Jets continue playoff push against Bruins

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets will look to continue their push toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they meet the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at MTS Centre.

Both teams will return to action after shuffling their rosters Monday. The Bruins rolled into Winnipeg for a meeting with the Jets after sustaining a rare blemish to their 9-3-2 road record Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pittsburgh dealt Boston a 2-1 defeat, and the loss also cost the Bruins the services of center David Krejci, when a heavy shot from Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk hit Krejci’s right leg. Krejci has resumed physical activity, according to Bruins coach Claude Julien, but he will not dress against the Jets.

To replace Krejci, the Bruins recalled center Ryan Spooner from Providence of the American Hockey League, where he is leading the Bruins' affiliate with 33 assists and 45 points. The 21-year-old is in his first full professional season and appeared in his first NHL game with Boston on Feb. 6 in Montreal, where he registered one shot in 5:29 of ice time. At the pregame skate Tuesday, the rookie center was placed in Krejci's spot between forwards Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

Winnipeg added to its defensive depth signing defenseman Arturs Kulda. The 24-year-old Latvian spent the season with Novosibirsk of the Kontinental Hockey League after playing nine games with the Jets last season. The Jets placed backup goaltender Al Montoya on injured reserve retroactive to March 13 to make room for Kulda, who slowly will be phased into the Jets' defensive mix.

Coach Claude Noel also said center Alexander Burmistrov, a healthy scratch the past four games, will return to the Winnipeg lineup against the Bruins. Burmistrov will replace Patrice Cormier on the Jets' fourth line.

Defenseman Tobias Enstrom, out with a shoulder injury since Feb. 15, continues to skate, but Noel said Enstrom will need additional time before he is ready to return to the lineup.

Julien will start goaltender Tuukka Rask against the Jets; Noel will counter with Ondrej Pavelec, who will make his seventh consecutive start.

Here are the projected lineups for the Bruins and Jets for the game Tuesday:

BRUINS

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin

Milan Lucic - Ryan Spooner - Nathan Horton

Jay Pandolfo - Rich Peverley - Jordan Caron

Shawn Thornton - Gregory Campbell - Daniel Paille

Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk

Dougie Hamilton - Dennis Seidenberg

Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin

Scratched: Aaron Johnson, Lane MacDermid

Injured: Chris Kelly (leg), David Krejci (leg), Marc Savard (upper body)

JETS

Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler

Evander Kane - Olli Jokinen - Antti Miettinen

James Wright - Nik Antropov - Kyle Wellwood

Eric Tangradi - Alexander Burmistrov - Chris Thorburn

Grant Clitsome - Dustin Byfuglien

Ron Hainsey - Zach Bogosian

Mark Stuart - Derek Meech

Ondrej Pavelec

Eddie Pasquale

Scratched: Patrice Cormier, Arturs Kulda, Paul Postma

Injured: Tobias Enstrom (shoulder), Anthony Peluso (hand), Al Montoya (lower body), Zach Redmond (thigh), Jim Slater (hand)