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LGD: We’re finally here
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Photo credit: Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
h0ckeyfan
Apr 12, 2018, 12:14 EDTUpdated: Apr 12, 2018, 12:26 EDT
Well, it’s the day you’ve been waiting for. What more can we really say?
It’s a matchup where the Leafs have a 3-1 series lead in the regular season, but we all know that’s indicative of little, if nothing. We have a Bruins team who managed 112 points to the Leafs’ 105 in the regular season, but won just a single game more – 50 games compared to Toronto’s 49.
The Leafs come in as definite underdogs, but not huge ones. Winning this series is a tough task, but not an impossible one. A chance at redemption for a fanbase, but a team filled of many players who were literal children the last time these two teams met in the playoffs
On the road tonight and for Saturday’s matchup, the Leafs begin the start of a hopefully long playoff journey tonight.

Leafs Lines

LWCRW
Zach Hyman

ZACH HYMAN
Rating: 72.0#129 LW
Auston Matthews

AUSTON MATTHEWS
Rating: 83.4#11 C
William Nylander

WILLIAM NYLANDER
Rating: 78.2#22 RW
Patrick Marleau

PATRICK MARLEAU
Rating: 74.7#64 LW
Nazem Kadri

NAZEM KADRI
Rating: 77.4#59 C
Mitch Marner

MITCH MARNER
Rating: 76.3#74 RW
James van Riemsdyk

JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK
Rating: 78.5#22 LW
Tyler Bozak

TYLER BOZAK
Rating: 73.2#140 C
Connor Brown

CONNOR BROWN
Rating: 70.6#145 RW
Leo Komarov

LEO KOMAROV
Rating: 70.0#244 LW
Tomas Plekanec

TOMAS PLEKANEC
Rating: 71.3#210 C
Kasperi Kapanen

KASPERI KAPANEN
Rating: 70.3#154 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Morgan Rielly

MORGAN RIELLY
Rating: 76.5#26 LD
Ron Hainsey

RON HAINSEY
Rating: 72.9#74 RD
Jake Gardiner

JAKE GARDINER
Rating: 76.6#22 LD
Nikita Zaitsev

NIKITA ZAITSEV
Rating: 72.6#81 RD
Travis Dermott

TRAVIS DERMOTT
Rating: 73.6#60 LD
Roman Polak

ROMAN POLAK
Rating: 70.2#133 RD
  • Andreas Johnsson is not in the lineup
  • Connor Carrick is not in the lineup
  • Roman Polak is in the lineup
  • Leo Komarov is in the lineup
  • My goodness what a damn team

Bruins Lines

LWCRW
Brad Marchand

BRAD MARCHAND
Rating: 84.2#2 LW
Patrice Bergeron

PATRICE BERGERON
Rating: 84.1#7 C
David Pastrnak

DAVID PASTRNAK
Rating: 80.7#10 RW
Jake DeBrusk

JAKE DEBRUSK
Rating: 76.2#41 LW
David Krejci

DAVID KREJCI
Rating: 75.9#80 C
Rick Nash

RICK NASH
Rating: 75.0#60 RW
Danton Heinen

DANTON HEINEN
Rating: 74.3#78 LW
Brian Gionta

BRIAN GIONTA
Rating: 71.3#212 C
David Backes

DAVID BACKES
Rating: 73.5#131 RW
Tim Schaller

TIM SCHALLER
Rating: 70.0#184 LW
Sean Kuraly

SEAN KURALY
Rating: 69.8#249 C
Tommy Wingels

TOMMY WINGELS
Rating: 70.8#139 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Zdeno Chara

ZDENO CHARA
Rating: 76.2#30 LD
Charlie McAvoy

CHARLIE MCAVOY
Rating: 76.1#39 RD
Torey Krug

TOREY KRUG
Rating: 80.2#5 LD
Kevan Miller

KEVAN MILLER
Rating: 73.3#67 RD
Matt Grzelcyk

MATT GRZELCYK
Rating: 73.0#74 LD
Adam McQuaid

ADAM MCQUAID
Rating: 71.4#112 RD
  • Boston comes in with a deceptively deep lineup, including eight players who put up at least 40 points this season
  • Rick Nash, who was originally questionable for game 1, appears good to go. He hasn’t played since March 17th.
  • Zdeno Chara is still averaging nearly 23 minutes a night, leading the team in TOI. Age 40.
  • If you haven’t heard enough of it already, watch out for that Bruins top line, which features three 30-goal scorers.

Starting goalies

Barring anything catastrophic, it’ll be Tuukka Rask lining up in net against Frederik Andersen.
Their lines for the season:
Andersen: 38-21-5 W-L | 2.81 GAA | 0.918 SV% | 5 SO
Rask: 34-14-5 W-L | 2.36 GAA | 0.917 SV% | 3 SO

Notes from the press

Brad Marchand on Leafs: "It's a very interesting system that they play. You can see why (Babcock's) been successful everywhere he's been. It's a very hard system to play against ... it's always been hard to play against, it always will be."

Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
@NHLBruins

"It's gonna be a battle." 🎥 @bmarch63 on the B's first-round series with the Maple Leafs:

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