The loss to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is not a pleasant memory for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the players are trying to move past it and use it as motivation as the two clubs meet for the first time since the loss in Game 7 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
“Not all games are as an individual perceived equal. Some games you are more excited for than others. When you've played (Boston) two years in a row in the playoffs, you know a lot about them (and) they know a lot about you. You want to see where you're at." Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said on Saturday.
Toronto will play their first game without team captain John Tavares, who suffered a broken finger in a 4-3 loss in Washington on Wednesday, which just adds to the challenges of players getting used to playing with each other after a significant roster changeover last summer.
Where the lack of familiarity has been most noticeable is on the blueline, where Morgan Rielly has struggled playing with new partner Cody Ceci, and Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie have appeared to not be in sync to start the season.
"Lots of our things are new, especially on the back end." Babcock said. “As they get up to speed, I think it's gotten better and better. I thought Ceci was real good his last couple games. We spent a lot of time on nuances yesterday at practice. He's still getting dialed in.”
The Leafs held an optional skate on Saturday morning, which likely means that their line combos that skated together at practice on Friday will start the game together.
Auston Matthews skated with Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander, Mitch Marner skated with new linemates Alex Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev, veteran center Jason Spezza was inserted up the middle between Trevor Moore and Kasperi Kapanen and the fourth line of Dmytro Timashov, Frederik Gauthier and Nick Shore remained intact.
The Bruins have started out 5-1-1, avoiding the usual Stanley Cup hangover that teams that go deep into the postseason usually encounter and is getting hot starts from wingers David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. Pastrnak leads the club with 13 points (8 goals, 5 assists) and has a five-game goal scoring streak, while Marchand has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists).
Center David Krejci and winger Joakim Nordstrom did not travel to Toronto and will not play on Saturday, but Patrice Bergeron (who suffered a lower-body injury earlier this week) will suit up.
Jaroslav Halak (2-1-0, 1.69 GAA, .951 save percentage) is expected to get the start for the Bruins, while Frederik Andersen (4-2-0, 3.14 GAA, .893 save percentage) will make his seventh start for Toronto.
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