move up to the top line in place of Marchand, with Pavel Zacha centering the second line in Krejci’s absence.
Montgomery also revealed Friday that Anton Stralman will draw into the lineup on the back end, replacing Jakub Zboril. Linus Ullmark will be between the pipes for Boston after Jeremy Swayman bounced back with a strong performance Thursday night.
Friday’s puck drop from Nationwide Arena in Columbus is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all of the action on NESN, beginning with an hour of pregame coverage.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for the Bruins vs. Blue Jackets.
BOSTON BRUINS (7-1-0)
Jake DeBrusk — Patrice Bergeron — Craig Smith
Taylor Hall — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic — Charlie Coyle — A.J. Greer
Nick Foligno — Tomas Nosek — Jakub Lauko
Hampus Lindholm — Matt Grzelcyk
Derek Forbort — Connor Clifton
Anton Stralman — Brandon Carlo
Linus Ullmark
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (3-5-0)
Johnny Gaudreau — Jack Roslovic — Patrik Laine
Gustav Nyquist — Boone Jenner — Kent Johnson
Yegor Chynakov — Cole Sillinger — Jakub Voracek
Eric Robinson — Sean Kuraly — Liam Foudy
Zach Werenski — Andrew Peeke
Vladislav Gavrikov — David Jiricek
Gavin Bayreuther — Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
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