For the second time in four days and the fourth and final time this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Boston Bruins, looking to end their lengthy six-game losing streak against them over the past two seasons.
Similarly to Buffalo last night, Toronto had lost three straight to them and had dropped six of their previous eight to their Q.E.W rival before picking up the 2-1 overtime win to close out their five-game homestand.
However, the difference between Boston and Buffalo is Toronto isn’t chasing down Buffalo in the standings. They’re chasing down Boston, who is seven points ahead of the Maple Leafs, albeit with two more games played. The Maple Leafs are 0-1-2 against the Bruins this season, and those losses are highlighted even more because if Toronto had won one or two of them, they’d be three to five points back with two games in hand instead of seven.
Although the last meeting between these two teams wasn’t that close on the scoreboard (4-1), the other two contests were, and they were both decided beyond regulation, with Boston winning one in overtime (4-3) and one in the shootout (3-2).
I know it’s technically not a must-win game for Toronto tonight because they are eight points ahead of the Red Wings for the third spot in the Atlantic division, but if they are still eyeing home-ice advantage or think they can get hot down the stretch and magically catch the Panthers for first place in the division, who are 10 points up on Toronto with one extra game played, winning tonight is crucial, especially in regulation.
Pregame details:
Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup:
Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Tyler Bertuzzi – Max Domi – William Nylander
Bobby McMann – John Tavares – Calle Jarnkrok
Noah Gregor – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves
TJ Brodie – Timothy Liljegren
Morgan Rielly – Ilya Lyubushkin
Simon Benoit – Jake McCabe
One lineup note: Earlier this morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a couple of draft picks and placed William Lagesson on waivers to make room for the new blue liner. Jake McCabe missed yesterday’s game due to an illness, and Lagesson played in his spot. It’ll be interesting to see if McCabe plays tonight, given Lagesson was put on waivers (non-roster) and the unlikeliness that Edmundson plays.
Boston Bruins’ lineup:
Danton Heinen – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Jake DeBrusk
James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Geekie – Trent Frederic
Jakob Lauko – Jesper Boqvist – Justin Brazeau
Matt Grzelcyk – Charlie McAvoy
Mason Lohrei – Brandon Carlo
Parker Wotherspoon – Kevin Shattenkirk
Projected goalies:
Joseph Woll (TOR) vs Jeremy Swayman (BOS)
As of writing this, no goalie has been confirmed for tonight’s game. Ilya Samsonov did get the start last night against Buffalo, which should suggest Joseph Woll is the starter tonight. But outside of two or three great saves, Samsonov wasn’t tested that much in the 2-1 overtime win.
Broadcast:
TSN, 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT
(Projected lineups from dailyfaceoff.com)
