With a three-game winning streak and winners in four of their last five, the Boston Bruins head into their final game of the road trip against the Minnesota Wild riding a pretty good wave. But not everyone will be on board for Thursday’s contest in St. Paul.

Following an optional morning skate, Claude Julien told reporters that David Pastrnak will not suit up for the Black and Gold as they look for their season-high fourth straight victory. The Bruins’ leading goal scorer did not practice with the team over the last two days and the specifics and severity of his potential injury is unknown.

Going up against the best defensive team in the league was going to be a tall task in and of itself. The Wild are the only team in the NHL to allow under two goals per game (1.97) and fewer than 30 goals (29 to be exact). Without Pastrnak, that task is a little more difficult now as the Bruins look to avenge a 5-0 loss to Minnesota one month ago.

Although Tuukka Rask will likely get the nod again after missing the first meeting of the season, the Black and Gold are going to need to dig deep to extend their winning streak to four against Devan Dubnyk, Ryan Suter, Zach Parise and the rest of the Wild.

Bruins projected lines

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Riley Nash
Ryan Spooner-David Krejci-David Backes
Matt Beleskey-Dominic Moore-Austin Czarnik
Sean Kuraly-Tim Schaller-Jimmy Hayes

Zdeno Chara-Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid
John-Michael Liles-Colin Miller

Tuukka Rask
Zane McIntyre

Wild projected lines

Nino Niederreiter-Eric Staal-Charlie Coyle
Mikael Granlund-Mikko Koivu-Jason Zucker
Zach Parise-Erik Haula-Jason Pominville
Chris Stewart-Tyler Graovac-Zack Mitchell

Ryan Suter-Matthew Dumba
Jonas Brodin-Christian Folin
Mike Reilly-Jared Spurgeon

Devan Dubnyk
Darcy Kuemper

Tonight’s storylines

– With Pastrnak out, the first challenge for Julien tonight is finding someone to play with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. After skating with the duo yesterday, Riley Nash will likely make the jump from third line center to first line wing. With Dominic Moore moving up to the third line and Tim Schaller returning to fourth line duties, the only trio still likely intact is the second line of Ryan Spooner, David Krejci and David Backes. A different looking lineup for sure, but the Bruins will need everyone to be on their ‘A’ game against the best defense in the league through the first month and a half of the 2016-17 campaign.

– The one thing the Bruins can do even when Pastrnak isn’t on the ice? Possess the puck. Entering Thursday’s game, the Bruins have the seventh best percentage at offensive zone starts (5-on-5) at 53.6 percent. In contrast, the Wild have started their 5-on-5 shifts more often than not in the defensive end – 51.9 percent of the time to be exact. Whether it’s winning faceoffs, creating scoring chances or finding a way to get on the power play, this is one area the Bruins hope to use again as a strength against the Wild.

– This may not have anything to do with tonight’s game, but I’m going to use this space for a highly recommended read on Marc Savard’s post NHL career. Stan Grossfield of The Boston Globe caught up with Savard in Peterbrough, Ontario where the former Bruin is now coaching his 13-year-old son. From the Matt Cooke and Matt Hunwick hits to his battle with post-concussion syndrome and life after hockey, this revealing piece targets several emotions of a player whose career ended way too early. Certainly, Savard was a joy to watch and is missed in Boston.