Jonas Gustavsson will have the opportunity to build on his solid Bruins debut Friday night as Boston makes its first-ever visit to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Gustavsson reportedly was the first goaltender off the ice at Bruins morning skate, signifying he likely will start in net against the New York Islanders.
The 30-year-old Swede backstopped Boston to a win last Saturday in Colorado, while usual starter Tuukka Rask has posted a 1-3-1 record in his five starts and ranks second-to-last in the NHL in both goals against average and save percentage.
Elsewhere in the lineup, forwards Matt Beleskey and Patrice Bergeron both will play, according to Bruins radio play-by-play man Dave Goucher. Beleskey missed Wednesday’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers with an upper body injury, and Bergeron was not present at Thursday’s practice or Friday’s morning skate after attending the birth of his son earlier in the week.
The Bruins also announced Friday they had activated defenseman Joe Morrow from injured reserve and assigned injured forward Seth Griffith to Providence. Morrow, who missed the last three games as he recovered from a bout with the flu, is expected to play against the Islanders.
UPDATE (7:19 p.m. ET): Contrary to earlier reports, Beleskey will not return to the Bruins’ lineup. Here are Friday’s updated lines and pairings:
BOSTON BRUINS (2-3-1)
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson — David Krejci — David Pastrnak
Chris Kelly — Ryan Spooner — Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo — Joonas Kemppainen — Tyler Randell
Zdeno Chara — Colin Miller
Torey Krug — Adam McQuaid
Joe Morrow — Kevan Miller
Jonas Gustavsson
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (4-1-1)
Anders Lee — John Tavares — Ryan Strome
Josh Bailey — Frans Nielsen — Kyle Okposo
Nikolay Kulemin — Mikhail Grabovsky — Brock Nelson
Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck
Calvin de Haan — Travis Hamonic
Nick Leddy — Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey — Marek Zidlicky
Jaroslav Halak
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
