Marchand, Pastrnak, McAvoy To Play vs Flyers Friday

The Boston Bruins will have a star-studded lineup when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday at TD Garden.

Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand and alternate captains Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak will make their preseason debuts and play their first games as the official leadership trio of the 2022-23 Boston Bruins. In addition to them, veteran and potential top center Pavel Zacha and veteran defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Kevin Shattenkirk will see their first game action of the preseason.

While Marchand, Zacha, and Pastrnak didn’t play as a line together at training camp on Thursday, they were together on Wednesday and likely will be on Friday night against the Flyers.

“Pavs took a massive step last year, and he has incredible vision. A really good two-way player – like Bergy,” Marchand said after their camp session on Wednesday. Had a lot of fun playing with them. If I’m there [Thursday], just keep building and keep working together. It’s gonna be a work in progress. We weren’t completely in sync out there, but that’s expected when you have a new center…we have to use one another. We’ll keep working on it and get to where we want to be.”

Between the pipes, 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark is expected to get the start and be backed up by Kyle Keyser, who will be dressing for a third-straight game.

Alex Chiasson and Danton Heinen, both on professional tryouts, will play for a second straight game, as will winger Jakub Lauko, center Georgii Merkulov, and defenseman Mason Lohrei.

Here’s the full roster for the first of back-to-back preseason tilts with the Flyers:

Forwards: Alex Chiasson, John Farinacci, A.J. Greer, Brett Harrison, Danton Heinen, Jakub Lauko, Brad Marchand, Georgii Merkulov, David Pastrnak, Matt Poitras, Anthony Richard, Pavel Zacha

Defensemen: Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Kevin Shattenkirk, Reilly Walsh, Parker Wotherspoon

Goaltenders: Kyle Keyser, Linus Ullmark