Heading into Game 3 Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery had some lineup decisions to make. Defenseman Andrew Peeke, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline, will be sidelined week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered in Game 2 at the TD Garden Monday night.
Head coach Jim Montgomery also decided to make Matt Grzelcyk a healthy scratch and with those two out, Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon slotted in. James van Riemsdyk also slotted in up front in place of Jakub Lauko. The biggest decision, or it should have been a rather easy one, was who started between the pipes, and that went to Jeremy Swayman.
For one night, it seemed like Montgomery pushed all the right lineup buttons in a 4-2 Bruins win and you could make the case that they stole back home ice advantage with a 2-1 series lead. It was a big-time bounce-back win. Here are three players that helped Boston steal a win with three third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie.
3. Jake DeBrusk
If there has been one player that has come to play this series, it’s Jake DeBrusk. He scored two second-period power-play goals in Game 1 with an assist and then in Game 3, he came up huge once again on the man advantage in the third period. With the score tied 1-1, DeBrusk collected a rebound of a Brad Marchand shot left by Toronto goalie Ilya Samsonov and buried it for a 2-1 lead.
Another PPG for JDB. pic.twitter.com/9gMEIij3oi
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 25, 2024
DeBrusk finished with seven hits in the game, but it was his power-play goal early in the third that gave the Bruins some momentum and their first lead of the night. Say what you will about his regular season performances, but so far through three games, he has shown up ready to play.