The Boston Bruins will look to carry their win streak into the new year. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery has shuffled the lines in Boston’s third and final matchup with the Blue Jackets this season, and two former Ohio State Buckeyes return to their old stomping grounds.
The Boston Bruins will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.
After taking down the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 in a heated matchup to end 2023 on Sunday, the Bruins kick off the new year with their third and final matchup against the Blue Jackets this season. Boston lost their first meeting 5-2 on Nov. 27 before taking the second game 3-1 on Dec. 3, thanks to Brad Marchand’s third-period natural hat trick.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery announced a handful of lineup changes after Tuesday’s morning skate. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and forward James van Riemsdyk will return to the lineup after sitting out Sunday’s win for rest/recovery purposes.
Johnny Beecher comes out of the lineup, and Georgii Merkulov will bump down to the fourth line with Jakub Lauko and Oskar Steen. The 23-year-old Merkulov will be playing just his third NHL game, and he spent the first two as the third-line center. With van Riemsdyk back in, Trent Frederic will shift to third-line center.
“‘JVR’ we were going to put back in no matter what, and it was a matter of who’s coming out, and just that was the decision today,” Montgomery said regarding Beecher’s scratch.
Grzelcyk will rejoin Kevin Shattenkirk on the third pair, where the two combined for a goal during Saturday’s 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils. With those two reunited and Charlie McAvoy coming off a three-assist performance, Montgomery is hoping the offensive uptick from the back end becomes the norm.
“I think [McAvoy’s] been the one that has been dynamic, but the ice management by our defensemen, I do want them – when the opportunity presents itself – to go to our offensive principles,” Montgomery said. “I think we’ve been getting to our offensive principles before we’re in the situations where it would allow, and I think we’ve been doing a better job of that lately.”
Tuesday will be a special game for both Merkulov and defenseman Mason Lohrei. The two former Ohio State Buckeyes will be back in the same city where they played college hockey together.
Merkulov totaled 20 goals and 34 points in 36 games during his lone season with the Buckeyes in 2021-22, while Lohrei totaled 61 points in 71 games across two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23).
“When you come back to where you played college or junior… It’s a great feeling, ‘cause you’re coming back,” Montgomery said. “They both had tremendous careers. They were both really good Buckeyes, and they’re really good young players for us, that I’m sure they’re going to be excited and have a little extra jump in their legs.”
Five Things to Know About the Blue Jackets:
- The Blue Jackets have lost four of their past five games, including three overtime losses. Their lone win in that span was also in overtime (6-5 against Toronto on Friday).
- Johnny Gaudreau leads Columbus with five points (one goal, four assists) over the past five games. His 25 total points through 38 games matches Zach Werenski (25 points in 34 games) for the team lead this season.
- Rookie Adam Fantilli is riding a four-game point streak. The 19-year-old forward has 23 points through 38 games this season.
- Spencer Martin is expected to start for the first time since Dec. 7. He has a 3-7-1 record with a .889 save percentage and 3.62 goals against average.
- At 12-18-8, Columbus sits last in the Metropolitan Division.