The Boston Bruins are looking for a spark offensively in their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy is turning to a talented rookie.
Ryan Donato will make his return to the lineup in Game 4, Cassidy confirmed Friday morning. Donato’s only appearance in the playoffs so far was Boston’s Game 2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1.
Boston scored just twice in Game 3 and only once in Game 4, both losses, and it’s hoping the highly skilled forward will provide a scoring boost with his excellent shot, playmaking ability and physicality in front of the net.
Donato tallied nine points (five goals, four assists) in 12 regular-season games for the Bruins.
Tuukka Rask (Boston) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay) will start in net.
Here are the projected lineups for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (1-2)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Rick Nash
Ryan Donato–Riley Nash–David Backes
Tim Schaller–Sean Kuraly–Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk–Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (2-1)
J.T. Miller–Steven Stamkos–Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat–Brayden Point–Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn–Anthony Cirelli–Yanni Gourde
Chris Kunitz–Cedric Paquette–Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman–Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh–Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn–Mikhail Sergachev
Andrei Vasilevskiy
