Frederic also slots back into the lineup and DeBrusk and Pastrnak will switch spots.
The Boston Bruins host the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 tonight, facing potential elimination. The Bruins are projected to shuffle things around up front to gain some offense and will see the return of Hampus Lindholm to the lineup.
Lindholm has been out since midway through Game 2 with an upper-body injury when he sustained a hit from Andrei Svechnikov behind the net. He’ll slot back in on the top defensive pairing with Charlie McAvoy.
With his return, Bruce Cassidy had some decisions to make on defense. Cassidy said Matt Grzelcyk is “playing through some stuff” and he’ll come out of the lineup for a chance to recover.
Mike Reilly will now pair up with Brandon Carlo. Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton continue to round out the third pairing.
The offense will also look a little different tonight from Game 5 – at least to start the game. Jake DeBrusk returns to the top line. David Pastrnak slides down with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula.
Trent Frederic is back in the mix on the third line’s left wing and Tomas Nosek will now center the fourth line. With the adjustments, Chris Wagner is out and a healthy scratch.
Jeremy Swayman gets the start in net.
Here’s how things are projected to look:
Lines:
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – DeBrusk
Hall – Haula – Pastrnak
Frederic – Charlie Coyle – Craig Smith
Nick Foligno – Nosek – Curtis Lazar
Defensive pairings:
Lindholm – McAvoy
Reilly – Carlo
Forbort – Clifton
Swayman gets the start