Bruins’ Projected Lines, Pairings For Game 1 Against Maple Leafs

The Bruins begin their path toward a Stanley Cup on Saturday when they take on the Maple Leafs at TD Garden.

Boston finished the season second in the Atlantic Division and take on a Toronto team that finished atop of the wild-card standings.

Regression always was expected after a historic regular season, but Jim Montgomery has proven to be a great head coach in his second season on Boston's bench. But everyone on the team understands the ultimate goal, and the reigning Jack Adams winner hopes the adjustments made at the end of the regular season helped prepare the B's for the postseason.

John Beecher on Friday was recalled from Providence and is expected to start on the fourth line with Jesper Boqvist and Pat Maroon. Brandon Carlo on Tuesday missed the regular-season finale, but he's expected to pair with Matt Grzelcyk after Mason Lohrei was assigned to Providence ahead of Game 1. That means James van Riemsdyk and Parker Wotherspoon will be healthy scratches.

Montgomery has played coy about who will start in net in Game 1, and it's expected to be Linus Ullmark based on practices this week. Toronto also hasn't been clear as to who will start in net, but it's expected to be Ilya Samsonov. William Nylander's status also is up in the air, and Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe didn't offer an update Saturday morning.

Puck drop for Game 1 of Bruins-Maple Leafs at TD Garden is scheduled at 8 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN.

Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both teams.

BOSTON BRUINS
Danton Heinen -- Pavel Zacha -- David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand -- Charlie Coyle -- Jake DeBrusk
Jakub Lauko -- Morgan Geekie -- Trent Frederic
John Beecher -- Jesper Boqvist -- Pat Maroon

Hampus Lindholm -- Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk -- Brandon Carlo
Kevin Shattenkirk -- Andrew Peeke

Linus Ullmark

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Auston Matthews -- Max Domi
Matthew Knies -- John Tavares -- Mitch Marner
Nicholas Robertson -- Pontus Holmberg -- William Nylander
Connor Dewar -- David Kampf -- Ryan Reaves

Morgan Rielly -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Simon Benoit -- Jake McCabe
Joel Edmundson -- Timothy Liljegren

Ilya Samsonov