BRIGHTON, Mass. — The Bruins made certain to transform their roster into a more competitive situation ahead of the All-Star/bye week break, and now they are making good on it by rotating players in and out of the lineup.
It will be Danton Heinen’s turn to sit again on Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks at TD Garden after he sat out last weekend’s win over Minnesota with a gimpy foot after blocking a shot in Friday night’s win over Winnipeg.
Bruce Cassidy confirmed it was performance-related with Heinen, who has one point in his last five games and one goal scored in his last 16 games.
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Instead, Sean Kuraly will replace him on the third line after taking his turn as a healthy scratch Saturday against Minnesota, and the Bruins fourth line will instead consist of Anton Blidh, Par Lindholm and Chris Wagner.
“[Heinen] was a little banged up the other night. He took a shot off the in-step. The guys that were in, Lindholm and Bjork, played very well [against Minnesota] so they’re going to stay in,” said Cassidy. “So there was one spot open with Kuraly going in and tomorrow we will re-assess.”
Joakim Nordstrom will miss the next two games with an “allergy-related condition” that has doctors advising him to stay off the ice for the time being.
Young D-man Jeremy Lauzon will stay in the Boston lineup after an impressive couple of games with John Moore serving as a healthy scratch, and Tuukka Rask will get the start against the Canucks while backup Jaroslav Halak will get the starting nod against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Wednesday night.
Boston Bruins
Here are the Bruins projected line combos and D-pairings vs. the Canucks based on Tuesday’s morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena:
PROJECTED LINES
| Brad Marchand | Patrice Bergeron | David Pastrnak |
| Jake DeBrusk | David Krejci | Karson Kuhlman |
| Sean Kuraly | Charlie Coyle | Anders Bjork |
| Anton Blidh | Par Lindholm | Chris Wagner |
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
| Zdeno Chara | Charlie McAvoy |
| Torey Krug | Brandon Carlo |
| Matt Grzelcyk | Jeremy Lauzon |
PROJECTED STARTER
| Tuukka Rask |