Per this morning’s tweets, here were the Bruins’ line rushes and defense on the ice:
#NHLBruins lines in AM skate:
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 5, 2017
Marchand—Bergeron—Pastrnak
Spooner—Krejci—Backes
Vatrano—Czarnik—Hayes
Schaller—Moore—Nash
#NHLBruins defense in AM skate:
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 5, 2017
Chara—Carlo
Krug—McQuaid
K. Miller—C. Miller
Extra info:
Liles, Morrow, Acciari, Blidh also on the ice for AM skate. Goalies: Rask, Khudobin.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 5, 2017
David Backes drew back into his somewhat-regular spot on Krejci’s right, and Vatrano rushed with the 3rd line. Depending on Backes’ health this morning, Vatrano may stay with Krejci and Ryan Spooner.
EDIT:
Don't count on #NHLBruins' Backes just yet: AM skate over, he's doing extra skating w/Morrow, Liles, Acciari.
— Mike Loftus (@MLoftus_Ledger) January 5, 2017
Confirmed; Backes is out.
We should expect Rask to make the start with a questionable backup in Anton Khudobin still on the roster (waived, though not yet through) and Zane McIntyre has yet to be called up. Sky says it’s time.
Per Edmonton’s official page, here were their forward rushes at practice yesterday, with a bit of a change on their right side up front.
Maroon - McDavid - Draisaitl
Lucic - Nugent-Hopkins - Kassian
Pouliot - Caggiula - Eberle
Lander - Letestu - Puljujärvi
And, defense... from the Columbus game, expecting something pretty similar.
Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera - Kris Russell
Brandon Davidson - Matthew Benning
UPDATE: Davidson is out sick. Look for Oesterle or Eric Gryba.
Edmonton called up 24-year-old defenseman Jordan Oesterle this morning. Oesterle has 23 career NHL games over the last two seasons.
Going out on a limb and guessing that they play Jonas Gustavsson tonight, after he spent last season with the Bruins. He’s got some insider info on our shooters and schematics.