The Boston Bruins' pivotal swing week begins tonight against the New Jersey Devils, the first of four games in the next six days.
The stretch begins tonight in Newark, where the non-playoff Devils will look to play spoiler against the Bruins.
Boston moved up in the standings for the first time post-Olympics, as they passed the Detroit Red Wings following Saturday afternoon's victory over the Washington Capitals.
As has become a bit of a routine, Bruins' Head Coach Marco Sturm swapped in Alex Steeves for Mikey Eyssimont ahead of a back-to-back on the schedule (Lines courtesy of Belle Fraser, Bruins team reporter).
The rest of Boston's forward lines stayed the same, with Fraser Minten remaining top-line center, between David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov.
Defensively, Henri Jokiharju returns to the lineup, while Andrew Peeke will be scratched. It's Jokiharju's first game since February 28.
Joonas Korpisalo gets the start in net.
Tonight needs to be a win. The rest of the week will be a rough stretch. Tomorrow night, the Bruins take on the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal. The Habs have tonight off, so they'll be rested up for a game that could flip the Bruins over the Canadiens in the standings.
Boston would need at least one point tonight for that to be possible.
With the feeling of it being a bigger game against Montreal, Jeremy Swayman gets the start in goal tomorrow night.
Projected Bruins Lines:
Forwards:
Marat Khusnutdinov - Fraser Minten - David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt - Pavel Zacha - Viktor Arvidsson
Alex Steeves - Elias Lindholm - Morgan Geekie
Tanner Jeannot - Sean Kuraly - Mark Kastelic
Defense & Starting Goalie:
Jonathan Aspirot - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Mason Lohrei
Nikita Zadorov - Henri Jokiharju
Joonas Korpisalo