The Bruins look to get back in the win column Thursday night when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to TD Garden.
Boston is coming off a disjointed 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, an opponent the Bruins admitted they took lightly. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are in the midst of a two-game losing streak.
The Bruins can earn the Presidents’ Trophy with a win in any fashion over Columbus. If they only get a point after Thursday’s game, the Black and Gold still can bring home the hardware if the Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes in any fashion or if the ‘Canes lose in regulation.
Head coach Jim Montgomery will switch up the forward lines with A.J. Greer being a healthy scratch. Jakub Lauko, who missed the Bruins’ last game with an upper-body injury, returns to the fourth line with Tomas Nosek and Garnet Hathaway. Matt Grzelcyk will be the defenseman to sit Thursday and Jakub Zboril will be on the third pair with Connor Clifton.
Linus Ullmark will get his second straight start between the pipes in order to start preparing for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Puck drop for Bruins-Blue Jackets from TD Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 6 p.m.
Here are the projected lines and defense pairings for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (57-12-5)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha–David Krejci–David Pastrnak
Tyler Bertuzzi–Charlie Coyle–Trent Frederic
Jakub Lauko–Tomas Nosek–Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov–Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm–Brandon Carlo
Jakub Zboril–Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Johnny Gaudreau–Boone Jenner–Kirill Marchenko
Lane Pederson–Jack Roslovic–Kent Johnson
Eric Robinson–Sean Kuraly–Trey Fix-Wolansky
Liam Foudy–Hunter McKown–Emil Bemstrom
Tim Berni–Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther–Billy Sweezey
Jake Christiansen–Marcus Bjork
Michael Hutchinson
