Heading into yesterday’s Game six matchup, it was do or die time for the Bruins. Facing elimination from the playoffs if they lost, the Bruins had one option, and that was to win. They got on the board first thanks to a Brad Marchand goal, and Charlie Coyle got in on the scoring to make it 2-0 as they never looked back. Thanks to an offensive burst and a great game by Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins went on to win 5-2. The Bruins will now put all their focus on Game seven tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 as they head down to Carolina, looking to win on the road for the first time this series.
After tying the series at 3-3 last night, the Bruins got back on the ice today for practice. Game six saw head coach Bruce Cassidy juggle the lineup once again as he looked to roll out the best possible option that would allow the Bruins to win. For the first time this series, we saw Matt Grzelcyk get benched with the return of Hampus Lindholm. Mike Reilly took Grzelcyk’s place on the second pairing alongside Brandon Carlo, while Lindholm assumed his spot on the top pairing next to Charlie McAvoy.
The defense wasn’t the only part of the lineup that Cassidy tweaked as he switched around his forward group once again. Trent Frederic made his return to the lineup as Chris Wagner went back to the bench. The perfection line was once again broken up as David Pastrnak slid back down to the second line. The moves made for the forward group seemed to work as the Bruins scored five goals. The Bruins saw plenty of secondary scoring in this game as each line had a player produce a goal as well as a defenseman. Marchand, Coyle, Haula, Forbort, and Lazar all recorded a goal.
After finding success with this lineup last night, it seems Bruce Cassidy will go with the same lines and pairings for Game seven. He kept the lines and pairings together in today’s practice, indicating he was pleased with what he is rolling out. It seems Jeremy Swayman will get his fifth straight start as he will play in the most crucial game of his career so far. Swayman is 3-1-0 in the series since taking over for Linus Ullmark, who started the series 0-2-0. While there is still plenty of time for the lines to change before tomorrow’s game, it doesn’t seem anything will.
