Preview: Moore to make season debut as Bruins shuffle lineup for game against Blackhawks

The Boston Bruins will host the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, in what should be another intense and competitive Original Six matchup between these two historic franchises. This game will start shortly after 7:00 PM EST, and can be followed on Sportsnet via the NESN feed for my fellow Canadian viewers, and either directly on NESN or 98.5 The Sports Hub for my American viewers.

This past Tuesday night, the Bruins (once again) scored all of their goals in the 3rd period of play, and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by the final score of 2-0. Backup goaltender Jaro Halak played in his 500th career NHL game and ironically, achieved his 49th career shutout and 2nd of the season. It was a spectacular evening for Halak to say the least. Halak had this to say about the team in front of him after playing in his 500th career NHL game:

“I'm just glad that I'm part of this group. It's a special group. We are so close, and we keep proving it on the ice."

Forward David Krejci also accomplished a career milestone of his own on Tuesday night.

Krejci scored his 200th career NHL goal late in the 3rd period vs. Carolina, and said this postgame:

“I’ve said it before, it’s just a number for me. It’s not something that I’m chasing,” Krejci said in the postgame interview. “I’m just happy that we won. Hopefully, we can make something good here.”

Here’s a link to the video below of Krejci’s 200th career goal scored on Tuesday night vs. Carolina:

History at the Garden as Krejci’s 200th career goal makes it 2-0 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/za4zXhk1LI
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin1217) December 4, 2019

Starting goaltender, Tuukka Rask will officially be back between the pipes vs. Chicago tonight. Rask last played this past Sunday night vs. Montreal and was his usual, dominant form. Rask will aim to continue his success along with incumbent Jaro Halak by continuing to consistently perform at high levels. The dynamic-duo have amassed 4 shutouts (2 each) so far on the season. Rask (2.04) and Halak (2.14) both have the second and third best GAA in the NHL, while Halak (.934) is tied for second, while Rask (.933) is fourth in overall in save % respectively.

The Bruins will come into tonight’s affair with Chicago as winners of 8 consecutive games. They have only endured 2 regulation losses since Oct. 10th. Their last regulation loss was back on Nov. 8th oddly enough, vs. Detroit. The Bruins will aim to win their ninth consecutive victory tonight vs. Chicago.

There are some lineup changes in anticipation of tonight’s game: Defenseman John Moore will finally make his season debut tonight for the first time since last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Defenseman Connor Clifton will be the healthy scratch in favour of Moore this evening. According to @NHLBruins on Twitter, Moore had this to say about his first start since coming off a long-term injury,

? John Moore on making his season debut tonight: "When you sit and watch almost 30 games, you understand and you’re reminded what a privilege it is not only to play in the NHL, but to play for such a great franchise." pic.twitter.com/fBxXvFSgct
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 5, 2019

Patrice Bergeron has been skating on his own and has been making progress, but hopes to participate with the main practice group tomorrow morning. According to www.bostonbruins.com, fellow line-mate Brad Marchand had this to say yesterday afternoon about the void left by Bergeron being out of the lineup:

“I always miss Bergy. I miss Bergy when I'm not with him at the rink...he's a guy we rely on a lot."

According to NESN, here are the projected lineups for tonight:

DeBrusk–Krejci–Pastrnak

Marchand–Coyle–Heinen

Bjork–Kuraly–Wagner

Nordstrom-Lindholm-Backes

Chara–McAvoy

Krug–Carlo

Moore–Grzelcyk

Tuukka Rask

*Article written by Travis Hauer