Heinen rejoins Bruins, will be in lineup tonight against Sharks

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BRIGHTON -- The Bruins will add a little skill to their lineup Thursday night against San Jose after recalling red-hot Danton Heinen from Providence.

Heinen had three assists during an earlier stint in Boston and has a goal and 11 points in seven games between Boston and Providence this season.

It appears Heinen will transition right back into a bottom-6 role with the Bruins after gelling with Sean Kuraly and Tim Schaller when he was here before, and might even get a look on the penalty-kill unit.

“In the three games I was up [before] I felt more comfortable, and with each time there’s even less of an adjustment,” said Heinen, who really caught fire and dominated the AHL with his playmaking skills down the stretch last season. “I just try to go out and play. You don’t want to have any drop-off [when you get sent to the AHL]. It is a little bit slower, but you want to try to keep the pace up and play with pace like you would up [in the NHL].

“I just need to realize where I am in the lineup and try to compliment the guys that I’m out there with. If it’s a North/South game and that’s what I need to do, then I’m going to go out there and try to do it.”

It appeared at morning skate that Matt Beleskey was going to be the scratch after staying out for extra skating after all the other B’s players had exited the ice. Beleskey has zero points in six games along with a minus-2 rating, and hasn’t consistently been the physical force he needs to be in the bottom-6 group.

In goal, Anton Khudobin will get another start with Tuukka Rask serving as the backup after being cleared to play following his concussion.

"[Rask has] been medically cleared," said coach Bruce Cassidy. "He'll back up tonight. We're all in agreement -- training staff, coaching staff and the player himself -- that another practice [on Friday] morning will be the best preparation to go back in on Saturday [against the Kings]."

Kevan Miller appears to be ready to return to the lineup, as well, after missing last weekend’s loss to the Sabres with an upper body injury suffered in last week’s fight with Derek Dorsett.

Here are the Bruins projected line combos and D-pairings against the Sharks based on the morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena:

Marchand-Bergeron-Bjork
DeBrusk-Backes-Pastrnak
Vatrano-Nash-Agostino
Schaller-Kuraly-Heinen

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Miller-Postma

Khudobin

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