An optional skate for Boston this morning leaves everyone guessing. John Moore and Jake DeBrusk skated; since Jake didn’t practice yesterday, hopefully this is just him getting the lead out before tonight’s game. Forwards Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Karson Kuhlman Marcus Johansson - Charlie Coyle - Danton Heinen Joakim Nordstrom - Noel Acciari - Chris Wagner With or without a swap for a benched forward, there may be some shuffling here. Kuhlman was demoted for much of the third period, playing no more than a couple minutes, in order to make room for Heinen and Pastrnak flipping around on the top two lines. Personally, I’d have double-shifted Krejci or Acciari and moved Coyle up to wing with either of the top two lines with the way he was finding space in the offensive zone. Defense Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo Matt Grzelcyk - Connor Clifton We could suggest double-shifting here, too, but Charlie McAvoy already plays nearly half a game. Goalies Tuukka Rask Jaroslav Halak Forwards Zach Hyman - John Tavares - Mitch Marner Andreas Johnsson - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - William Nylander Trevor Moore - Frederik Gauthier - Connor Brown Defense Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey Jake Muzzin - Nikita Zaitsev Jake Gardiner - Travis Dermott Goalies Frederik Andersen Garret Sparks<doc-sep>Game two in this series sees the Leafs standing pat on lines after the win in game one. Meanwhile, the Bruins swapped out deadline acquisition Marcus Johansson (who is ill) for ill-fated free-agent signing David Backes. Always go with your worst mistake. Although, I’m not sure who is next up for the Bruins after Backes. Bruins lines according to warmups: Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak DeBrusk-Krejci-Kuhlman Heinen-Coyle-Backes Nordstrom-Acciari-Wagner Chara-McAvoy Krug-Carlo Grzelcyk-Clifton — Marisa Ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) April 13, 2019 I know some of the usual crowd can’t watch the game tonight, so to keep it real for you, I’m going to talk exclusively about big hits and faceoffs in this recap. First Period Right off the first faceoff we see Bruce Cassidy changing his matchup game by putting out the fourth line against John Tavares. As you do. And the Kadri line pop right out as Babcock counters. This is fun until someone messes up a change, but it’s a risk both teams are taking. Charlie McAvoy is targeting Zach Hyman, which should be interesting. Take the least meaningful forward on that line out of the play, guys, go for it. David Pastrnak with the first shot, and Freddie swats it aside. Morgan Rielly gets one back on Rask, and now this game is on. Jake DeBrusk with a dangerous rush that Freddie has as well. And Nazem Kadri is giving the ref a performance review already, as the Bruins are making a lot of Bruins-like plays in between controlling the puck. The Leafs are getting run quite a bit. And Boston makes a harmless dump in that Nikita Zaitsev misplays behind the Leafs net, Tavares can’t get, and Muzzin has lost sight of, and it ends up with a Charlie Coyle goal. 1-0 Boston, and you could see this goal coming from a mile off. The Bruins are doing the thing they did well in game one: taking the puck back on Leafs passes in the offensive zone. The Leafs had a bad start, got caught chasing the play, and they need to come out of the first TV timeout like they can play this game. The matchup stuff continues, and it looks like Mike Babcock is largely concerned with which defensive pair is out vs Bergeron. He wants Muzzin-Zaitsev. I read somewhere before Game One that Babcock was totally going to play Ron Hainsey against the Bruins top line. That seems kind of silly now, doesn’t it? DeBrusk and Kadri discuss renaissance poetry for a bit in the corner, which nicely busts up the Bruins offensive flow. They both sit and we have some four-on-four. Matthews with a very, very close wraparound try. Matthews almost gets one past Rask on the wrap around #Leafs pic.twitter.com/MFwVwrcljy — Omar (@OLW93) April 14, 2019 Dermott and DeBrusk mix it up on the boards, and there’s a lot of this, but some signs the Leafs are finding the flow of the game through that haze. Dermott got a bloody nose out of it. Torey Krug throws a perfect stretch pass lob up the centre of the ice, and Pastrnak gets it to Marchand, and you knew that was going in before the pass happened. Stretch Pass, all’s I’m saying. 2-0 Bruins. LOL David Pastrnak has been throwing hits, and much has been made of it, since that’s not his style. And now he’s sitting down for it. He runs at Jake Muzzin, leaves his feet, and that’s a rookie, overexcited move. This one the refs can’t let go. Leafs have one minute of power play time in this period. I wouldn’t call it a good power play, but the Leafs worked hard. Numbers The Leafs managed eight even-strength Corsi For to the Bruins 24. What more can be said? Well, one thing: They played each other to a nearly shotless standstill for 15 minutes after the frantic first five, so if those numbers conjured up an image of relentless Bruins zone time, it really wasn’t like that. It was still bad though. Second Period The power play resumes, and there’s Marchand on a not very exciting shorthanded wander, but nothing else goes down. Muzzin falls down, and that leads to some extended zone time against the Leafs fourth line, which always worries me. Andersen with a big save on DeBrusk on a broken play rush. And same again on another rush chance, this time from