The Boston Bruins need to flip the switch and they’ll have their first chance to do so Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Boston is coming off back-to-back losses in which the team was outscored, 13-2. The Bruins have fallen to 7-4-0 under interim head coach Joe Sacco after a 7-2-0 start in which the team underwent a four-game winning streak — its longest recorded, thus far, this season.
Former Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort won’t suit up and face his former team due to an illness. Forbort already missed his first chance at going up against Boston in November, meaning the 32-year-old won’t share the ice with his former Bruins teammates at all this season.
Vancouver has undergone a cold skid of its own, taking home just two wins in its last five games, however, the Canucks are entering the battle fresh off a 4-0 shutout victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Puck drop from Rogers Arena is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for Boston and Vancouver:
BOSTON BRUINS (15-13-3)
Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Elias Lindholm — Justin Brazeau
Trent Frederic — Charlie Coyle — Mark Kastelic
Cole Koepke — John Beecher — Marc McLaughlin
Nikita Zadorov — Charlie McAvoy
Jordan Oesterle — Brandon Carlo
Mason Lohrei — Andrew Peeke
Jeremy Swayman
VANCOUVER CANUCKS (15-8-5)
Jake DeBrusk — Elias Pettersson — Kiefer Sherwood
Nils Hoglander — J.T. Miller — Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua — Pius Suter — Conor Garland
Danton Heinen — Teddy Blueger — Max Sasson
Quinn Hughes — Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy — Noah Juulsen
Erik Brannstrom — Mark Friedman
Thatcher Demko
