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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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With the Maple Leafs facing elimination tonight in Boston, Mike Babcock is shaking things up. The head coach confirmed that silent snipers and long-time linemates Auston Matthews and William Nylander will start Game 5 on separate units. 

"It wasn't going, we've got to change something and try to get it going," the coach explained. "The bottom line is, we're not scoring enough and we need to score ... You've got to find ways to get to the net on a regular basis and score some goals."

Matthews and Nylander have just one point each in the series being held in check by the defence pair of Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy. In the first two games in Boston, the Patrice Bergeron line also helped snuff out Toronto's dynamic duo. 

So on Saturday morning it was Connor Brown who joined Matthews and Zach Hyman while Nylander skated alongside Tomas Plekanec and fellow Swede Andreas Johnsson

"I think it’s good," said Nylander. "We haven’t been able to produce the way we wanted to so I think it’s a good change and I think it could be a fresh start for us today."

"Just trying to spark something and get a win here tonight,” Matthews said. "I've played with Brownie before and it’s always gone well so we’ll be looking to feed off each other tonight and create offence."

Babcock expects Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy will continue to have his top players go up against the Matthews line. In theory, that should free up more space for Nylander, a right winger who has seen plenty of the lefty Chara and his long reach. 

“With that stick out there, like on the power play and coming down one-on-one, I mean, it seems to always find the stick on puck so might be nice if he’s not out there,” said Nylander, who had just one shot in Game 3. 

Brown and Hyman are both grinders, who can do the dirty work on a line and that seems to fit well with the mindset Matthews has adopted for the do-or-die showdown. 

“We just got to outwork them,” he said. “Those 50-50 battles, the face-off circle, starting with the puck is huge, because (Bergeron’s) so good in the face-off circle, it’s all those little things. We got to make sure we do it better than them."

Bergeron’s wingers, David Pastrnak (11 points) and Brad Marchand (seven), lead the series in scoring so slowing them down is crucial. 

"They find each other pretty well," said Brown. "It's important to hit and stick on them and to slow them down. They've got good line speed and they move the puck well. Most importantly, try to make them play in their own end."

Also at Toronto's morning skate, speedster Kasperi Kapanen joined Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk on a line while Nazem Kadri was back in his usual spot between Patrick Marleau and Mitch Marner. 

“I haven't decided which centre is going to play on which line, to tell you the truth, on a few of them,” Babcock cautioned. “By game time tonight we'll know, see how guys are going in the first five minutes and go from there.”

Having served his three-game suspension, Kadri will be suiting up for the first time since April 12. He has played just one game in the last two weeks. Will it be hard to get up to speed? 

“No, I don’t think so,” Kadri said. “I mean, I haven’t been out a month and a half. It’s only been a week. You do have to sharpen up and let myself get into the game and get my feet wet on the first couple shifts and get into the game that way, but I know what I’m doing out there.”

No surprise, the 32-goal scorer expects to make an immediate impact. 

“I can't wait. I can't wait,” he said. “I'm sick of watching games. It's tough to be up there and watch, it's a little bit frustrating. I'm anxious just to get back on the ice ... I don’t like disappointing anyone, let alone my teammates, so I’m going to be ready to play.”

Watching was painful, but it did provide him a different perspective. What stood out? 

“One thing I really noticed is they’re doing a great job clogging up the neutral zone and that’s one thing they’ve been effective at,” Kadri said. “They don’t give up odd-man rushes. They’re always above players and always make sure they have the high F3 and allowing their D to pinch and that translates to playing more offence. That will be a key concept for us tonight.”

A ferocious forecheck could help tilt the ice, a reporter suggested. 

“Very key,” agreed Kadri. “And that’s where the neutral zone comes into play. I think it’s important for us to get pucks in behind their defencemen and force them to turn and try to make plays and put pucks on the wall and hopefully that leads to some sort of offensive chances. These goals aren’t going to be pretty. We’re going to have to simplify, get pucks to the net and try and jam a few in.”

Kadri also noticed some positive things while watching from the press box. Most notably, Marner is flying these days with five points to lead the team in the series. 

“He’s skating,” Kadri observed. “Mitchy’s most effective when he’s skating. He’s got a head for the game so when his feet are moving just as fast as his mind is he can be a lights-out player for us. I’ll try and come in and give him some help and adapt to the way he’s playing.”

Like Kadri, Bergeron was also back in his regular spot at Boston’s morning skate. Afterwards, he told reporters he was optimistic about returning to the lineup after surprisingly missing Game 4 with a mystery upper-body ailment.

"Right now, I feel good,” he said. "Hopefully it stays like that. I want to play tonight, so I'll see what happens when I talk to the training staff when I get to the rink."

"He looked good this morning," said Cassidy. "I anticipate he'll play, but we will make that decision after warm-up, but it is looking good."

Tonight could be the last game as a Leaf for van Riemsdyk, who is a pending unrestricted free agent. The left winger was asked if it’s hard to keep that out of his mind.

“Not really,” he said. “I think it's something I've been doing the whole year. You just focus on tonight. This is going to be a challenge for us and we're excited to embrace it. We want to keep playing and keep going from there. Obviously, we can do that by playing well tonight and finding a way to win.”

The other prominent pending UFAs in the Leafs line-up are Bozak and Leo Komarov

Komarov missed the last two games with a lower body injury. The gritty winger was on the ice at the morning skate, but didn’t take part in line rushes. He did take reps on the second power play unit. He told reporters, including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, that he feels healthy enough to return to the lineup. 

 

Leafs lines at morning skate: 

 

Hyman-Matthews-Brown 

Marleau-Kadri-Marner 

Johnsson-Plekanec-Nylander 

van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Kapanen 

Leivo, Moore, Komarov  

 

Rielly-Hainsey 

Gardiner-Zaitsev 

Dermott-Polak 

Martin-Carrick 

 

Andersen 

McElhinney 

 

Power play units at morning skate: 

 

Rielly

Bozak-Kadri-Marner 

JvR 

 

Gardiner 

Matthews-Marleau-Nylander 

Komarov