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

The Boston Bruins return to TD Garden to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

It will be the first time the two teams square off this season.

Boston, which leads the NHL in points this season (52), has won each of its last four games. Pittsburgh is coming off a home loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.

Johnny Beecher will return to the lineup after sitting out Tuesday’s 4-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Beecher will play the left side on the fourth line with Georgii Merkulov in the middle and Oskar Steen on the right.

Mason Lohrei will play alongside Charlie McAvoy on Boston’s top defensive pairing.

Jeremy Swayman is expected to get the start between the pipes.

Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the matchup on ESPN.

Check out projected lines and pairings here.

BOSTON BRUINS (23-7-6)
Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha — Morgan Geekie — David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk — Trent Frederic — Danton Heinen
Johnny Beecher — Georgii Merkulov — Oskar Steen

Mason Lohrei — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk — Kevin Shattenkirk

Jeremy Swayman

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (18-14-4)
Jake Guentzel — Sidney Crosby — Rickard Rakell
Reilly Smith — Evgeni Malkin — Bryan Rust
Drew O’Connor — Lars Eller — Valtteri Puustinen
Jansen Harkins — Noel Acciari — Jeff Carter

Marcus Pettersson — Kris Letang
Pierre-Oliveier Joseph — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves — Chad Ruhwedel

Alex Nedeljkovic