Boston Bruins: Slight changes to the lines for game one
By Sam Minton
The Boston Bruins announced their lineup for tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Today is the day. The Boston Bruins will play their first game of the playoffs. The Bruins will be starting the playoffs with nearly everyone healthy. They will be in full force looking to add another banner to the rafters of the TD Garden.
Prior to their game, the Boston Bruins announced their lines for game one and there are some slight changes from the beginning of the week.
It was an optional pregame skate this morning, but Bruce Cassidy confirms the Game 1 lineup:
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 12, 2018
Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - Krejci - Rick Nash
Heinen - Acciari - Backes
Schaller - Kuraly - Wingels
Chara - McAvoy
Krug - Miller
Grzelcyk - McQuaid
Rask
Khudobin pic.twitter.com/l744PdU1p6
Takeaways from the lines
So it is official Ryan Donato will not be playing. I would like to see Donato play, but their isn’t a spot for him. Bruce Cassidy spoke about this early on in the week saying that you can only have so many rookies in the lineup. Asking Donato to center the 3rd line would be asking a lot. The only way I see Donato getting playing time is if someone happens to get injured.
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Also we see that Noel Acciari is replacing Brian Gionta on the 3rd line. I like seeing Acciari and David Backes back together. They are both physical guys who will fight in the corners and are strong on the puck. This should allow Danton Heinen to get some good scoring opportunities.
The Bruins also got some good news as Riley Nash is skating with the team. There is some chatter that he may be able to play on Saturday. If the Bruins are able to get Nash back it would be big. If they have their entire lineup back healthy the Bruins have a pretty good chance at winning the Stanley Cup.
Next: Playoff preview: Round 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Yankees and Red Sox may be playing at Fenway, but all eyes will be on TD Garden.