Bruins-Red Wings Projected Lines, Pairings: Veteran Returns

The Bruins are hitting the road for a quick trip on Saturday, heading out to The Motor City for a matchup with the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.

It’ll be more of the same for interim head coach Joe Sacco.

Boston’s lone change will see forward Tyler Johnson return to the lineup after Georgii Merkulov was sent down to AHL-Providence on Friday. It’s just the sixth game Johnson will appear in since signing with Boston, as he’ll play alongside Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic on the third line.

“I’m just trying to get into a little bit of a groove, here,” Johnson said Saturday, per team-provided video. “It’s going to be nice to play with Freddy and Coyle because the last time I played with them, we did pretty well. I’m excited to see if we can continue that.”

Jeremy Swayman will return to the net, while Marc McLaughlin will be a healthy scratch in his return to the NHL.

The B’s and Wings are set to drop the puck at 7 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.

We have the projected lines and defensive pairings for both sides:

BOSTON BRUINS (9-9-3)
Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Elias Lindholm — Justin Brazeau
Georgii Merkulov — Charlie Coyle — Trent Frederic
John Beecher — Mark Kastelic — Cole Koepke

Mason Lohrei — Charlie McAvoy
Parker Wotherspoon — Brandon Carlo
Nikita Zadorov — Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman

DETROIT RED WINGS (8-9-2)
Vladimir Tarasenko — Dylan Larkin — Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat — Marco Kasper — Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen — Andrew Copp — Christian Fischer
Jonatan Berggren — J.T. Compher — Tyler Motte

Simon Edvinsson — Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot — Jeff Petry
Erik Gustafsson — Justin Holl

Cam Talbot