Bruins vs. Leafs Game 5 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies

Bruins vs. Leafs Game 5 lineup: Projected lines, pairings, goalies originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to beat the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday night at TD Garden or their season will be over.

The Bruins pushed the Leafs to the brink of elimination with a pair of victories in Toronto to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

This is a familiar spot for the Bruins. They were in this exact same spot last season against the Florida Panthers. It didn’t end well for the Bruins, as the Panthers won three consecutive games to become the 32nd team in NHL history to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

This time does feel a little bit different, though. The Bruins have absolutely dominated on special teams (6-of-13 on power play, 13-of-14 on penalty kill) and their goaltending has been elite. Boston’s best players, especially Brad Marchand (eight points in four games) have outplayed Toronto’s superstar forwards by a wide margin. The Leafs’ stars were also seen arguing with each other on the bench during the third period of Game 4.

Toronto has a long history of playoff failures with its current core, but if the Leafs go out in Game 5, this specific meltdown might be the most disappointing of them all.

Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort and right wing Justin Brazeau both practiced Monday and are options for Game 5. It’s unclear, however, if either one of them will play. The Bruins, frankly, don’t need to make any lineup changes. Montgomery made changes entering Game 3 and those lines and pairings have worked wonders. There’s no reason to fix something that’s going so well.

The goaltending decision is again a storyline. The Bruins went back to Jeremy Swayman as the starter in Game 4 after he won Game 3. It was the first time a B’s netminder made consecutive starts since the middle of February. Swayman gave a stellar performance for the third time in as many starts this series, and he now ranks No. 1 among all goalies in the postseason with a .956 save percentage.

When you consider how well Swayman has played versus the Leafs this season — 6-0-0 record with a .967 save percentage, including the playoffs — plus the extra day of rest in between Games 4 and 5, it makes the most sense to give him a third straight start Tuesday. You can’t go wrong playing your best goalie with a chance to send your rival home for the summer.

The biggest question mark for the Leafs involves star center Auston Matthews. He’s been battling an illness since Game 3 and didn’t play in the third period of Game 4 due to the issue. Matthews traveled with the team to Boston but his status for Game 5 remains uncertain. He scored a league-leading 69 goals in the regular season and is Toronto’s most dynamic player. It would be a massive setback for the Leafs if he doesn’t play Tuesday night.

Sheldon Keefe says the Leafs are still hoping that Auston Matthews can play in Game 5: “No determination at this time.”

— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) April 30, 2024

It’s also unknown which goalie will start for the Leafs. Ilya Samsonov started the first four games and has a .883 save percentage and 3.32 GAA. The Leafs’ issues aren’t all his fault, but they’ve needed a couple clutch saves and he hasn’t given them many so far.

Joseph Woll replaced Samsonov to begin the third period of Game 4, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make his first start of the series in Game 5. Woll had a good regular season for the Leafs, but he is 0-2-1 with a .865 save percentage and a 3.97 GAA in three career matchups vs. Boston.

Here are the projected lineups for Game 5. We will update this article when the Bruins’ starting goalie is known and when there is a definitive update on Matthews.