The Boston Bruins will have a pair of players making their season debuts Thursday night as they look for a bounce-back win while hosting the Anaheim Ducks at TD Garden.
Bruins blue liner Matt Grzelcyk, who sat out the first four games as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery, will make his return as he starts on Boston's second defensive pairing. Jack Studnicka also will get the start as he pivots the third forward line with Trent Frederic and Charlie Coyle serving as his wingers.
Grzelcyk certainly should help Boston's defense after the Bruins allowed seven goals against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, their first loss of the season.
The Ducks enter Thursday's contest having dropped three games in a row.
The Bruins are viewed by oddsmakers as a home favorite with the total set at over/under 6.5 -- a bit of a bump given Boston's high-scoring affairs to this point.
Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 6 p.m. with "Bruins Pregame Hub."
Here are the projected lines and pairings for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (3-1-0)
Pavel Zacha--Patrice Bergeron--Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall--David Krejci--David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic--Jack Studnicka--Charlie Coyle
Nick Foligno--Tomas Nosek--A.J. Greer
Hampus Lindholm--Mike Reilly
Matt Grzelcyk--Jakub Zboril
Derek Forbort--Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Anaheim Ducks (1-3-0)
Adam Henrique--Trevor Zegras--Troy Terry
Mason McTavish--Ryan Strome--Frank Vatrano
Max Comtois--Isac Lundestrom--Jakob Silfverberg
Max Jones--Derek Grant--Pavol Regenda
Cam Fowler--Jamie Drysdale
Dmitry Kulikov--John Klingberg
Simon Benoit--Kevin Shattenkirk
John Gibson
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