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

The Boston Bruins on Thursday continue their homestand when they host the Colorado Avalanche at TD Garden.

Boston is coming off a 3-0 shutout win over the New Jersey Devils to open its five-game home stretch. The Bruins will have revenge on their minds following Colorado’s shootout loss last week at Ball Arena.

The Black and Gold are inching toward full strength as Linus Ullmark will serve as the backup behind Jeremy Swayman after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury.

Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters Thursday morning Matthew Poitras and Brandon Carlo will be game-time decisions. The pair participated in morning skate Wednesday; Thursday was an optional practice. Carlo has missed the last four games, and Poitras has missed the last three games, both with upper-body injuries.

Jesper Boqvist and Mason Lohrei project to be the healthy scratches to the lineup.

Puck drop for Bruins-Avalanche is scheduled at 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting at 6 p.m.

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

BOSTON BRUINS (26-8-9)
Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk — Pavel Zacha — Jake DeBrusk
Danton Heinen — Trent Frederic — Oskar Steen
Jakub Lauko — Morgan Geekie — John Beecher

Matt Grzelcyk — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Parker Wotherspoon — Kevin Shattenkirk

Jeremy Swayman

COLORADO AVALANCHE (29-13-3)
Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O’Connor
Andrew Cogliano — Ryan Johansen — Joel Kiviranta
Kurtis MacDermid — Fredrik Olofsson — Jason Polin

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Jack Johnson — Sam Malinski

Alexandar Georgiev