While the Bruins will not be making any changes in goal, with Bruce Cassidy announcing Wednesday morning that Tuukka Rask will start Game 6, they did have to make at least one lineup change with Curtis Lazar ruled out after suffering a lower-body injury in Game 5.
Cassidy said after morning skate that Jake DeBrusk will go back in after being a healthy scratch for Game 5, and that he will start as the third-line left wing next to Charlie Coyle and Karson Kuhlman.
Sean Kuraly moves from wing to center on the fourth line and Nick Ritchie drops down to fourth-line left wing. Cassidy said that he could flip DeBrusk and Ritchie in-game depending on how things look.
DeBrusk and Kuhlman give Coyle some speed on both wings, while Ritchie-Kuraly-Wagner gives the Bruins a big, physical fourth line.
"The message is help us win," Cassidy said of DeBrusk. "It's that simple. Help us win the game. Shift-to-shift, the puck might find him a lot, so yeah, that might involve scoring. It might never find him all night, so then he has to help keep the puck out of our net, do a good job backchecking, defensive side of the puck. You play the game in front of you and help the team win."
There will be no changes on defense, as Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller had already been ruled out ahead of the trip to Long Island.
Here is the full expected lineup for Wednesday night's Game 6 as the Bruins look to avoid elimination:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - David Krejci - Craig Smith
Jake DeBrusk - Charlie Coyle - Karson Kuhlman
Nick Ritchie - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly - Jeremy Lauzon
Jarred Tinordi - Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
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