The Bruins are back in action Thursday night as they hope to win their third-straight game.
Boston will take on the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden after beating the Islanders in a shootout Tuesday. Jake DeBrusk led the Black and Gold with two goals and one assist against New York, and it was David Pastrnak that scored the game-winner in the shootout. Goalie Linus Ullmark put on another fabulous performance between the pipes, continuing his campaign as one of the top goaltenders in the NHL.
The Bruins will face an interesting test against the Kings, who are third in the Pacific and have given up six goals in each of their last two games — both of which they lost. But the blue line will have their hands full going up against Anze Kopitar and team points leader Kevin Fiala.
David Krejci is expected to make his return to the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury. The veteran is expected to center the second line with Pavel Zacha moving to the left wing and Pastrnak on the right. This means the third line of Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic will be back together and hope to continue their top production.
Hampus Lindholm will be a game-time decision for Thursday’s game due to an illness. Jim Montgomery said the defenseman was not feeling well and was sent home from the Bruins’ morning skate. The head coach has not confirmed who will start in net against Los Angeles.
Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. You can catch all the action on NESN, beginning with an hour of pregame coverage at 6 p.m.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both the Bruins and the Kings.
BOSTON BRUINS (23-4-1)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall — Charlie Coyle — Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno — Tomas Nosek — A.J. Greer
Derek Forbort — Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk — Brandon Carlo
Jakub Zboril — Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
LOS ANGELES KINGS (15-12-5)
Kevin Fiala — Anze Kopitar — Arthur Kaliyev
Trevor Moore — Phillip Danault — Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Alex Iafallo — Adrian Kempe — Gabriel Vilardi
Carl Grundstrom — Blake Lizotte — Samuel Fagemo
Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Sean Durzi — Matt Roy
Alexander Edler — Sean Walker
Jonathan Quick
