BOSTON — The Bruins will look to build off Saturday’s shootout victory over the Flyers as they take on Toronto for the final time this season on Monday.
Saturday’s win snapped a season-high four-game losing streak, but the Leafs could represent a chance to start a winning streak as the Bruins have won each of the first five meetings this season by a combined 28-10 tally.
Bruins coach Claude Julien doesn’t plan any lineup changes from Saturday. That will keep defensemen Joe Corvo and Mike Mottau in the press box as scratches.
“That’s a goal,” Julien said after the morning skate. “And again, Joe is not going to be playing tonight. I said he was a healthy scratch [Saturday], but he’s also a little banged up. What that means is if we really needed him he’d be available, but right now we’re going to stick with the same lineup of healthy guys.”
It also appears that Julien will be sticking with Tim Thomas in goal. Thomas was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, traditionally the indication of which netminder will play that night. If Thomas does play, it will be the 13th straight game he has appeared in. After struggling for most of that stretch, Thomas appeared to return to form Saturday with 27 saves in the 3-2 victory.
The Leafs are expected to go with James Reimer in goal for the fourth straight game. He’s won each of his last two starts, allowing one goal on 35 shots against Tampa Bay and one goal on 30 shots against Ottawa.
Toronto has dressed seven defensemen on occasion under new coach Randy Carlyle, but the Leafs are expected to stick with the traditional 12-forward, six-defensemen alignment for this one.
“We’ll be looking at six defensemen, more than likely,” Carlyle said after his club’s morning skate.
That would keep enforcer Jay Rosehill in the lineup, with defenseman Cody Franson the lone healthy scratch for the Leafs. Rosehill was recalled from the AHL after Carlyle took over and has 24 penalty minutes in five games since his return, five coming in a bout with Boston tough guy Shawn Thornton on March 6 in Toronto.
Chris Lee and Kevin Pollock will be the referees, with Steve Barton and Michel Cormier working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jordan Caron
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Benoit Pouliot-Chris Kelly-Brian Rolston
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Greg Zanon-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Marty Turco
Scratches: Joe Corvo, Mike Mottau, Nathan Horton (concussion), Rich Peverley (knee), Tuukka Rask (groin)
Projected Maple Leafs lines
Forwards
Clarke MacArthur-Tyler Bozak-Phil Kessel
Matt Frattin-Mikhail Grabovski-Carter Ashton
Joey Crabb-David Steckel-Tim Connolly
Jay Rosehill-Matthew Lombardi-Colby Armstrong
Defense
Dion Phaneuf-Carl Gunnarsson
John-Michael Liles-Mike Komisraek
Jake Gardiner-Luke Schenn
Goalies
James Reimer
Jonas Gustavsson
Scratches: Cody Franson, Mike Brown (thigh), Joffrey Lupul (shoulder), Nikolai Kulemin (finger)
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