Bruins vs. Leafs Game 4 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies

Bruins vs. Leafs Game 4 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

For the second straight year, the Boston Bruins have a chance to win Game 4 on the road and take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series.

The Bruins regained home ice advantage with an impressive 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night. Brad Marchand scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the third period, in an excellent all-around performance by the B’s captain.

Boston’s power play remained red hot and scored twice, giving that unit five goals in 10 opportunities through three games. The Bruins’ penalty kill also went a perfect 5-of-5 in Game 3, further illustrating how special teams are playing a major role in the success of the B’s this series.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery made several lineup changes in Game 3 and they mostly worked out.

Mason Lohrei made his playoff debut next to Charlie McAvoy in the top pairing. Lohrei did take two penalties, but played OK otherwise. Parker Wotherspoon replaced the injured Andrew Peeke on the third pairing and played well. Montgomery also replaced Jakub Lauko with James van Riemsdyk and mixed up the lines. These adjustments helped the Bruins outshoot the Leafs and create more scoring chances at 5-on-5 for the first time all series.

There’s no reason for Montgomery to make any huge changes entering Game 4. However, it would make a lot of sense to give Jeremy Swayman another start in net. The 25-year-old goalie won his second game of the series Wednesday with 28 saves on 30 shots. He is 2-0-0 with a .955 save percentage in two starts this series, and he’s 6-0-0 against the Leafs over the last two seasons. The Leafs haven’t been able to figure him out in a long time.

The Bruins have used a goalie rotation every game since Feb. 21, and if they stick with that, Linus Ullmark would be in net Saturday. Ullmark played well in Game 2 but the Leafs won 3-2. However, there was an extra day of rest between Games 3 and 4, so Swayman should be well rested if Montgomery starts him Saturday. Based on the extra remainder and Swayman’s recent dominance over the Leafs, it makes the most sense to start the University of Maine product in Game 4. But we won’t know the Bruins’ final decision until warmups.

Will Game 4 be William Nylander’s series debut? The star right wing practiced Friday and took part in Saturday’s morning skate. It looks like he’ll be in the lineup, although we won’t have official confirmation until pre-game warmups.

Nylander scored 40 goals with 58 assists during the regular season. He also led Toronto with 35 power-play points, and the Leafs’ power play has been dreadful (1-of-11) in this series.

Here are the projected lineups for Game 4. We will update this article when the Bruins’ starting goalie is known and when there is a definitive update on Nylander.

Boston Bruins (2-1)

Forwards

Jake DeBrusk–Pavel Zacha–David Pastrnak

Brad Machand–Charlie Coyle–Morgan Geekie

James van Riemsdyk–Trent Frederic–Danton Heinen

John Beecher–Jesper Boqvist–Pat Maroon

Defensemen

Mason Lohrei–Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm–Brandon Carlo

Parker Wotherspoon–Kevin Shattenkirk

Goalie

Jeremy Swayman

Toronto Maple Leafs (1-2)

Forwards

Tyler Bertuzzi–Auston Matthews–Max Domi

Matthew Knies–John Tavares–Mitch Marner

William Nylander–Pontus Holmberg–Calle Jarnkrok

Nick Robertson–David Kampf–Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Morgan Rielly-Ilya Lyubushkin

Simon Benoit–Jake McCabe

Joel Edmundson–TJ Brodie

Goalie

Ilya Samsonov