After two days off following a massive 4-2 road win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night, the Boston Bruins will play the front end of a back-to-back on Tuesday night at the TD Garden against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Sitting in the first Eastern Conference wild-card slot entering the game, the Black and Gold will face a Toronto team that is undermanned without captain Auston Matthews after he suffered a season-ending injury earlier this month. The Maple Leafs are going to miss the postseason, and if their draft pick falls outside the top 5, then it's the Bruins. That means, if Boston goes on to miss the postseason themselves, they could have two lottery picks in June.
However, there is still a lot of hockey remaining in the 2025-26 season for Boston, beginning with Toronto on Tuesday night. After the game, they will charter a flight to Western New York to face the surging Buffalo Sabres. After an optional morning skate on Tuesday, head coach Marco Sturm noted some lineup changes against the Leafs.
Bruins making some lineup changes against Maple Leafs
In a not-so-surprising decision, Jermey Swayman will get the start in net against the Maple Leafs, with Joonas Korpisalo likely getting the start against the Sabres on Wednesday night. According to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, defenseman Henri Jokiharju will play with Andrew Peeke coming out, and Tanner Jeannot will be a game-time decision with an injury.
This is a big game for the Bruins, with every other team in the playoff race with them also in action on Tuesday night. A loss and then another one in Buffalo could be devastating to their playoff chances. There is no other way to put it, other than this is a game where the Black and Gold must get two points with a daunting schedule coming up. Two or three losses in a row and the playoff hopes would be all-but dashed before April.