Kuhlman. We’ve switched to a game of trading turnovers, which might just open up the centre of the ice for the Leafs. Good heavens, a nice series of short, sharp passes and the Leafs exit the zone. I remember that from the other night, but certainly not the first period. Bergeron gets some nice zone time vs Matthews, but the Zaitsev-Muzzin pairing is out there, not Rielly-Hainsey, so it’s not terrifying, just alarming. So far in this period the Leafs have the puck more, now they just need to do some things with it. What is happening? Krug is hurt on a huge hit from Muzzin. Zaitsev gives the puck away, and the post saves the day. Yard sale that almost makes it in #Leafs pic.twitter.com/f9dyVR1UBb — Omar (@OLW93) April 14, 2019 Krug looks un-well, and that’s not a good thing. Right away, on a totally innocent play, Zaitsev shunts the puck back to Nylander, who goes to wheel behind his own net, and he loses control of it, and Danton Heinen makes it 3-0 Bruins: Nylander on the wrong end of a 'behind the net' play and Heinen capitalizes #Leafs pic.twitter.com/tOQbUvatp4 — Omar (@OLW93) April 14, 2019 Looks like Freddie Gauthier is taking a penalty for being hit? Not sure what’s up. Wouldn’t be the first time in this game, Kadri really didn’t do anything when he went off with DeBrusk in the first. Oh, okay, he’s taking a penalty for stopping a Bruins guy from getting off the bench? There was a million hits uncalled in the minute before that. And this is why “let them play” never works. Never has. You end up with guys sitting for stupid shit, while the big stuff gets a free pass.<doc-sep>Share this Story: SIMMONS: Your guide to the Maple Leafs beating the Boston Bruins SIMMONS: Your guide to the Maple Leafs beating the Boston Bruins Article content What do the underdog Maple Leafs have to do to beat the Boston Bruins? That is the challenge, isn’t it? We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or SIMMONS: Your guide to the Maple Leafs beating the Boston Bruins Back to video Finding a way. Following a plan. Being smart and disciplined. Executing. That’s part of it. But every matchup is different, the players different, the personalities different, eventually the momentum, which at some point tends to crush hope in the series, that takes over is different. It happened in the third period of Game 7 a year ago. It happened with the Leafs leading by a goal and on their way to apparently winning the series. This is Brendan Shanahan’s fifth season as president of the Leafs. The first year was about observation. The second year was about tanking. In Year 3, the Leafs made the playoffs prematurely and played quite well against the Washington Capitals. Last year, the early problems and the late problems, their inability to win puck battles, their inability to stop pucks, cost them against Boston. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or This is Year 5. This is with John Tavares up front. This is with Jake Muzzin on the back end. This is with Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner coming off their best seasons. This is with the additional front-line speed of Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.These are better players and yet this has been a worse team this season. That’s the real oddity of this season. The Leafs can put some of that behind them by beating a Bruins team most are picking to take them out. It’s not impossible for the Leafs to win but it is a mountain to climb. Man for man, they equal the Bruins in many different ways. They have less defence and more scoring depth. They have less discipline and more speed. Both teams are very well coached. But for the Leafs to emerge, there must be changes from what we saw in the regular season. There must be some — or all — of the following: Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content SPECIAL TEAMS MUST BE SPECIAL In the first two playoff series coached by Mike Babcock there was more than one unfortunate similarity. But what stood out against both Washington and Boston was Toronto’s inability to successfully kill penalties. When you total up the numbers, the Leafs were outscored 12-7 at special teams the past two playoff years. That isn’t good enough. Their penalty killing was 66.7% against Boston in the seven-game series and that came after just a 70.6% number against Washington. Those were near the bottom of the NHL. The Leafs will need to be in the 80% range with the man advantage in order to beat the Bruins and that’s the penalty kill challenge against a power play that includes 100-point scorer Brad Marchand and the cagey blueline puck mover, Torey Krug. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The Leafs power play started well this season then blew up, finishing the year at just 21.8%. In all, the Leafs were actually a minus team with the man advantage — scoring 46 power-play goals (the Leafs don’t force enough penalties), allowing nine shorthanded goals, and allowing 41 goals against on their penalty kill. They can’t be a minus team on specials and expect to beat the Bruins. They need to be at least even to get by. ANDERSEN vs. RASK and HALAK The team with the best goaltending usually wins in the playoffs. And, in truth, Frederik Andersen is the best goalie in the series. All he has to do is show that. Now in his sixth playoff season — with a 22-16 won-loss record — Andersen needs to play like he’s the best goalie here for the Leafs to have any chance of winning the series. