The Bruins will be facing their divisional rival Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena with a seriously depleted lineup.
John Beecher (upper body) and Casey Mittelstadt (lower body) are out of the lineup and defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who has been playing extremely well as of late, remained home in Boston due to a family matter. Coach Marco Sturm had no timeline on Mittelstadt, who actually left Thursday’s game briefly with a knee-on-knee hit but returned.
The McAvoy absence meant the re-insertion of defenseman Mason Lorhei, who had been a healthy scratch during the B’s current five-game win streak. He’ll be on a pair with Jonathan Aspirot while Henri Jokiharju will play with Nikita Zadorov, which a pretty good pairing when it was put together after Jokiharju was obtained at the trade deadline last March. The Hampus Lindholm-Andrew Peeke pairing remained intact during the morning skate.
“This is (Lohrei’s) opportunity to come in. It took a little longer than expected. First of all, I just want him to defend well and play simple. That’s all,” Marco Sturm told reporters in Toronto.
Jeffrey Viel drew back into the lineup on the fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Mikey Eyssimont while Alex Steeves, the former Toronto farmhand who was recalled from Providence, will see second-line duty with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson.
This will be Steeves’ Bruin debut.
“I actually really liked him in the preseason. He’s a worker and I think he has the ability to score goals, but that’s not why he’s here. We just want him to play with details and structure and that’s what I kind of liked about him. He gives you everything he has every night,” said Sturm.
The B’s were already without Elias Lindholm, who was placed on injured reserve (retroactive to October 30) to free up a roster spot for Steeves.
Jeremy Swayman will get the nod to face Anthony Stolarz.
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