2018 NHL Playoffs Round 1 Toronto vs Boston: Game #5

Time:  8:00 PM

Location: TD Garden, Boston

Broadcast/Streaming: NBC/CBC

Opponent SBNation Site: Stanley Cup of Chowder

Here we are.  Leafs win, they get a Game 6, Leafs lose, season’s over.  The Leafs can’t win three games in one night; as much as it’s a cliché, all they can do is focus on trying to get one and maybe giving Boston some anxious feelings.  That’s how it starts.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Forward Lines

Zach Hyman - Auston Matthews - Connor Brown
Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Mitch Marner
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Kasperi Kapanen
Andreas Johnsson -  Tomas Plekanec - William Nylander

Defence Pairings

Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott - Roman Polak

Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney

Mike Babcock looks to be making some surprising changes here to spread out his offence against the last change, putting four of his top five scorers on different lines.  It’s a desperate measure for a desperate time; I can’t say I love it, but at this point, it might work.

Boston Bruins

Forward Lines

Brad Marchand - Patrice Begeron - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Rick Nash
Danton Heinen - Riley Nash - David Backes
Tim Schaller - Sean Kuraly - Noel Acciari

Defence Pairings

Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug - Adam McQuaid
Matt Grzelcyk - Kevan Miller

Goaltenders

Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin

Patrice Bergeron is a game-time decision, but is “anticipated to play”.  If he can’t go, Riley Nash will take his job, Noel Acciari will move up and Tommy Wingels will re-enter the lineup.

The reality is the Leafs played very well in Game 4; they got burned bad on a couple of errors and ran into peak Tuukka Rask.  They have the capacity to beat this team.  They need luck, and it’s going to be tough, but they absolutely are capable of it.  So let’s go into Boston and do it.

GO LEAFS GO