May 4, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Nathan Horton (18) is congratulated by the bench after scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period in game two of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Even though the third line has basically been invisible so far in this series, it appears as though there will not be any changes to the offense as the Bruins head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs in game 3 of their first-round playoff matchup.

The forward lines are expected to look something like this:

Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Tyler Seguin

Rich Peverley – Chris Kelly – Jaromir Jagr

Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Shawn Thornton

The top-2 lines have been together for sometime now and have obvious chemistry, they have also been playing pretty well so far in the playoffs. The 4th line of Paille, Campbell and Thornton is arguably one of the best 4th lines in the league and they bring the energy and toughness every night. All of that is all well and good, but the 3rd line has been doing little-to-nothing and that needs to change if the Bruins hope to win this game and eventually the series.

Jaromir Jagr is 41 years old and is getting over a pretty nasty bout with the flu, still he needs to be better and should be better. His turnover at the end of game 2 that led to a James van Riemsdyk goal was downright inexcusable, especially for a legend like Jagr. But Jagr isn’t alone in his struggles, Chris Kelly was injured for a lot of the season but came back towards the end and showed some pretty nice chemistry with Jagr, however that chemistry has not shown up on the scoreboard for the Bruins yet in these playoffs. Peverley was a healthy scratch in game 1 and probably could’ve been a healthy scratch in game 2 and I doubt anyone would’ve noticed. I don’t know what’s happened to Peverley but he has struggled all season and its carried over into the postseason.

With the 3rd line struggling, I would say Julien has two options: 1) keep the lines they way they are or 2) shake things up. Personally, I’d rather have him shake things up but with the other 3 lines playing so well I can see why Julien is hesitant to do that, but he could do it without breaking up those other lines.

I thought Kaspars Daugavins held his own in game 1 but the offense still wasn’t there, so I doubt Julien would go back to him. Instead, he could simply insert Carl Soderberg in Peverley’s spot and see what the imposing Swede can do. I like what I saw from Soderberg in the regular season and he’s a big body that appeared to play pretty well with Jagr. Not sure why exactly Julien hasn’t gone to Soderberg yet, but I’m sure he has his reasons. However, if this line struggles for another game, he may not have any other choice and maybe Soderberg could be the answer.

On the blue-line, the Bruins will be welcoming back Andrew Ference, who is returning from a one-game suspension. Ference replaces rookie Dougie Hamilton, who made his NHL playoff debut in game 2 and didn’t look out of place. In fact, some even feel that maybe Adam McQuaid should be shelved instead of Hamilton, but alas, Ference is replacing Hamilton.

Ference is a veteran and it’s easy to see why he’ll slide right back into the lineup, “He understands how important those playoff games and those things you do in playoffs are,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said of Ference. “He’s stabilized our defense as far as getting the right pairs and everything else. He’s a guy who comes to play every night. Not only is he a good player, he’s a good leader.”

Look for Tuukka Rask to get the start in net as he’s looked solid and has done nothing to warrant losing his job. He actually did all he could to keep the Bruins in game 2 but there was just too many mistakes that eventually did the Bruins in.

Puck drops on game 3 Monday night at 7PM EST at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and will be aired nationally on the NHL Network and regionally on NESN, CBC or RDS.

May 4, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) sits on the wall during the second period in game two of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

After their performance in Game 1 with a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, many of us believed we’d see more of the same in Game 2; and we did.. just not on our end. The Toronto Maple Leafs fought Boston’s fire with water and they let their guard down big time after Game 1. It’s easy to forget that despite the team not making the playoffs since 2004, there are still players on the Leafs with past playoff experience (coincidentally those are the only Leafs who have scored in this series.).

But the Boston Bruins had quite a few factors going against them in Game 2. For starters, the team was with out their best puck battling and pinching defenceman in Andrew Ference. Despite his major up and downs all season, he came alive in Game 1 and his constant pinching and buck battling helped keep the Bruins sustained pressure game running on all cylinders. Having to break up the strong defence pairing of Game 1 in order to make the adjustments for Game 2 was a huge factor that cannot be over looked. If anything the coaching staff needs to keep a lot of it together but now when and where to shake it up and mix players.

