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The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs reengage in their Stanley Cup playoff matchup on Monday night at TD Garden. During Game 1 on Saturday night, the Bruins dominated the visiting Maple Leafs by a 5-1 score to take a 1-0 series lead.
Boston got goals from some unlikely contributors, including two from Jake DeBrusk, John Beecher and Trent Frederic, with defenseman Brandon Carlo chipping in with a lamplighter.
Although Boston came into the game with a healthy lineup, it faced a Toronto squad missing William Nylander and his 98 points.
Ultimately, the Maple Leafs were a different team and unprepared for the Bruins' physicality, especially with three-time Stanley Cup champion Pat Maroon hopping over the boards.
Heading into the playoffs, Boston played some clunker games, losing to teams it had no business losing to, but that could have all been part of an elaborate plan to draw the Maple Leafs in the first round.
So far, it's worked out, but we are only three periods into the series, and even with a Game 2 win tonight, there's no guarantee the Bruins will keep the momentum going in Toronto for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Saturday.
According to NBC Sports Boston, the team appears to be going with the same lineup as Saturday's tilt, which breakdowns like this:
Forwards:
Danton Heinen - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk
Jakub Lauko - Morgan Geekie - Trent Frederic
John Beecher - Jesper Boqvist - Pat Maroon
Defense:
Hampus Lindholm - Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk - Brandon Carlo
Kevin Shattenkirk - Andrew Peeke
Bruins have yet to confirm Swayman or Ullmark
Heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs, Boston coach Jim Montgomery discussed the possibility of using a goalie rotation, continuing a season-long trend between Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark.
In Game 1, Swayman got the nod because of his 3-0-0 record against Toronto during the regular season.
He was brilliant in the series opener, making 35 saves and surrendering one goal in the third period when it was already 4-0.
At the time of publication, Montgomery and the organization had not indicated which netminder would start tonight.
Everyone is curious about Boston's goalie situation because a goalie rotation has never happened in the Stanley Cup playoffs, so this would be a unique thing to watch.
Ullmark, last season's Vezina Trophy winner, is still one of the best netminders in the NHL and won his only start against the Maple Leafs in the regular season.
However, the biggest question is, does Montgomery continue to play the hot hand (Swayman) and risk him going cold with time off during the most intense games, or does he continue to roll with whichever netminder collects the wins?
Ultimately, we won't know this decision until warmups, so the Maple Leafs still have time to stress about which elite goalie they will be facing while trying to balance out their lineup to match the Bruins, who look dominant after one game.
