By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter/X @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins are back on TD Garden ice for their third and final regular season matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Each team has hosted a game this season, and Boston has skated away with victories in both games, and each game was won with a score of 5-3.
Tonight, the Bruins look for things to stay exactly the same. While the Maple Leafs are far from contending for a playoff berth, Boston is still looking to win this inter-division matchup, as every team circling the wild card race is playing tonight, including the Senators, Red Wings, and Islanders.
If the Bruins are able to secure two points, it’ll either keep them on pace with the other competing teams, or create some separation in the standings. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, as the Bruins still have a game to play. Everything you need ahead of the matchup will be found below.
Lineup
Many thought the highly-touted James Hagens would be making his Boston Bruins debut tonight after BC’s season came to a disappointing end on Friday night, where they fell at the hand of UConn in the Hockey East semifinal game.
Alas, such is not the case, as Hagens agreed to sign an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) with Providence and will begin his professional career in the American Hockey League. So, tonight’s lineup is similar to that we saw on Saturday, with Lukas Reichel slotting in on the third-line left-wing spot, alongside Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie.
Fraser Minten will remain on the top line, centering Marat Khusnutdinov and David Pastrnak, a line that’s found itself to be surprisingly effective, and trademarked “the kid line” by Pastrnak. The remainder of the forward group remains intact, with the exception of Tanner Jeannot, who was practicing yesterday in a red, non-contact jersey. He will be a game-time decision tonight. Mikey Eyssimont was slotted in on Jeannot’s typical spot.
As far as the defense goes, the top-four remains the same as it’s been, and Henri Jokiharju is slotting in on the third pair alongside Nikita Zadorov. After the Bruins’ optional skate today, head coach Marco Sturm confirmed Jeremy Swayman will get the nod tonight, which leads to believe that Joonas Korpisalo starts tomorrow night, as the Bruins have the second half of a back-to-back in Buffalo.
Highlights
Morgan Geekie recorded three assists in Saturday’s game against Detroit, which helped him reach a new career-high in both assists and points, as he has 34-27-61 in 69 games on the season.
Another Bruin recording a career-high this season is netminder Jeremy Swayman, who’s smoothly settled into his starting goaltender role after a rough season last year, and just continues putting on a clinic, with his latest showing coming against Detroit on Saturday.
Swayman recorded a new career-high in wins, recording 28 wins on the year. His previous career-high was 25 in the 2023-24 season. He’s playing his best when it matters most, because without Swayman, the Bruins wouldn’t be nearly as close to the playoffs as they are.
To no one’s surprise, the Bruins’ second line of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha, and Viktor Arvidsson continue lighting things up. Since returning from the Olympic break, the trio has combined for a whopping 35 points. Mittelstadt has recorded 1-7-8, Zacha has recorded 8-6-14, and Arvidsson has recorded 5-8-13.
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