Troiani Rink Report

After losing two straight games, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm shook up the club’s forward lines at Boston’s morning skate ahead of their game with the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

Still without the Bruins’ top-line center Elias Lindholm, Sturm decided to split up Boston’s leading scorers David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie in an effort to get more offense from the forward group.

Geekie and Marat Khusnutdinov were moved off the top line to the second line to skate with Alex Steeves. With Khusnutdinov centering a different line, Pavel Zacha has been moved up to form an all Czech line, with Pastrnak and recent call-up Matej Blümel.

Riley Tufte slots back into the lineup on the fourth line for Jeffrey Viel. Tufte scored the lone goal in Boston’s 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.

Across the ice, the Kings are playing their first home game since Nov. 6 and the second half of a back-to-back following a 4-3 shootout loss to the Sharks on Thursday.

Darcy Kuemper will get the start after Anton Forsberg played in the loss to San Jose. He last played on Nov. 17 in a 23-save loss to the Washington Capitals.

Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both clubs:

BOSTON BRUINS (12-10-0)
Matej Blumel — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Alex Steeves — Marat Khusnutdinov — Morgan Geekie
Tanner Jeannot — Fraser Minten — Mark Kastelic
Riley Tufte — Sean Kuraly — Michael Eyssimont

Nikita Zadorov — Jonathan Aspirot
Hampus Lindholm — Henri Jokiharju
Mason Lohrei — Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman

LOS ANGELES KINGS (10-6-5)
Andrei Kuzmenko — Anze Kopitar — Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala — Quinton Byfield — Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele — Phillip Danault — Alex Laferriere
Joel Armia — Alex Turcotte — Corey Perry

Mikey Anderson — Brian Dumoulin
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare — Cody Ceci

Darcy Kuemper

ODDS AND ENDS
Special Teams
Power Play: Boston 27.4%, Los Angeles. 15.4%
Penalty Kill: Boston 81.9%, Los Angeles 80.0%
Penalty Minutes: Boston 266, Los Angeles 163

Offense and Defense
Goals Scored: Boston 71, Los Angeles 58
Goals Allowed: Boston 73, Los Angeles 57

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