That “thank you” will never ever get old in Boston, just saying. Tonight the Boston Bruins will square off against division rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. This is the first of four meetings between the North East division rivals. Looking back to the last season, the Bruins won all six meetings against the Leafs outscoring them 36-10. This is a new season, a shortened season at that, so it’s really any ones game.
Boston is coming off of their first regulation loss against the Buffalo Sabres and are looking to maintain their first place division lead. On the other hand, Toronto is looking to increase their win streak to three after beating out the Washington Capitals for their first win and the Sabres earlier this week.
Will Marchand continue to lead the team in goals? (Credit:Flickr/Steph Vail)
Bruins missing 2/3 of their fourth line:
Both Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille did not make the trip to Toronto and as of now are both out with injuries. Thornton suffered a concussion in the first period of Thursday’s game while Paille is out with an injury from a high sticking in the third period. Both men left the ice and never returned to the game.
AHL coming up big for both teams:
Because the “Merlot line” is out for the time being the Bruins will rely on their Providence boys to make up for loss players. Jamie Tardif was recalled on an emergency basis on Friday while Chris Bourque and Lane Macdermid have been switching between playing and healthy scratch since the season started. All three are expected to play tomorrow.
On Toronto’s end they are also relying on their AHL team. Matt Frattin has four goals and two assists in four games since he was called up from the Toronto Marlies. He’s currently playing on a line with fellow AHL linemates Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. Kadri leads the Leafs with seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven games. It looks like this lines chemistry has been successful as Frattin scored the game winner against the Caps on Thursday.
Boston’s Best:
–David Krejci and Nathan Horton both have five-game points streaks and are looking to continue this tonight.
– Brad Marchand had a team high five goals and scored two of them against Buffalo on Thursday.
Injury report:
Like I said, Boston will be without Thornton and Paille. Toronto has Joffrey Lupul (broken forearm), Clarke MacArthur (lacerated pinkie) and Mike Brown (shoulder) on its injury list.
Puck drops tonight at 7pm on NESN!
For the Maple Leafs side of things be sure to check out Maple-Glazed!
A Cup A Bruin 