BOSTON — The Bruins will have some extra bodies on the ice for their pre-game warm-up, but they probably won't have anybody different in the lineup for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Monday night at the Garden.
Boston has had an extra forward and defenseman skate in warm-ups throughout the playoffs, and before Game 4 the Bruins added another spare defenseman to the mix with rookie Steven Kampfer joining the pre-game skate around. But Bruins coach Claude Julien made it clear after the morning skate that he doesn't intend to sit struggling veteran Tomas Kaberle, and Kampfer's presence is just to help acclimatize the youngster to the playoff atmosphere in case he is needed later in the postseason.
"I think right now I'm going to dress 23 for the warm-up, and that's basically what it's going to stay at for now," Julien said. "And if there's changes, we'll make them after the warm-up."
The one area that could change is up front, where forward Shawn Thornton has been a healthy scratch the past two games since Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup after missing two games with a concussion. Tyler Seguin had six points in those two games without Bergeron to earn the right to stay in the lineup, though he's gone scoreless in the two games since.
There's no doubt that on paper, the current lineup with Seguin on the third line with Michael Ryder and Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley on the fourth with Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell is Boston's best in terms of overall talent and balance. But the Bruins could also use the leadership, experience and emotion of a guy like Thornton, a physical and vocal leader and Cup champion with Anaheim who may have helped the team snap out of its lethargy as they squandered a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-3 loss in Game 4.
The Lightning have plenty of questions of their own. Coach Guy Boucher appears to be leaning toward sticking with Dwayne Roloson in goal, though Boucher's comments have been vague enough to invite speculation that Mike Smith, who has not allowed a goal in two relief appearances this series, could get the nod. Roloson was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, traditionally the sign of who will be starting that night.
Boucher is also waiting to see if forward Steve Downie will be available for this game. Downie, who has 12 points and 38 penalty minutes in 14 games this postseason, was injured late in the second period of Game 4 when hit into the boards by Nathan Horton. Downie was actually given a diving penalty for embellishing the hit, but did not return to the game with an upper-body injury.
Fellow forward Dana Tyrell, who returned from a foot injury on Saturday, has been battling an illness but should be OK. If either Downie or Tyrell cannot go in Game 5, Blair Jones would return to the lineup.
"He's doing better this morning," Boucher said of Downie. "But better and ready to go doesn't necessarily mean that it's the same thing. But at least it's better, so there's something positive. And Tyrell, same thing. He was sick last game, couldn't play much. So [Monday], and [Sunday], he was much better. And today he's fine. So if he sits down, he's not playing. Tyrell's ready to go and Blair Jones will be in the lineup if he's not. So that's who we're going to go with."
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Michael Ryder- Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell- Rich Peverley
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Tomas Kaberle-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Shawn Thornton, Shane Hnidy, Steven Kampfer, Matt Bartkowski, Jordan Caron, Jamie Arniel, Trent Whitfield, Anton Khudobin
Projected Lightning lines
Forwards
Ryan Malone-Steven Stamkos-Martin St. Louis
Simon Gagne-Vincent Lecavalier-Teddy Purcell
Sean Bergenheim-Dominic Moore-Steve Downie
Dana Tyrell-Nate Thompson-Adam Hall
Defense
Eric Brewer-Mattias Ohlund
Victor Hedman-Brett Clark
Mike Lundin-Marc-Andre Bergeron
Goalies
Dwayne Roloson
Mike Smith
Scratches: Pavel Kubina (upper body), Blair Jones, Randy Jones, Mattias Ritola, Mathieu Roy, Matt Smaby, Marc-Andre Pouliot, Mike Angelidis, Dustin Tokarski
