The Bruins return to action Saturday night in New Jersey, and they'll feature a familiar lineup.
The Bruins are expected to go with the same roster they used in Sunday's 3-0 win over Phoenix in Prague, which included giving Tim Thomas the start in goal. Thomas made 29 saves for the shutout on Sunday, earning the nod for another start as Bruins coach Claude Julien tries to balance the workload for his two capable netminders.
Up front, the line combinations remain the same as Sunday, which means Daniel Paille and newly-signed Brian McGrattan will be the healthy scratches, along with Adam McQuaid on defense.
The six blueliners are the same as Sunday, but the pairings have been shuffled once again. With New Jersey loading up its top line with both Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise on that unit, the Bruins are expected to reunite Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg to form a shutdown pairing to match up with the Devils. That duo played well down the stretch last year after Seidenberg came over from Florida, but they have been split up so far this season to give the defense better balance.
Johnny Boychuk moves down from beside Chara to skating with Andrew Ference, while Mark Stuart and Matt Hunwick will make up the third pairing.
After playing games last week with 15 and 16 skaters, New Jersey has a full 20-man roster for this one, but still does not have any healthy scratches. Martin Brodeur doesn't rest often, but could get the night off after allowing three goals on 22 shots in a 3-2 loss to Colorado on Friday. The Devils didn't have a morning skate on Saturday, and coach John MacLean didn't reveal his starter in goal for the Bruins game to the New Jersey media after Friday's defeat.
Projected Bruins lines:
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Jordan Caron-Patrice Bergeron-Blake Wheeler
Mark Recchi-Tyler Seguin-Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton-Gregory Campbell-Brad Marchand
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Mark Stuart-Matt Hunwick
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Daniel Paille, Brian McGrattan, Adam McQuaid
Projected Devils lines:
Forwards
Zach Parise-Travis Zajac-Ilya Kovalchuk.
Patrick Elias-Jason Arnott-Jamie Langenbrunner.
Dainius Zubrus-Jacob Josefson-David Clarkson.
Rod Pelley-Tim Sestito-Adam Mair
Defense
Andy Greene-Henrik Tallinder
Colin White-Matt Taormina
Matt Corrente-Alexander Urbom
Goalies
Martin Brodeur
Johan Hedberg
Scratches: None
