Saturday Night Hockey!
Just the facts
When: Tonight, 8 PM
Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON
How to follow: NESN, TBS, TruTV, Max, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Opposing perspective: Pension Plan Puppets
Know your enemy
- 1-2-0, Bruins lead series 2-1
- Max Domi: 1G-2A-3PTS; Auston Matthews: 1G-2A-3PTS; Tyler Bertuzzi: 1G-1A-2PTS
- Ilya Samsonov: 1-2-0, 3.05 GAA, .895 save percentage
Game notes
- It’s Bruins at Leafs playoff hockey under the brightest of the bright lights, an 8 PM Eastern Saturday night start!
- Tonight’s game is part of a staggered, all-day lineup of playoff action: Hurricanes-Islanders at 2 PM, Panthers-Lightning at 5 PM, this one at 8 PM, Stars-Golden Knights at 10:30 PM.
- I’m sure there will end up being more “will he or won’t he” intrigue, but all signs point to William Nylander making his series debut tonight. Best known as David Pastrnak’s friend, Nylander was a normal participant in practice on Friday.
- Auston Matthews didn’t practice on Friday due to what was termed “maintenance,” though other reports suggested his still recovering from or dealing with an illness.
- It’ll likely change at some point soon, but it’s interesting to note that the Leafs don’t have anyone who has scored twice in the series. If you told a Bruins fan before the series that going into Game 4, Trent Frederic would have more goals than Matthews, they’d probably have pinched themselves.
- I’m not sure if anyone can find a prop bet on Brad Marchand being called for a penalty tonight, but if you can, bet the farm. Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe reached deep in the Craig Berube playbook after Game 3, but hopefully the refs don’t take the bait.
- Danton Heinen didn’t practice on Friday, but his absence appears to be just for rest/maintenance, not due to injury.
- While it will be tempting to leave things alone, I’m curious to see if Jim Montgomery elects to make any lineup changes tonight. Matt Grzelcyk could draw back in, or Jakub Lauko could return. My guess would be he goes with the status quo.
- As mentioned in Friday’s Morning Skate, the league announced that Tuesday’s (I double-checked this time) Game 5 will be at 7 PM.
See ya tonight!