Game Day Thread: Rangers @ Bruins

The Bruins are at home, hosting the visiting New York Rangers at TD Garden on NESN.

Last time in Bruins Hockey…

Bruins hosted the Islanders and were the stronger team for much of a close game, but could not seal the deal, losing in a shootout, 1-2.

blah.

The Bruins are now at 13-6-4, for 4th in the MassMutual East division by victory points, 6 points behind the Isles and 4 points behind the Caps, and 3rd in the division with a points percentage of .652.

What will be the lines today?
The lines should be slightly different than usual.

Brandon Carlo is not technically on IR, but will definitely miss some games, with concussion-like symptoms.

Forward Ondrej Kaše, and defensemen Jeremy Lauzon & Kevan Miller are still on IR. Kaše and Miller are both skating on their own.
Jarred Tinordi and Urho Vaakanainen will play again tonight,

Jake DeBrusk is back after having been a healthy scratch. Chris Wagner & Anders Bjork will get the night off. Jack Studnicka and nigh-forgotten P-Bruin Zach Senyshen were skating on the 4th line in morning rushes.

Tuukka Rask has been dealing with a back ailment.
Jaroslav Halak will be in goal. Dan Vladar will be backing him up.

Bruins Forward Lines
Brad Marchand	Patrice Bergeron	David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie	David Krejci	Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic	Charlie Coyle	Craig Smith
Sean Kuraly	#23 Jack Studnicka	Zach Senyshyn
Bruins Defensive pairs
Jakub Zboril	Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk	Urho Vaakanainen
#84 Jarred Tinordi	Connor Clifton
Bruins Goaltending
#41 Jaroslav Halak	(#81 Dan Vladar)

Tonight the Bruins will face the New York Rangers. This will be the fifth time this season the two teams have faced off, with the Bruins struggling against them, beating them thrice, and then getting curb-stomped once.

They have few injuries right now, with goaltender Igor Shesterkin out.
Artemi Panarin has returned to the team after being out due to personal issues – Panarin had been accused of sexual misconduct while in the minor leagues in Russia. The minor league team had no evidence of this behavior, and Panarin has largely cleared his name. However, he reportedly needs more time in practice before the team is willing to put him into the lineup. Defenseman Anthony DeAngelo has been flushed away due to his being an insufferable ass off the ice.
The Rangers have a less-than-stellar record of 10-11-3 (23 points), putting them in 6th place in the division.

Rangers lines (h/t Daily Faceoff ):

Rangers Forwards
#13 Alexis Lafreniere — #93 Mika Zibanejad — #89 Pavel Buchnevich
#20 Chris Kreider — #16 Ryan Strome — #24 Kaapo Kakko
#17 Kevin Rooney — #72 Filip Chytil — #12 Julien Gauthier
#33 Phillip Di Giuseppe — #21 Brett Howden — #43 Colin Blackwell

Rangers Defense
#55 Ryan Lindgren — #23 Adam Fox
#79 K’Andre Miller — #8 Jacob Trouba
#27 Jack Johnson — #42 Brendan Smith

Rangers Goaltending
#40 Alexandar Georgiev
(#71 Keith Kinkaid)