Bruins’ Blue Line Could Get A Boost Saturday

The Boston Bruins could be getting some key reinforcements to their blue line when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday at TD Garden.

Defensemen Brandon Carlo (upper-body) and Derek Forbort (undisclosed) were hoping to be ready to play in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night but were ruled out just prior to the opening faceoff. There appears to be a good chance that both players could be activated off of injured reserve and play against the Canadiens if all goes well leading up to the 7:08 p.m. faceoff on Saturday night.

“They all feel a lot better. …specifically ‘Brando’ [Carlo] and ‘Forby,'” head coach Jim Montgomery told the media after practice on Friday. “We’ll see how they feel tomorrow, but it’s a lot more promising.”

As for injured rookie center Matthew Poitras? The 19-year-old, who did center the second line in practice Friday, will apparently need a little more time to be game-ready.

“Yeah, more dependent on Marchand not being available; Poitras has a couple more boxes to check before he’ll be ready.”

Carlo has been out since the Bruins’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 8, and Poitras injured his shoulder in the third period of the 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes the following night. Meanwhile, Forbort hasn’t played since Dec. 3 when the Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Dec. 3.

The Boston Bruins did have Linus Ullmark back in their lineup on Thursday night as the reigning Vezina Trophy winner backed up starter Jeremy Swayman, who has gone 3-0-1 starting the last four games for the Boston Bruins. The expectation is that Ullmark will get the nod between the pipes against the Canadiens on Saturday night.

Here’s what the Bruins lineup looked like on Friday at practice:

Forwards

James van Riemsdyk-Charlie Coyle-David Pastrnak

Pavel Zacha-Matthew Poitras-Jake DeBrusk

Jakub Lauko-Morgan Geekie-Trent Frederic

Danton Heinen-Jesper Boqvist-Oskar Steen

John Beecher

Defensemen

Matt Grzelcyk-Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm-Parker Wotherspoon

Mason Lohrei-Kevin Shattenkirk

Derek Forbort-Brandon Carlo

Goalies

Linus Ullmark

Jeremy Swayman