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

After a successful homestand, the Bruins begin their two-game road trip in Detroit to take on the Red Wings.

Boston beat the Red Wings last week, 4-1, at TD Garden, which began a three-game unbeaten run against the Atlantic Division. The B’s streak heading into Saturday came amid multiple injuries. Charlie McAvoy remains out due to a four-game suspension, which he began serving Thursday.

Detroit has lost four of its last five games heading into Saturday’s matchup at Little Caesars Arena.

Jim Montgomery will shift the top three lines back to what they were on opening night with James van Riemsdyk on the left wing with Pavel Zacha at center and David Pastrnak at right wing. Matthew Poitras will center the third line with Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic.

“I just think JVR’s been playing really fast, and it allows me to kind of control Poitras’ minutes against other teams that are looking to go against Pasta,” Montgomery told reporters, per team-provided video.

Derek Forbot did travel with the team, but his status remained up in the air Saturday afternoon. Linus Ullmark will start Saturday, and Jeremy Swayman will get the nod against the Dallas Stars on Monday.

Puck drop at Little Caesars Arena for Bruins-Red Wings is scheduled at 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting with pregame at 6 p.m.

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

BOSTON BRUINS (9-0-1)
Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — Jake DeBrusk
James van Riemsdyk — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Morgan Geekie — Matthew Poitras — Trent Frederic
John Beecher — Patrick Brown — Oskar Steen

Hampus Lindholm — Kevin Shattenkirk
Mason Lohrei — Brandon Carlo
Parker Wotherspoon — Ian Mitchell

Linus Ullmark

DETRIOT RED WINGS (6-4-1)
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Larkin — Lucas Raymond
Andrew Copp — David Perron — J.T. Compher
Daniel Sprong — Joe Veleno — Michael Rasmussen
Klim Kostin — Austin Czarnik — Christian Fischer

Jake Walman — Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot — Justin Holl
Shayne Gostisbehere — Olli Maatta

Ville Husso