Berkshire Bank Hockey Night In New England: Projected Bruins-Rangers Lines, Pairings

The Bruins quickly will need to rebound when they head to New York on Saturday to face the Rangers in another matinee game.

Boston lost to the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden in a special Black Friday game. Head coach Jim Montgomery hopes to have his side more prepared and avoid the team’s first losing streak of the season.

The New York Rangers also had a matinee game Friday, and they handled the Philadelphia Flyers behind a two-goal performance from Mika Zibanejad.

Matt Grzelcyk is eligible to return after missing the past 10 games with an upper-body injury. If he does return, Mason Lohrei would likely sit following an impressive run that also included growing pains for a young player. New York native Kevin Shattenkirk is expected to return after sitting out for load management.

James van Riemsdyk was scratched Friday due to load management, and he’s expected to slot back into the lineup. Morgan Geekie made his return from injury Friday, so it’s possible he sits, or it could be Jakub Lauko, which would slot Danton Heinen onto the fourth line.

Linus Ullmark is expected to rotate in at goalie, and UMass alum Jonathan Quick is expected to rotate in for Igor Shesterkin, who started against the Flyers.

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Puck drop for the Bruins-Rangers matchup at Madison Square Garden is scheduled at 1 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting with pregame at noon.

Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both sides.

BOSTON BRUINS (14-2-3)
Brad Marchand — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk — Charlie Coyle — Trent Frederic
Jake DeBrusk — Matthew Poitras — Morgan Geekie
Danton Heinen — John Beecher — Oskar Steen

Matt Grzelcyk — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Kevin Shattenkirk

Linus Ullmark

NEW YORK RANGERS (14-3-1)
Chris Kreider — Mika Zibanejad — Blake Wheeler
Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle — Nick Bonino — Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey — Barclay Goodrow — Tyler Pitlick

K’Andre Miller — Jacob Trouba
Ryan Lindgren — Erik Gustafsson
Zac Jones — Braden Schneider

Jonathan Quick