Bruins make necessary adjustments as they credit Leafs’ play so far in the series

The Toronto Maple Leafs played whistle to whistle in Game 3, focused on a winning formula and played a tight defensive game to take a 2-1 lead in the first round series against the Boston Bruins. 

Now, it’s time for head coach Bruce Cassidy to counter and make the necessary adjustments to his lineup against of this pivotal Game 4 tonight. 

The Bruins held an optional morning skate on Wednesday and it seems like they will be able to count on the returns of Marcus Johansson and John Moore. If both players can suit up tonight, Steven Kampfer and Karlsson Kuhlman are likely to come out of the lineup. 

Johansson has been ill with the flu for the past few days, missing the past two games with the virus. His absence allowed David Backes to get into the lineup. As for Moore, he has yet to play in a game this postseason with an upper-body injury suffered last month.

Cassidy took the time to credit the Maple Leafs and head coach Mike Babcock for their new approach on the back end. The Bruins bench noted, per Pierre LeBrun, that the changes made have benefited Toronto, who has played well so far in his season. 

“We’ve seen Toronto play a tighter defensive game (in this series). We didn’t see that as much during the season.” 

Here is your projected lineup for tonight’s Game 4 in Toronto:

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci-Kuhlman
Johansson-Coyle-Heinen
Nordstrom-Acciari-Wagner

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Moore-Grezlcyk

Rask
Halak