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Toronto plays that fast wide-open style that requires more excellence in goal than most teams. They don’t play the shutdown game the New York Islanders play, for example, because they don’t have to. This is where Andersen comes in. He can’t play soft, the way he did in Game 7 last year in Boston, and have the Leafs believing they can win. What people don’t remember much is that Tuukka Rask didn’t play all that well against the Leafs. That’s probably why the series extended to a seventh game and why the Leafs still had a chance entering the third period of Game 7 to get the victory. Then Andersen lost his way. This is Andersen’s third year with the Leafs and the Leafs third year in the playoffs under Babcock. Against Washington two years ago, he was mostly great and a slight bit inconsistent. Last year, he ran the gamut, from great to difficult. The one advantage Boston has over the Leafs here is depth. Should Rask start the series poorly, the Bruins can turn to the veteran Jaroslav Halak. The Leafs don’t have a second option in goal. It’s Andersen or bust. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content YOUR BEST PLAYERS … It’s the oldest cliche in sports but it comes to life every playoff season: Your best players better be your best players. And to win a championship, they have to be your leaders.<doc-sep>BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 08: Boston Bruins Defenceman Brandon Carlo (25) gets into a fist fight after the play with Toronto Maple Leafs Center Nazem Kadri (43). During the Boston Bruins game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 8, 2018 at TD Garden in Boston, MA. (Photo by Michael Tureski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) This might sound like deja vu, but the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins are squaring off in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. For the second year in a row, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs will face off in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Just like last year, the former will have home-ice advantage. This proved to be a difference maker last year in Game 7 and could wind up being the difference again. This year, the biggest changes to each lineup include John Tavares signing with the Maple Leafs last summer and Toronto trading for Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings before the NHL trade deadline. The biggest Boston moves include acquiring Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson at the NHL trade deadline. A key move for the Bruins could be the signing of Jaroslav Halak if Tuukka Rask has issues in the series. Otherwise, the core pieces are still pretty much in place. Role players have been swapped out, but when you think of the grand scheme of things, role players will not likely make that big of a difference. This year, unlike last year, the Bruins have a healthy team heading into the playoffs and they finally get to see Brandon Carlo dress up for a playoff game. I am excited for this because he has been silently good this season with a +22 plus-minus. Regular Season Recap The Bruins finished second in the Atlantic division with a 49-24-9 record and 107 Points and the Maple Leafs finished third in the division with a 46-28-8 record and 100 points. Team Rankings Boston: 11th in Goals For (257), 3rd in Goals Against (212), 3rd on the Power-Play (25.9%), T-16th on the Penalty Kill (79.9%) Toronto: 4th in Goals For (286), 20th in Goals Against (249), 8th on the Power-Play (21.8%), T-16th on the Penalty Kill (79.9%) The Season Series The Bruins took 3 of the four regular season games and they outscored the Maple Leafs by six goals. Boston VS Toronto Season Series Team Team Team Team Oppo Oppo Oppo Oppo Date Tm Opp G PP S PIM GA PP GA SA OppPIM 2019-01-12 BOS @ TOR 3-2 W 3 0 29 4 2 1 32 4 2018-12-08 BOS TOR 6-3 W 6 1 32 58 3 1 32 40 2018-11-26 BOS @ TOR 2-4 L 2 1 40 2 4 1 31 4 2018-11-10 BOS TOR 5-1 W 5 2 34 6 1 0 41 8 Key Players/Matchups The Battle Of The Offenses The Bruins offense is often underrated and I feel that this is the case again when analysts talk about the Bruins. Sure, they are not all glamorous like some other teams in the NHL but they can score plenty of goals from time to time and they have already hung a 5 and 6 spot on the Maple Leafs. And we already know the Leafs can score a lot of goals, as they are the fourth-best offense in the NHL. So Toronto having a good offense is no secret and I expect them to get their fair share of goals in the series as well. These teams to me are a wash on the top two lines and I would give the Maple Leafs a slight offensive edge on the bottom two lines. However, I also like the Bruins bottom lines because they grind it out and against smaller teams that may be the difference. Goaltending This is where it gets hairy because both teams have goalies who can be hot or cold at any time. We have seen it with both of these goalies this season. So the possibility is still there that the goalies help either offense put up enormous numbers. In fact, I expect one of these goalies to fall off sharply and my gut is saying it will be Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen since he has been a bit shaky recently over the last couple of weeks. Boston Needs To Stop Allowing Quality Shorthanded Chances The Bruins allowed 15 short-handed goals this season. And against a team like Toronto, if they are going to win the series this is going to be one thing they have to watch out for the most. The Bruins need to stop getting caught flat-footed