Bruins lines vs. Blues: Grzelcyk out, Clifton slots in

The Boston Bruins are back in action tonight as they host the St. Louis Blues and there will be some shuffling to the defensive pairings in Matt Grzelcyk’s absence.

Grzelcyk left Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury. Bruce Cassidy said while Grzelcyk feels better, they are now aiming for a Thursday return.

With him out tonight, Mike Reilly will shift up to the second pairing with Brandon Carlo. Connor Clifton will round out the defense and slot back into the lineup with Josh Brown.

Hampus Lindholm and David Pastrnak did not participate in morning skate and remain out of the lineup. Cassidy mentioned that he thought both would be further along in their recovery, but still doesn’t believe either are “long-term” injuries. Cassidy did say both were out early before practice.

Here’s how the lineup is projected to look:

Lines:

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk

Taylor Hall - Erik Haula - Marc McLaughlin

Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith

Nick Foligno - Tomas Nosek - Curtis Lazar

Defensive pairings:

Derek Forbort - Charlie McAvoy

Reilly - Carlo

Clifton - Brown

Jeremy Swayman gets the start

For the Blues, Craig Berube said Torey Krug will be a game-time decision.