TAMPA – The Bruins lineup we thought might be seeing in Game 4 is the one that we will see in a do-or-die Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
- MORE HAGGERTY - Marchand has gotten his licks in, now he'll have to cut it out
Ryan Donato will stay in the lineup for the second game in a row and get bumped up to the second line with David Krejci and Rick Nash and Jake DeBrusk gets bumped down to a spot with Sean Kuraly and David Backes on a new-look third line based on size, power and some pretty solid offense on the wings.
- MORE BRUINS - Krug done for rest of series with ankle injury
Riley Nash will also return for the Bruins as the fourth line center after being a healthy scratch in Game 4 and veteran forward Brian Gionta returns to the press box after stepping in Friday night and having the Tampa game-winner glance off his skate in front on the way to the back of the net.
“We just didn’t like the way the third line was going. So, we just kind of blew it up while trying to keep most of the other lines consistent,” said Bruce Cassidy, of the moves headed into Game 4 with Nash as a minus-3 and just one point in eight games thus far in these playoffs. “Riley Nash hadn’t performed [in the playoffs] the way he did in [the regular season]. I don’t think you can get by without everybody going, and that’s just where we are right now. Tampa is a good team. That line was having their troubles, we’re hoping he’s back to being right if he’s in [for Game 5]. We’ve trusted them a lot and they’ve been a big part of our team.”
- MORE HAGGERTY - Too many key calls have gone against B's in these playoffs
The moves certainly keep some of what was working well enough in Game 4 for the Bruins to control large pockets of that game, but it also allows for some tweaks as the B’s bench boss isn’t going to go down in the postseason without a fight.
Boston Bruins
Here are the projected Bruins line combs and D-pairings with everything on the line for the Black and Gold:
Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Donato-Krejci-Nash
DeBrusk-Kuraly-Backes
Schaller-Nash-Acciari
Chara-McAvoy
Grzelcyk-Miller
Holden-McQuaid
Rask