BOSTON — The Boston Bruins will aim to close out 2014 with one more win when they welcome the rival Toronto Maple Leafs to TD Garden on Wednesday night.
The Bruins began December with one win in their first seven games, but they’ve rebounded well with four victories in their last six games. These two teams have split the season series at one game apiece, with Toronto winning 6-1 at the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 12. Wednesday’s matchup is the first meeting in Boston this season.
The Bruins likely will use the same, or a very similar lineup to what we saw in Monday’s impressive 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. The Bruins still have 12 forwards on the roster, so recent call up Matt Lindblad should make his third appearance at the NHL level this season.
All four Bruins lines scored a goal, and nine players in total tallied at least one point against Detroit. Boston will need another balanced scoring effort against a Toronto team that ranks first in goals scored per game and has a talented power play.
The Leafs last played Monday night in Tampa Bay and were defeated 3-2 by the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning. Toronto was out shot 41-23 in that loss, which has been a common occurrence for the Original Six franchise throughout the season.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams. Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic practiced Tuesday, but their status for Bruins-Leafs hasn’t yet been made official by the team.
BOSTON BRUINS (19-15-3, sixth in Atlantic)
Brad Marchand-David Krejci-Reilly Smith
Chris Kelly-Carl Söderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Jordan Caron
Matt Lindblad-Craig Cunningham-Seth Griffith
Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski-Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (20-14-3, fourth in Atlantic)
James van Riemsdyk-Tyler Bozak-Phil Kessel
Daniel Winnik-Nazem Kadri-Joffrey Lupul
Leo Komarov-Peter Holland- Mike Santorelli
David Booth-Trevor Smith-David Clarkson
Dion Phaneuf-Cody Franson
Jake Gardiner-Roman Polak
Morgan Rielly-Korbinian Holzer
Jonathan Bernier
Thumbnail photo via Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
