Bruins to get big lineup reinforcement

Despite not having iced a full lineup for the entire 2022-23 regular season schedule thus far, all the Boston Bruins have done is set the rest of the league ablaze with a pristine 20-3-1 record that absolutely nobody saw coming. Needless to say, switching head coaches from Bruce Cassidy (who unfortunately got the better of the Bruins on Monday night for their first home setback) to Jim Montgomery has worked out about as well as it possibly could have. 

And as the Bruins embark on a Western road swing, they'll be getting one key veteran piece of their lineup back into action. They'll be welcoming back veteran forward Craig Smith, who last played the day after Thanksgiving after suffering an upper body injury. And it looks as though it will be AJ Greer who will be designated a healthy scratch for tonight's game at Ball Arena against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, whom the Bruins have already beaten at TD Garden earlier this year. 

"Smith is gonna play in Colorado," Montgomery said. "That's what it looks like right now." 

While Smith's offensive output hasn't exactly turned heads this year with only three points in 12 games played, one can never overstate the presence of a veteran presence in the lineup that he provides. 

Here are tonight's projected line combinations: 

Forwards

Marchand-Bergeron-DeBrusk

Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak

Hall-Coyle-Frederic

Foligno-Nosek-Smith

Defensemen

Grzelcyk-McAvoy

Lindholm-Carlo

Forbort-Clifton

Starting goaltender 

Ullmark