Bruins Tease Potential Lineup Changes For Game 5 Vs. Maple Leafs

The Bruins probably won’t make a goalie change for Tuesday night’s game at TD Garden, but the Boston skaters in front of Jeremy Swayman might look different than they did Saturday night in Toronto.

The B’s held a practice Monday morning, one day before Game 5 of their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Maple Leafs. With Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen not participating in the training session due to maintenance, Jakub Lauko and Justin Brazeau joined the Boston line rushes. Lauko played to the right of James van Riemsdyk and Trent Frederic on the third line, while Brazeau aligned with Pat Maroon and Jesper Boqvist on the fourth line, per The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.

All Bruins defensemen — save for Andrew Peeke — were available to practice, but there was a notable change to the third pairing. Derek Fobort was teamed up with Parker Wotherspoon, while Matt Grzyelcyk and Kevin Shattenkirk were the odd blueliners out of line rushes.

Jim Montgomery wasn’t willing to reveal whether Forbort or Brazeau would draw back into the lineup for Game 5. Boston’s head coach simply said both players were “options” for the pivotal tilt.

Forbort made an unexpectedly fast recovery from a pair of “significant” injuries and revealed last week that he was “close” to suitable game shape. The veteran defenseman also traveled with the team to Toronto, a sign that Montgomery and company thought Forbot could potentially be a lineup addition for Game 3 or 4.

Brazeau returning to the fold Tuesday night would be a slight surprise. Last Monday, Montgomery couldn’t pinpoint when exactly the bruising forward could be back in the mix but thought Round 2 of the postseason was a more realistic benchmark.

Of course, Montgomery isn’t in a spot where he needs to experiment with lineup changes. The Bruins won the last two games of the best-of-seven series pretty decisively, and they now have an opportunity to eliminate the Leafs on home ice.

NESN’s complete coverage of Game 5 begins at 6 p.m. ET.