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Bruins Lines, Winning Formula, Preview vs. Jets

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The Boston Bruins (25-8-11, 61 points) return home after a dominating win in Nashville to host the Winnipeg Jets (24-16-4, 52 points). It is the first of two meetings between the sides this season. The Jets played last night, scoring a 4-3 shootout victory in Toronto over the Maple Leafs. The Bruins, thanks to some new look lines, beat up the Predators on Tuesday night.

Puck drop is at 7:00 pm on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub

T-E-A-M

Six different goal scorers lit the lamp for the Bruins in their 6-2 victory on Tuesday. In all, 14 different Bruins found the sheet with at least a point in the win. The Bruins snapped their three-game losing streak in style. It was truly a team win for a team many consider a ‘one-line team’.

“I don’t think we’ve ever considered ourselves a one-line team,” Bruce Cassidy told the club’s official website. “We’ve always felt like we’re a group of 20 guys that have to pull their weight every night and if not, we’re not gonna win every night. That was a good example of it tonight.”

Charlie Coyle, Danton Heinen, Chris Wagner, David Krejci, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron all scored in the victory. The Bruins got contributions from every forward line, and even got two points from defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in the win.

“We’re a team that needs and relies on everyone to play their game and bring it every night,” Bergeron said postgame. “I thought tonight was a perfect example of how we want to play and compete. If we do that more often than not, we’re going to get the result.”

Although the Bruins had a nine-game point streak snapped against the Oilers on Saturday, they had lost three in a row coming into Tuesday night. Admittedly, the Bruins were not playing their brand of hockey leading up to the mom’s trip to Nashville.

“It’s been a while since we’ve played as a team like that – assertive, on the puck throughout the game for 60 minutes non-stop,” said Bergeron. “I thought the way we competed, the way we played, good things will happen if we do that.”

Trade Winds Blowing?

Our own Jimmy Murphy brought the heat this morning with the latest Boston Bruins trade rumors. With about six weeks until the deadline, Murphy is reporting that the Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks have had discussions. Could veteran John Moore, struggling to find top four ice time, be a target for the Blackhawks?

Here is what Murphy wrote in the linked piece above.

With both defenseman Brent Seabrook and Calvin da Haan ruled out for the rest of the season and the Blackhawks in need of a defenseman, it was speculated that there could be a fit for the Bruins – who even with Kevan Miller still injured – have a surplus on the blue line both at the NHL and AHL levels.

The belief is that the Winnetka, IL native Moore is a likely target. Moore, has three more seasons left with a cap hit of $2.7 million and whether it’s in a trade that nets them a winger like the 27-year-old Saad, or clears cap space for another winger like the 28-year-old Kreider, the Blackhawks, with $12.2 million in cap space, can help the Bruins and solidify their third pairing with Moore.

Stay tuned to BHN for all of the latest Bruins rumors and speculation leading up to the deadline on February 24th. Murph has been on the trail for months, reporting the Bruins interest in players like Tyler Toffoli, Brandon Saad and Chris Kreider before anyone else.

Flu Bug Strikes Again

John Moore replaced Torey Krug this morning at Bruins practice during line rushes. The Bruins lines, especially on defense, appear to be shifting again. The reason? The flu bug continues to wreck havoc on the club. Krug missed practice this morning and is a game-time decision, per Cassidy.

Steve Kampfer skated with Matt Grzelcyk on the third pairing. Grzelcyk missed Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers with the flu. Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara, who both played Saturday, missed the club’s practice last Friday with illness. In fact, if you looked close enough, you could see the water bottles separated for players on the bench to prevent the illness from spreading.

Boston Bruins Lines

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Anders Bjork
Danton Heinen – Charlie Coyle – David Backes
Joakim Nordstrom – Sean Kuraly – Chris Wagner

Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
John Moore – Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk – Steven Kampfer

Jaroslav Halak

Bruins lines are based off of morning skate and are subject to change. Halak is the confirmed starter, per Cassidy. Brett Ritchie and Par Lindholm will sit up front. If Krug can go, the expectation is he will play with Carlo, while Moore shifts back to playing with Grzelcyk. That would make Kampfer the scratch on defense. All of this will be determined around warm-up.

Winnipeg Jets Lines

Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Patrik Laine
Nikolaj Ehlers – Blake Wheeler – Andrew Copp
Mathieu Perreault – Adam Lowry – Jack Roslovic
Jansen Harkins – Nick Shore – Mason Appleton

Josh Morrissey – Tucker Poolman
Luca Sbisa – Neal Pionk
Sami Niku – Anthony Bitetto

Laurent Brossoit

Jets lines are subject to change. Winnipeg played last night in Toronto, defeating the Leafs 4-3 in the shootout. The Jets didn’t fly into Boston until after 3:00 am, and are no doubt fatigued. Brossoit is the expected starter after Connor Hellebuyck played last night. Bryan Little, Dmitry Kulikov, Nathan Beaulieu, Mark Letestu and Dustin Byfuglien are all injured and will not play tonight. Letestu’s season is over while Byfuglien has yet to play this year.

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