Say for example:

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg are  frequently paired up with one another during the post-season and in Game 1 the two of them combined for a pretty strong defence tandem. That duo, without a doubt, needs to stay together during 5-on-5 play. But on the powerplay it wouldn’t hurt to put Chara with old time partner Wade Redden and cycle out a system of Ference – Boychuk or McQuaid - Sides for the 2nd unit.

Speaking of the powerplay, things have been looking good but the team is still failing to put the puck in the back of the net when up a man. A good solution for this to tie the hottest guys together. On the first powerplay unit it should be Jagr – Bergeron – Horton with Redden and Chara on the back. Bergeron is a great face off man and puck battler and Jagr can easily move in and around the 4 opposing players on the ice and dish it to Nathan Horton who always knows how to be in the right place at the right time when it comes to scoring (Game 5 against Montreal, Game 7 against Tampa and Game 1 against the Leafs). The second unit can be Lucic/Marchand – Krejci – Seguin; Lucic has been coming out of his shell lately and his big body can be thrown to stop a clearing attempt or to move the puck and Seguin and Krejci are great at setting up plays from the back of the net to the front and with Ference, Seidenberg, McQuaid and Boychuk rotating at the blue line, these three will definitely screen the net to get a good tip in.

But all of this line shaking and mixing up could be all for not, because there is still one major factor the Boston Bruins need to get under control. Do Not Lose Your Cool

In Game 1 the Bruins did very well not buying into the Leafs chippy antics (until the last buzzer when Komarov and Kelly exchanged solid punches). They need to keep it up for Game 3 and bait the Leafs the same way they’ve been trying to bait the Bruins. If they can do that and get the Leafs into 5-on-4 or 5-0n-3 situations the Bruins can capitalize and bring this series to a close in 5 for the Black and Gold. If it means getting in front of the net and taking a few slashes on the leg to draw a slashing call, do it. If it means they don’t fight back in a scrum and let the Leafs get the punches in, then do it. If they wanna play that kind of game, the Bruins can show them that two can play at the game.

There is still much that can be improved for the Bruins, but it just needs to start with putting together the best puck moving lines up front and best pressure lines in the back. Wear and grind the Leafs down, trap them in their zone, roll out the scorers and light them up. The Bruins know the kind of game they need to play, it’s time to tilt the ice and remember what you are in it for.

March 12, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference (21) on the ice before playing the Pittsburgh Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday, I wrote an article on how lucky we were to dodge a bullet over the hit made by Andrew Ference on Mikhail Grabovski. Well, I was wrong. The NHL issued its first ‘Shanaban’ to the Bruins this season. Andrew Ference was suspended for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal game against Toronto to be played tomorrow night.

Ference was called to task for a hit that saw the Bruins defensemen hit Grabovski in the head with his elbow thirteen minutes into the game. In the end, no penalty was called on the play. Nazem Kadri got the puck and the game kept going. The action of the game was moving at a blistering pace, and it’s likely none of the refs saw it. Someone in Toronto saw it though, and send the hit to the department of player safety for review. Here is a replay of the hit and the official verdict from the NHL.

This is Andrew Ference’s second career suspension over the course of a thirteen year career.

As I see it, this will not severly impact the way the Bruins play in Game 2. Ference did play twenty minutes in game one, and was part of the shooting gallery assault on James Reimer. In lieu of Ference, Coach Claude Julien has a few options available to him. He could activate Dougie Hamilton, hoping that Dougie could repeat the amazing run Tyler Seguin had for the Bruins in their 2011 Cup Championship. I think Dougie is ready for this challenge, and is probably chomping on the bit to get into the action.

As much as I want to see Dougie earn his stripes in the post season, I’m pretty sure Julien is going to turn to another veteran. We will probably see Aaron Johnson pulled off the healthy scratch line to make his Bruins playoffs debut. While Johnson has no more NHL playoff expierence than Hamilton, I believe the coach is probably saving the recent 7th Player Award winner to be unleashed at the right time.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will also be down a defenseman for Game 2. Michael Kostka, the Leafs top d-man, will be out due to a broken finger sustained in the second period of Game 1, where the Bruins handily defeated the Leafs 4-1.