By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter/X @RyanJBosworth
The Boston Bruins are back on TD Garden ice this afternoon, as they’re set to host the Buffalo Sabres for game four in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins hosted game three on Thursday, where they fell to Buffalo, 3-1, and allowed Buffalo to take a 2-1 series lead.
A win today, besides tying up the series, will force a game six set for Friday, May 1st. Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, let’s take a look at today’s pivotal game, as we’re going to see some lineup changes ahead of puck drop.
Lineup
There are two areas where we’ll see a lineup change: third-line left wing, and second defense pair. At practice yesterday, James Hagens donned a merlot practice sweater, which typically indicates the scratches for the following game. In his place skated Lukas Reichel, who, if playing, would be making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut.
Along with Reichel slotting in, it looks as though Mason Lohrei could also be taking a seat, as Jordan Harris was skating alongside Hampus Lindholm on the second defense pair. When asked, head coach Marco Sturm had nothing but praise for the players that are headed for the ninth floor.
“James didn’t do anything wrong, nothing. This kid is 19 years old, don’t forget… He did more than I thought (he would) coming in. Tremendous job, tremendous player… It’s a tough league… Consistency, it’s a big thing. It’s hard. So, we take a breather, and I’m gonna use him again in the near future,” Sturm said, when asked about Hagens slotting out of the lineup.
He had the same praise for defenseman Mason Lohrei, stating,“It’s a lot for him too. I still see him as a young kid, and there’s a lot of things he needs to learn too. And he made a tremendous, for me personally, a tremendous jump this season. I was really, really, really happy with the way he developed.”
As far as the rest of the lineup, it stays the same. Elias Lindholm will center Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak, and Pavel Zacha will center Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson. Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, and Mark Kastelic also remain together on the fourth line.
In terms of defense, Harris is the only change we’re going to see. Jonathan Aspirot remains on the top pair with Charlie McAvoy, and Nikita Zadorov and Andrew Peeke remain together on the third pair. Jeremy Swayman has easily been Boston’s best performer, so he’ll get his fourth-straight start.
Highlights
Looking at some team-specific highlights, the biggest comes in the form of the penalty kill. A perfect 14-for-14 penalty kill through three games, stopping all of Buffalo’s chances on the man-advantage. However, the same cannot be said for the Bruins’ power play, as that’s been an area of struggle, as they’ve only gone 2-for-12 with a 16.7% success rate.
As previously mentioned, tonight’s a big game for the Bruins. To lock this series up and force a game six would make it a best-of-three series. Falling to 3-1, however, would deflate the Bruins’ tires, and would make a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Sabres all too likely.
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