Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Pavel Zacha is '100 percent' to return Tuesday, but they're waiting on a decision on Charlie McAvoy.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – Forward Pavel Zacha returns to the lineup Tuesday night as the Boston Bruins take on the Minnesota Wild for the first time this season at TD Garden with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Zacha last played Dec. 9 against the Arizona Coyotes and left the game with an upper-body injury after the first period. Zacha and defenseman Charlie McAvoy – who also suffered an upper-body injury Dec. 7 against the Buffalo Sabres – were placed on injured reserve Thursday.
“I had two or three days that I had rest and then I had a lot of practice which was nice that I could get back to the shape that I wanted to be in,” Zacha said Tuesday. “Now jumping into the game is going to be nice.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said while Zacha is 100 percent to play, they’re waiting to make a decision on McAvoy based on how he felt after the team’s optional Tuesday morning skate.
“He’s more than likely going to play, but I’m not going to sit here and say 100 percent,” Montgomery said.
If McAvoy does slot back into the lineup, Montgomery said rookie Mason Lohrei will draw out, and AHL Providence call-up Parker Wotherspoon will remain in – likely on the third pair with Kevin Shattenkirk.
“One thing he does is he has an energy about him,” Montgomery said of Wotherspoon. “He has a positive energy where he elevates the mood of the bench, he elevates the mood in the dressing room. You know that he’s a guy that’s going to be there for you.”
The Bruins are coming off of a 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers Saturday night – their past three games have gone past regulation. Boston will now face the Wild twice in one week, as it’ll head to Minnesota Saturday (Dec. 23) for the teams’ final matchup of the regular season.
“I think we obviously look forward to each challenge. This is a team that we haven’t seen very often, especially this year obviously,” Brandon Carlo said Tuesday. “They’ve got a very skilled group up-front. There’s some lines there and some guys there that we’re going to be looking to shut down.”
The Bruins will be without Matt Poitras for the next few weeks. The 19-year-old pivot was assigned to represent Team Canada in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden.
There were no line rushes since Tuesday was an optional skate, but based on Monday’s practice, here’s a projected lineup for the B’s against the Wild:
Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak
Heinen-Coyle-DeBrusk
van Riemsdyk-Geekie-Frederic
Lauko-Beecher-Steen
Lindholm-Carlo
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Wotherspoon-Shattenkirk
Ullmark
Swayman
Five things to know about the Wild:
- Minnesota is playing back-to-back and lost 4-3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night, dropping to a 12-13-4 record. However, the Wild have gone 7-3-0 in its last 10 games since hiring new head coach John Hynes.
- Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has started in 19 games for the Wild and posted a 2.91 goals against average and .906 save percentage. Marc-Andre Fleury has played in 11 games and has a 3.29 GAA and .886 SV%.
- Forward Mats Zuccarello leads Minnesota in points with 28 (six goals, 22 assists), but didn’t play Monday against the Penguins due to an upper-body injury and is questionable for Tuesday against the Bruins.
- Defenseman Brock Faber leads all NHL rookies in total ice time per game with 24:08, and plus/minus ratings with plus-nine. The University of Minnesota product is skating on the first pair with Jacob Middleton.
- Forward Joel Eriksson Ek leads the Wild in goals with 14 – six of which have come on the power play. He is playing on the first line with Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.