Boston can put themselves in the record books with a loss to Toronto on Saturday night.
Boston can put themselves in the record books with a loss to Toronto on Saturday night.
The Boston Bruins have changed their gameday routine ahead of Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Boston usually skates at Warrior Ice Arena the morning before a game, however, ahead of a crucial do-or-die matchup against Toronto, they elected to have their morning skate at TD Garden instead.
"We wanted to change things up," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said. "This is one of the things we changed up."
With Boston taking to the ice at TD Garden instead of their practice facility, a 20-minute drive down the freeway, it also throws a wrench into the Maple Leafs' plans. Usually, with extra time ahead of the morning skate, Toronto could get their scratches and injured players on the ice, as they do at home.
However, that wasn't the case ahead of Game 7 in Boston on Saturday.
The Bruins are staring at a difficult reality: They can be the first team in NHL, MLB, and NBA history to blow back-to-back 3-1 series leads in the playoffs if they fall to the Maple Leafs in their series finale.
Boston was up three games to one on the Florida Panthers last year before the Panthers stormed back and won the series in overtime 4-3. Florida went on to face Toronto and eliminated them in five games, eventually going to the Stanley Cup Finals and falling to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Auston Matthews and Bobby McMann, who have been dealing with injuries, were on the ice ahead of Game 7 on Saturday night. Whether either of them play or not remains to be seen.
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