Bruins-Kings Projected Lines, Pairings: Matthew Poitras Expected To Return

The Bruins bounced back after a rough season-opening loss, and they’ll take on the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday for their first matinee matchup of the season.

Boston won a thrilling 6-4 matchup against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Thursday. The result might not have been ideal, but the matchup did mark Jeremy Swyman’s first start since signing his contract extension as the Black and Gold received contributions from their offseason signings.

Saturday could mark the return of Matthew Poitras, who missed the final week of preseason and the first two games of the season due to an injury.

“He’s very close, he’s progressing the right way. I’m gonna say he’s a possibility [Saturday]. We’ve just got to see how he responds later today,” Jim Montgomery told reporters Friday, per Eric Russo of BostonBruins.com

Poitras returned to practice Thursday, and he expressed excitement to get back on the ice and get his sophomore season on track. The Bruins waived defenseman Ian Mitchell with the purpose of assignment to Providence, so that hints at an activation for Poitras where he’ll slot into the third line with Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau.

Mason Lohrei also is expected to return to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch Thursday. Montgomery noted he wanted everyone to play at least once to start the season to get acclimated to regular-season action. Lohrei will replace Parker Wotherspoon and is expected to pair with Andrew Peeke.

Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled at 1 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN after an hour of pregame. Also, stay tuned after postgame coverage for a new episode of “A Century of Boston Bruins Hockey: Characters.”

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

BOSTON BRUINS (1-1-0)
Pavel Zacha — Elias Lindholm — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — Morgan Geekie
Trent Frederic — Matthew Poitras — Justin Brazeau
John Beecher — Mark Kastelic — Cole Koepke

Nikita Zadorov — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Mason Lohrei — Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman

LOS ANGELES KINGS (1-0-0)
Alex Laferriere — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala — Quinton Byfield — Warren Foegele
Tanner Jeannot — Phillip Danault — Trevor Moore
Andre Lee — Alex Turcotte — Trevor Lewis

Mikey Anderson — Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Vladislav Gavrikov — Kyle Burroughs

Darcy Kuemper