The Bruins will be playing their first home game since Jan. 28 when they host the Devils Thursday night. Then they'll be making their only regular-season trip outside the Eastern time zone when they head to Lake Tahoe to face the Flyers in a special NHL Outdoors game Sunday afternoon.
They'll be a little bit shorthanded on defense for both games, as coach Bruce Cassidy said Thursday that Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) and Jakub Zboril (upper body), who had both already been ruled out for Thursday night, will not travel to Tahoe. Neither will forward Ondrej Kase, who has missed more than a month now with an upper-body injury.
Grzelcyk and Zboril's absence means John Moore, who made his season debut on Saturday, and Connor Clifton will both be in the lineup Thursday and presumably Sunday as well as long as there are no more injuries. Steven Kampfer and Urho Vaakanainen are both with the team as extra defensemen and will join them on the Tahoe trip.
While the Bruins will be slightly shorthanded, their Tahoe opponent will be extremely shorthanded. Flyers coach Alain Vigneault confirmed on Thursday that none of the seven players they have on the COVID-19 protocol list will make the trip, which means no Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom or Jakub Voracek.
Up front for the Bruins, Greg McKegg and Karson Kuhlman are the extra forwards right now. Jack Studnicka continues to play for AHL Providence to get some game action, and Anton Blidh was just sent down for the same purpose.
In goal, Cassidy said the plan is to start Jaroslav Halak against the Devils on Thursday and Tuukka Rask in Tahoe on Sunday. Callum Booth is with the team as the third goalie.
Thursday night will feature some new-look lines for the Bruins, as Cassidy has moved David Pastrnak to the second line with David Krejci and Nick Ritchie in hopes of getting that line going at five-on-five, with Jake DeBrusk moving to his usual spot next to Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.
Here are the Bruins' expected lines and pairings for Thursday:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk
Nick Ritchie - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Anders Bjork - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
Jeremy Lauzon - Charlie McAvoy
John Moore - Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton - Kevan Miller
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
