2 Boston Bruins who should be in the Game 6 lineup against the Maple Leafs, 2 who shouldn't

You can hear Boston Bruins fans everywhere saying "here we go again.''Just one year after watching them blow a 3-1 first-round series lead to the Florida Panthers in 2023, Boston jumped out to the same lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs in this year's first-round series. Like last season, the Bruins dropped Game 5 at home in overtime and now must go back to Toronto for a Game 6.

Florida completed the stunning comeback last spring by winning Game 6 at home and then Game 7 in Boston in overtime. The Bruins have lost four straight close-out games under second-year head coach Jim Montgomery and until they prove otherwise, what is going to make anyone think it will change?

Toronto seemed all but down and out and they were missing star forward Auston Matthews and his 69 regular season goals in Game 5, yet the Bruins still were not able to close out the series. Instead, they let the Maple Leafs win 2-1 in overtime and now they have life, which could be dangerous for Boston heading back to Canada.

Nothing comes easy for the Bruins and neither will come the fourth win in the series to send them to the second round against Florida. Montgomery decided to make some head scratching lineup changes ahead of Game 5 and it's safe to say that they backfired. As the series shifts back to Toronto for Game 6 Thursy night, here are two players that should be in the lineup for Boston and two who shouldn't.

Two Bruins' who should be in the Game 6 lineup

John Beecher

This one goes without saying. No one outside of the decision-makers for the Bruins will ever understand why John Beecher came out of the lineup. His absence was felt in the first period when Boston was losing faceoff after faceoff and the Maple Leafs capitalized on one of them when Jake McCabe scored off an offensive zone win by Toronto.

Everyone struggled at the faceoff dot for the Bruins and despite some struggles that Beecher has had in the series, you can't convince me that he could not have made a difference on faceoffs in the game. He should not be out of the lineup for the rest of the postseason, no matter how games they have left.

Mason Lohrei

There is no reason why Mason Lohrei should come out of the lineup either. He more than held his own in Games 3 and 4 in Toronto and he did the same in Game 5. The case could be made that he played better at times than Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.

Montgomery had him on the second power-play unit in place of Kevin Shattenkirk and if Boston's coach feels the need to take a left-shot defenseman out of the lineup, under no circumstances should it be Lohrei. The kid has proved he's ready for the playoff stage.