Appearing with “Salk & Holley” Thursday afternoon, ESPN analyst Barry Melrose said he believes the Bruins are a “better team” than the Rangers, and believes the upcoming Eastern Conference semifinals will be a series “we can really get excited about.”

“Obviously, the injuries to the Bruins are a big factor,” he said. “If those guys can’t play — the defensemen — that’s going to be something that will be very interesting. It certainly helps the New York Rangers out. I like Chara playing against whoever they feel like is the dominant forward. He’s seems to always do a good job in that area. Obviously, the Bergeron line has to play better than they did in the Toronto series — those guys have to score to take some heat off the Krejci line. I’m hoping it’s a real aggressive, physical, nasty series, like Boston and New York...

Daniel Nava returns to the lineup for the Red Sox Thursday night as they face the Rays in St. Pete. In addition, shortstop Stephen Drew, who connected for a grand slam Wednesday night against Tampa, gets a chance to continue his hot streak. He has now has eight extra-base hits in his last 18 plate games. In that span, he’s hitting .317/.411/.571.

RED SOX LINEUP

Jacoby Ellsbury CF Shane Victorino RF Dustin Pedroia 2B David Ortiz DH Mike Napoli 1B Daniel Nava LF Stephen Drew SS Will Middlebrooks 3B Jarrod Saltalamacchia C

Felix Doubront SP

For a complete look at the matchups, click here.