Projected Bruins lines vs. Hurricanes: Clifton and Grzelcyk back, Reilly in protocol

The Boston Bruins host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight and two defensemen will return, while they lose another to COVID protocol.

Matt Grzelcyk is out of protocol and practiced in morning skate. Bruce Cassidy wasn’t positive this morning if he’d play, but Grzelcyk is projected to slot back in on the first pairing with Charlie McAvoy.

Connor Clifton will also be back on defense, as he returned from protocol yesterday. Clifton missed the last four games.

This afternoon, the Bruins announced Mike Reilly entered COVID protocols. With the news, it appears Urho Vakkanainen will stay in the mix and pair up with Brandon Carlo tonight.

The Bruins’ forwards group is on a roll and will remain the same from Saturday’s win.

Tuukka Rask will also get his second start of the season.

Here’s how lines and defensive pairings are projected to look:

Lines:

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Craig Smith

Taylor Hall - Erik Haula - David Pastrnak

Jake DeBrusk - Charlie Coyle - Oskar Steen

Anton Blidh - Tomas Nosek - Curtis Lazar

Defensive pairings:

Grzelcyk - McAvoy

Vaakanainen - Carlo

Derek Forbort - Clifton