Injury report: Bruins favorite player is ruled out for the game 6, while the leaf’s star man is just returning from injury
After being left out of the field for Game 5, Johnny Beecher and Kevin Shattenkirk are anticipated to return to the starting lineup.
Jim Montgomery plans to mostly stick with the team that the Bruins used to defeat the Maple Leafs in Toronto in Games 3 and 4. However, one middle-six forward will be out for Thursday night’s Game 6 due to injury.
Montgomery listed Danton Heinen as “day to day” going ahead, ruling him out. Given that the 28-year-old forward has had a few rest days throughout this first-round series against Toronto, it has been obvious for the past week that Heinen is limited by an ailment.
Heinen has contributed just one assist in this series, but it was Brad Marchand’s game-winning goal in Game 3.
Justin Brazeau will remain in the lineup and skate on a third line alongside James van Riemsdyk and Trent Frederic in Heinen’s absence.
Aside from Heinen’s injury, the Bruins are playing with a lineup that is quite similar to the one that nearly eliminated Toronto, with Kevin Shattenkirk starting in place of Matt Grzelcyk on the blue line and Johnny Beecher returning to the fourth line.
After Thursday morning’s skate, the following is Boston’s anticipated starting lineup:
Morgan Geekie, Charlie Coyle, and Brad Marchand
David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, and Jake DeBrusk
Justin Brazeau, Trent Frederic, and James van Riemsdyk
Pat Maroon, Jesper Boqvist, and Johnny Beecher
Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei
Brandon Hampus Lindholm, Carlo
Kevin Shattenkirk – Parker Wotherspoon
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark
In the last moments of Game 5’s third period, Brandon Carlo took a puck up high, narrowly avoiding an injury. The seasoned defenseman will, however, be free to play on Thursday night without any limitations.
Although Linus Ullmark was on the ice late, along with other anticipated scratches like Grzelcyk, Jakub Lauko, and others, Montgomery did not reveal which goalkeeper will start on Thursday night. This suggests that Jeremy Swayman will make his fourth consecutive start in this series.
With a.952 save percentage, Swayman is 3-1 versus Toronto in this series. Despite coming off a defeat, the 25-year-old goalie performed admirably in net during Game 5 (31 saves on 33 shots).
Without their greatest player, Auston Matthews, the Maple Leafs will once again try to save their season and advance to Game 7. Matthews will miss his second consecutive game on Thursday night due to a persistent sickness, according to Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe.
The absence of the star center will be felt, even though Toronto prevailed in Game 5 without Matthews.
In addition to leading the Leafs in their Game 2 victory in Boston last week, Matthews, who finished the regular season with a league-high 69 goals, was the team’s top player with 23:24 of ice time, three points, eight shots on goal, a team-high six hits, and 16 face-off wins.
However, Matthews was unable to maintain that pace in Games 3 and 4, recording zero points in both defeats with a total of four shots on goal. Matthews skipped training in the days that followed that victory.
Game 6’s puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. in Toronto.
