Longtime rivals, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs will meet for the first time this season Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre.
It’s Boston’s first game without captain and top defenseman Zdeno Chara, who is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks with a torn PCL suffered in Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders. The Bruins called up young defensemen Zach Trotman and Joe Morrow on Friday, and one of them is expected to play on the third defensive pairing against the Leafs.
The forward lines for Boston should remain the same as they’ve been for the last few games. Seth Griffith is expected to remain in the first-line right wing spot alongside veterans David Krejci and Milan Lucic.
The Leafs will start Jonathan Bernier in net, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. Bernier is 1-2-1 with a 3.03 goals against average and a .915 save percentage this season. He was 1-1-0 with a 3.26 GAA and a .915 save percentage against the Bruins in 2013-14. Bernier ranks second in the NHL with a .909 save percentage on shots from one to 15 feet in distance.
Tuukka Rask is expected to start for Boston after getting a rest Thursday night. The team has not made an official announcement on its starting goalie.
Saturday night’s game will be televised on NESN. Pre-game coverage begins at 6 p.m.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams:
BOSTON BRUINS (4-5-0, 5th in Atlantic)
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Seth Griffith
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Simon Gagne
Extra: Matt Fraser
Dennis Seidenberg-Dougie Hamilton
Adam McQuaid-Torey Krug
Matt Bartkowski-Zach Trotman/Joe Morrow
No extra: Trotman or Morrow
Tuukka Rask or Niklas Svedberg
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (3-3-1, 6th in Atlantic)
James van Riemsdyk-Tyler Bozak-Phil Kessel
Joffrey Lupul-Nazem Kadri-Daniel Winnik
Leo Komarov-Mike Santorelli-David Clarkson
Richard Panik-Peter Holland-Matt Frattin
Dion Phaneuf-Cody Franson
Stuart Percy-Roman Polak
Jake Gardiner-Stephane Robidas
Jonathan Bernier
Photo via Nathan Denette/Canadian Press
