Bruins-Blues Projected Lines, Pairings: Joonas Korpisalo Gets Nod

The Bruins look to turn the page after a rough Thursday loss.

Boston suffered a 7-2 defeat to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center amid a “frustrating” stretch of consistency. The Black and Gold traded wins and losses in their five games after winning two straight last weekend. They beat the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday and will look to do so again at TD Garden.

The Bruins placed Hampus Lindholm on injured reserve Saturday and also recalled forwards Georgii Merkulov and Riley Tufte from Providence. Patrick Brown was assigned to the P-Bruins so there will be changes to the lineup. It’s possible Tyler Johnson returns after he was made a healthy scratch Thursday.

Brandon Carlo took a nasty shot in the Stars matchup, and it’s up in the air if the defenseman will play Saturday. Andrew Peeke remains injured with an upper-body injury, so it’s possible Boston plays seven defensemen if Carlo can’t suit up.

A starting goalie was confirmed before the pregame news conference, but Joonas Korpisalo is projected to start after Jeremy Swayman played three straight games.

Puck drop for the Bruins-Blues matchup at TD Garden on Saturday is scheduled at 1 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN after an hour of pregame.

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

BOSTON BRUINS (8-8-2)
Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Elias Lindholm — Justin Brazeau
Trent Frederic — Charlie Coyle — Cole Koepke
Georgii Merkulov — Mark Kastelic — Riley Tufte

Nikita Zadorov — Charlie McAvoy
Mason Lohrei — Brandon Carlo
Jordan Oesterle — Parker Wotherspoon

Joonas Korpisalo

ST. LOUIS BLUES (7-9-1)
Jake Neighbours — Pavel Buchnevich — Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad — Brayden Schenn — Dylan Holloway
Alexey Toropchenko — Radek Faksa — Nathan Walker
Mathieu Joseph — Oskar Sundqvist — Kasperi Kapanen

Ryan Suter — Colton Parayko
Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Justin Faulk
Scott Perunovich — Matthew Kessel

Joel Hofer