MAC

BOSTON – The Bruins get a big boost on the blue line on Thursday night as both Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo return to the lineup for Boston’s matchup against the NHL-best Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden.

McAvoy, who has missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury, will be suiting up for his 500th career contest. The Long Beach, New York, native was also named an assistant captain for Team USA for the upcoming 4Nations Face-Off.

“We’re excited…having Charlie out for the length that he was out, it’s great to have him back,” interim head coach Joe Sacco said following Thursday’s morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena. “He seems to be in a really good spirit right now. He’s got some good practices under his belt. He looked good in the morning skate today. We’re excited to have him back in our lineup and help stabilize the back end for us.”

The blue liner will skate with Mason Lohrei on Boston’s top defense pair.

“We both like to use our legs and create offense,” said Lohrei. “I’m excited, excited anytime I get to play with him. He’s a great player, makes everyone else on the ice better. Pumped to have him back.”

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      Lohrei speaks with the media following morning skate at WIA

      Sacco pointed to the pair’s success against Toronto during last year’s postseason as a sign of their strong chemistry.

      “They’ve had some success in the past. I think back to the first series against Toronto last year in the playoffs, they both played well together,” said Sacco. “They played against one of their top two lines most of the time. They just seemed to feed off each other well.

      “I think that both guys that when we get some O-zone starts, we can use both those guys in those situations so it will help us, hopefully, generate more offense from offensive zone face-offs.”

      Carlo, meanwhile, is back in action after sitting out Tuesday’s loss in Buffalo with an illness.

      “Little sickness there. Feel like the worst of it is behind me for sure. Excited to get back in. It’s terrible to miss games, I don’t ever want to miss games,” said Carlo. “You feel out of place when you’re not on the ice with the guys. It will be a great opportunity to get back in the lineup against a great team tonight.”

      The Colorado native added that his left cheek is feeling better after being struck by a puck in the third period of Boston’s win over Colorado on Saturday.

      “Face is good. A little bit of a tough week for me with the body and the face but after I took that puck, doctors did a great job stitching me up right away. Feeling fine ever since. Everything is good there,” said Carlo.

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          Carlo speaks with the media following morning skate at WIA

          Opposing View

          The Jets (35-14-3) enter Thursday night’s matchup as the league’s top team with 73 points (tied with the Washington Capitals), six points clear of Edmonton and Vegas for the top spot in the Western Conference. They have won four straight, including a 4-1 win over Montreal on Tuesday night, which kicked off a three-game Eastern road trip.

          Kyle Connor paces Winnipeg with 65 points and is tied with Mark Scheifele for the team lead in goals with 29. Gabriel Vilardi (22-27—49), Nikolaj Ehlers (15-30—45), and Josh Morrissey (5-38—43) round out the team’s top five in scoring.

          Two-time Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck is 31-7-2 with a 2.00 goals against average and .927 save percentage.

          Boston dropped the first matchup between the clubs, 8-1, on Dec. 10 in Winnipeg, which boasts the league’s top offense (3.54 goals per game) and power play (32.6%).

          “They’re a very good team, they’re playing good hockey,” said Carlo. “We’ve got to focus on the details of our game to kind of counterbalance the offensive flow they’ve got going on. Stay out of the box as best we can, they have a very high-end power play.

          “Just stick to our responsibilities, starts from our end out. As long as we can protect our house moving forward from there, we should find some opportunities at the other end of the ice, just have some fun embracing the challenge.”

          Wait, There’s More

          • Per Sacco, Joonas Korpisalo will get the start between the pipes.
          • Elias Lindholm will bump back up to center Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle and have the assignment to check Winnipeg’s top line of Connor, Scheifele, and Vilardi. “I think that’s a good matchup for us tonight against their top line…putting him with Marchy and Coyle, they’re gonna have a responsibility. That’s an elite line that we’re facing here tonight,” said Sacco.
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              Sacco speaks with the media following morning skate at WIA

              Thursday’s Projected Lineup

              FORWARDS

              Brad Marchand – Elias Lindholm – Charlie Coyle

              Morgan Geekie – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

              Trent Frederic – Matt Poitras – Justin Brazeau

              Cole Koepke – Johnny Beecher – Vinni Lettieri

              DEFENSEMEN

              Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy

              Parker Wotherspoon – Brandon Carlo

              Nikita Zadorov – Andrew Peeke

              GOALIES

              Joonas Korpisalo

              Jeremy Swayman

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                  Boston takes on Winnipeg at home on Thursday