Bruins vs. Leafs Game 3 Lineup: Projected Lines, Pairings, Goalies

Bruins vs. Leafs Game 3 Lineup: Projected Lines, Pairings, Goalies originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

The Bruins allowed the Maple Leafs to take home ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoff series with a 3-2 loss to TD Garden in Monday Night Game 2.

The series is now tied at one win each heading to Toronto for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

The Bruins have been in this situation before.

Twice in the last three years they have split the first two games of a playoff series at home and then won the third game on the road. Last season, they beat the Panthers in Game 1 of the first round before losing in Game 2. They traveled to Florida and won Game 3 by two goals. In 2021, they beat the Islanders in Game 1 and then lost in overtime in Game 2. Boston responded with a Game 3 overtime victory in New York. The B’s ended up losing those series to the Panthers and Islanders.

The Bruins have also won their last four games 3 overall. Can they make it five in a row against the Leafs?

It will be a difficult challenge, for sure. It’s possible the Leafs could get William Nylander back into the lineup. The superstar forward played in all 82 regular season games but did not play in this series due to an undisclosed injury. However, he did make line runs during Monday’s morning skate.

Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe gave an update on Nylander’s status after the skate.

Nylander scored 40 goals and 58 assists in the regular season. He also led the Leafs with 35 power play points. Toronto’s power play has scored just once in six attempts in two games. Nylander’s return would be a huge boost to the Leafs’ scoring depth.

The Bruins are expected to make some changes to their blue line, including the third pairing. Andrew Peeke is week-to-week with an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 2. Parker Wotherspoon is the most logical choice to replace Peeke. Wotherspoon would likely play on the left side of the pair, with Kevin Shattenkirk moving back to his normal right side.

One notable change in the morning skate was newcomer Mason Lohrei skating alongside Charlie McAvoy in the lead pair. Lohrei was recalled from Providence on Tuesday and last played for the Bruins on April 2. Matt Grzelcyk wasn’t among the top three pairings in the morning skate, suggesting he could perhaps be a healthy scratch in Game 3.

Trading Lohrei for Grzelcyk would be a somewhat bold move considering Lohrei’s lack of postseason experience. But Grzelcyk hasn’t played very well in this series. Lohrei is a very good skater and would bring some valuable offensive skills to the blue line. He also confirmed to reporters that he will play in Game 3.

James van Riemsdyk, who was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the series, was getting power-play time on the first unit during the morning skate. Could he make his series debut in Game 3?

The Bruins also have not announced which goalie will start. They’ve rotated goaltenders in every game since February 21, so based on that rotation, Jeremy Swayman could be the starter in Game 3. Swayman played brilliantly in game 1 and made 35 saves on 36 shots. He is 4-0-0 against the Leafs this season.

Here are the projected lineups for Game 3. We will update this article when the Bruins’ starting goaltender is known and when there is a definitive update on Nylander.

Boston Bruins (1-1)

Forwards

Danton Heinen – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, Jake DeBrusk

James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Geekie – Trent Frederic

John Beecher – Jesper Boqvist – Pat Maroon

Defenders

Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo

Parker Wotherspoon – Kevin Shattenkirk

Goalkeeper

Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark

Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1)

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – Max Domi

Matthew Knies – John Tavares – Mitch Marner

Nick Robertson – Pontus Holmberg – Calle Jarnkrok (maybe William Nylander)

Connor Dewar, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves

Defenders

Morgan Rielly-Ilya Lyubushkin

Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe

Joel Edmundson – Timothy Liljegren

Goalkeeper

Ilia Samsonov