Two of the top Hart Trophy candidates will be on the ice Monday night when the Boston Bruins take on the Edmonton Oilers.
Oilers star Connor McDavid and Bruins dynamic forward David Pastrnak highlight the matchup as McDavid leads the NHL with 48 goals while Pastrnak sits in second with 42 tallies. McDavid has a sizable advantage when it comes to points, though, notching a league-best 113 heading into the tilt.
The Bruins will look for their seventh consecutive win, but will have to overcome the absence of Taylor Hall, who was sent back to Boston due to a lower-body injury. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery elected to move Nick Foligno up to the third line in place of Hall.
That was one of a few decisions Montgomery had to make with his lineup. Despite Linus Ullmark scoring a goal in Boston’s last game against the Vancouver Canucks, Montgomery is going with Jeremy Swayman in net while Matt Grzelcyk is the odd-man out in the defensive unit.
Puck drop from Rogers Place is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, including an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (45-8-5)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha–David Krejci–David Pastrnak
Nick Foligno–Charlie Coyle–Trent Frederic
A.J. Greer–Tomas Nosek–Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov–Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm–Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort–Connor Clifton
Jeremy Swayman
EDMONTON OILERS (32-20-8)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins–Connor McDavid–Kailer Yamamoto
Klim Kostin–Leon Draisaitl–Zach Hyman
Mattias Janmark–Ryan McLeod–Warren Foegele
Devin Shore–Derek Ryan–Jesse Puljujarvi
Darnell Nurse–Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak–Tyson Barrie
Philip Broberg–Evan Bouchard
Stuart Skinner
