Bruins vs. Leafs Game 3 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies

Bruins vs. Leafs Game 3 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

UPDATE (Wednesday, April 24 at 6:45 PM ET): William Nylander will not play for the Leafs. The Bruins are also making several changes to their lineup. Jeremy Swayman starts in net.

–End update–

The Bruins let the Maple Leafs take home an ice advantage in their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series with a 3-2 loss at TD Garden in Monday night’s Game 2.

The series is now tied at one win apiece and heads 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 Game 3 on the road. Last season, they defeated 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 an overtime win in Game 3 in New York. However, the B’s ultimately lost those series to the Panthers and Islanders.

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

It will certainly be a tough challenge. 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 rushes during Monday morning’s skate.

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

Nylander scored 40 goals with 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 across two games. Nylander’s return would be a huge boost to the Leafs’ scoring depth.

The Bruins are expected to make a few changes to their blueline, including the third pairing. Andrew Peeke has been struggling week after week with an unknown 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 duo, while Kevin Shattenkirk returned to his normal right side.

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

Trading Lohrei for Grzelcyk would be a somewhat risky move considering Lohrei’s lack of postseason experience. But Grzelcyk hasn’t played great in this series. Lohrei is a very good skater and would bring 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, got power play time on the first unit during the morning skate. Could he make his series debut in Game 3?

The Bruins have also not yet announced which goalie will start. They have been switching goaltenders 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, making 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 final update on Nylander.

Boston Bruins (1-1)

Forward

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 leaves (1-1)

Forward

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

Ilya Samsonov