and pinching in at bad times. Toronto’s Defense The biggest knock that I have personally had against the Maple Leafs all year was how their defense was. I still ask myself whether they can make a deep run with a defense that is so thin in comparison to the rest of the playoff teams in the Eastern Conference. Honestly, I don’t think that it is. And God forbid if the Maple Leafs get bad goaltending to compound the situation. The Toronto defense is the biggest variable in this series. If it is average the Leafs very well could win the series. Is Toronto Big Enough? This is another area on the Maple Leafs that I wonder about is if they are big enough. Not just to play against the Bruins but any of the teams in the Eastern Conference. And if you have followed me on Twitter or any of my other writings you will know that I have been consistent on this. I think the Maple Leafs made a mistake by not adding size to their roster at the NHL Trade Deadline. And we are now at the time of the season where I get to see if my suspicions about the Leafs being undersized is true or if it was much to do about nothing. I truly am interested in seeing how it plays out. Toronto Must Use It’s Speed To Its Advantage<doc-sep>
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins: Game Three This is a home game and will be the early HNIC game on CBC at 7:00 p.m., and you should be able to find that on their streaming site (geoblocked to Canada). The game is also on TVAS, NBCSN and NESN. If you’re stuck watching NESN for some reason, you have my deepest sympathies. You know where Salty Cup of Chowder is, and they will ban your keister if you troll there. We know who isn’t going to be in this game, and that’s Nazem Kadri. We aren’t yet sure about Torey Krug or Jake DeBrusk who were listed as day-to-day yesterday. Bear in mind that, in the playoffs, day-to-day covers everything from a stomach ache to a broken leg. The Leafs have some decisions to make, and while I’ve seen some really wild suggestions about line shuffling, as you get out there in the world, they aren’t going to re-invent the wheel. They have two extra forwards, Nic Petan and Tyler Ennis. Ennis is not going to play centre. Frederik Gauthier is not coming out of the lineup and Patrick Marleau is not going to the fourth line. The Leafs are not calling up Jeremy Bracco or Mason Marchment (they can’t, but even if they could, they wouldn’t), and while I love the neato factor of the magic appearance of Miro Aaltonen (possible if he wanted to void his current contract with Vityaz), that’s not happening either. The most likely, least disruptive change is that William Nylander will centre the third line, Connor Brown will move up to right wing, and the switch-hitting winger Tyler Ennis will come in on the fourth line. Moore can play either side too, so they can just zip around together while Gauthier does what he does. And morning skate gave us exactly that: Maple Leafs Forward Lines Zach Hyman - John Tavares - Mitch Marner Andreas Johnsson - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen Patrick Marleau - William Nylander - Connor Brown Tyler Ennis - Frederik Gauthier - Trevor Moore Defence Pairings Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey Jake Muzzin - Nikita Zaitsev Jake Gardiner - Travis Dermott Goaltenders Frederik Andersen Michael Hutchinson Boston Bruins Forward Lines Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak Jake DeBrusk ? - David Krejci - Karson Kuhlman David Backes - Charlie Coyle - Danton Heinen Joakim Nordstrom - Noel Acciari- Chris Wagner Defence Pairings Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy Torey Krug ? - Brandon Carlo Matt Grzelcyk - Connor Clifton Steven Kampfer Goaltenders Tuukka Rask Jaroslav Halak We’ll update when we know the Bruins’ plans. #NHLBruins morning rushes: Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak DeBrusk - Krejci - Kuhlman Heinen - Coyle - Backes Nordstrom - Acciari - Wagner Chara - McAvoy Krug - Carlo Grzelcyk - Kampfer — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 15, 2019 Leafs power play units Rielly Matthews-Johnsson-Marner Tavares Gardiner Ennis-Kapanen-Nylander Marleau — Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 15, 2019 Despite the insistence from many quarters that Nylander was bad and should feel bad over Game Two, the bottom six on the Leafs were the successful lines at getting offensive zone time, and getting off some shots without getting buried defensively. There’s one glaring giveaway that led to a goal that shines pretty bright in memories, but there’s also the shooting percentage. They didn’t produce. Swapping out Kadri for Brown on that line is not an upgrade, to say the least, but I have seen zero evidence that Trevor Moore is better than Brown in any way that isn’t cap hit. I’d get Tyler Ennis in on that line at least some of the time, however. He can score, and Brown can’t. He can also get the puck over to Marleau, who can score as well, which is about all he can do these days. Auston Matthews needs to produce. Sigh. I mean, he has been. He’s shooting a lot, and that’s how you get goals, not by trying hard or having the right facial expression or hitting guys. But what’s hurting Matthews is that the Bruins are very good at limiting the Leafs shots from right in tight, particularly in Game Two. But they sure aren’t perfect at it. Matthews also needs to spend less time hemmed in the defensive zone, and the easy way to accomplish that is to put Nylander on his wing, but now that’s not even an option.