With home-ice advantage back on the Bruins side, Game 4 tonight against the Leafs has all the makings of a must-win situation for the Blue and White.
A victory for Toronto, and their Eastern Conference quarter-final with Boston is knotted up at twos. A loss and the Leafs would be forced to win three-in-a-row, while winning two of those at TD Garden.
“Right now we’re not thinking of win or lose” said Nazem Kadri ahead of tonight’s tilt. “We’re thinking about getting to the start of the game, draw that first penalty, get that first hit, get that first goal. It’s all about first for us tonight.”
Certainly the Leafs haven’t had a hard time with delivering the hits all season long. Game 3 saw a combined hit total north of the century mark. Scoring has definitely been an issue though, something the Maple Leafs’ coach is looking to change.
“Scoring is going to be a premium as the games get tighter and the way the defensive schemes are set” said Randy Carlyle. “The one thing we’ve always asked from our guys is to make sure we have a strong middle lane. We need more dirty area goals. We’ve only had three guys provide offense for us in van Riemsdyk, Kessel and Lupul.”
He’s almost right. Jake Gardiner scored in Game 3. As for Kadri, he has only scored one goal since March 31st.
Lineup changes for the Maple Leafs are under heavy guard from coach Carlyle during the playoffs.
Important to note: Clarke MacArthur came off of the morning skate, prior to Ryan Hamilton, Frazer McLaren and Joe Colborne. Looking for more offence, don’t be surprised if Carlyle elects to insert MacArthur in for game four.
All indications lead to John-Michael Liles remaining a scratch tonight. The only change on defence that may seem possible is Ryan O’Byrne sitting, given his struggles in Game 3.
The Leafs have shown a tremendous ability to bounce back this season.
One less distraction ahead of tonight’s game is the Leafs already have one home game under their belt. A win tonight will guaranteed themselves another on Sunday for Game 6.
Faceoffs at a premium.
Carlyle acknowledged that he had a conversation with series supervisor Kay Whitmore about the faceoff issues the Leafs were having with the linesman. Tyler Bozak took particular issue with how the draws were being taken, suggesting that “everyone tries to cheat when it comes to the draws, but Boston does a better job of it.”
Issues in the playoffs are magnified given what the Canadiens went through last night in Ottawa. Montreal had problems ranging from a kicked-in goal, to which faceoff circle the puck was being dropped at.
The issue isn’t expected to escalate tonight with new linesmen tonight.