Projected lines, pairings for Bruins vs. Islanders Game 4 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins have an opportunity to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series versus the New York Islanders in Saturday night’s Game 4 at Nassau Coliseum.
The B’s emerged victorious in Game 3 when Brad Marchand scored from a tough shooting angle 3:36 into overtime. Tuukka Rask was tremendous for the B’s, making 28 saves on 29 shots, including a couple clutch stops early in overtime.
It wasn’t all good for the Bruins, though. They lost defenseman Brandon Carlo in the third period and he didn’t return. Carlo did not participate in Saturday’s morning skate and was instead watching in shorts and a t-shirt, per Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic.
Jeremy Lauzon skated in Carlo’s spot on the right side of the second pairing with Mike Reilly. Jarred Tinordi took Lauzon’s spot on the left side of the third pairing. It wouldn’t be surprising if B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy changes up these pairings throughout Game 4 because outside of the Grzelcyk-McAvoy pairing, these duos don’t have much experience playing alongside each other.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for Bruins vs. Islanders Game 4.
BOSTON BRUINS
FORWARDS
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall–David Krejci–Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie–Charlie Coyle–Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly–Curtis Lazar–Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk–Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly–Jeremy Lauzon
Jarred Tinordi–Connor Clifton
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask (starter), Jeremy Swayman (backup)
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
FORWARDS
Leo Komarov–Matthew Barzal–Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier–Brock Nelson–Josh Bailey
Kyle Palmieri–John-Gabriel Pageau–Travis Zajac
Matt Martin–Casey Cizikas–Cal Clutterbuck
DEFENSEMEN
Adam Pelech–Ryan Pulock
Nick Leddy–Scott Mayfield
Andy Greene–Noah Dobson
GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov (starter), Ilya Sorokin (backup)