Bruins vs. Leafs Game 2 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Toronto Maple Leafs have to win at least one game at TD Garden in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs to eliminate the Boston Bruins.
They failed in that pursuit Saturday night in Game 1.
The Bruins scored the opening goal less than three minutes into the game and grew their lead to 4-0 by the end of the second period before ultimately winning 5-1.
The Leafs generated a 36-24 edge in shots and a 38-21 advantage in scoring chances in the series opener, but they were stymied time and time again by B’s goalie Jeremy Swayman.
Swayman made 35 saves and earned his fourth victory of the season over the Leafs. The real question for the Bruins is whether they go back to him for Game 2 or use a rotation — like they did in the regular season — and start Linus Ullmark on Monday. The last time a Bruins goalie started back-to-back games was Swayman on Feb. 19 and Feb. 21.
Montgomery admitted after Game 1 that “It’s going to be hard to go away from Sway. He played a terrific game, we win 5-1. But if we decide to go with (Linus) Ullmark, we’re comfortable with it and our team’s comfortable with it.”
Going back to Swayman, and then starting Ullmark in Game 3, would make a lot of sense. But Montgomery still hasn’t revealed his final decision, so we might not learn who is starting until pre-game warmups, which was the case Saturday.
There’s no need for the Bruins to make any lineup changes for Game 2. There were very few, if any, weak spots in the lineup during the series opener. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
We could potentially see some lineup changes for the Leafs. Getting star right wing William Nylander back in the lineup would be a huge boost for Toronto. Nylander, who scored 40 goals in the regular season, missed Game 1 with an undisclosed issue. It was the first time he missed a regular season or playoff game in seven years. Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe didn’t give a definitive update on Nylander’s status Sunday. So, at this time, it’s unknown whether Nylander will play in Game 2. However, Nylander was on the ice for the Leafs’ morning skate Monday.
Will the Leafs consider a goalie change? Samsonov didn’t play great in Game 1, but he wasn’t one of the team’s three-worst players. Joseph Woll is the backup, and he lost all three of his starts (12 goals allowed) against the Bruins in the regular season. The bottom line is the Leafs will need…