Heinen over Donato, Wingels for Bruins Game 7 lineup

BRIGHTON, Mass – Headed into an all-or-nothing Game 7 on Wednesday night, the Bruins are going to go with the lines and pairings that they envisioned headed into the playoff series. Essentially, Bruce Cassidy is going to show some faith in his team that they’ll pull things out against the Toronto Maple Leafs with everything on the line at TD Garden.

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That means Ryan Donato, an offensive gun that might have been able to pop one past Frederik Andersen, will remain out and the Bruins will be going back to rookie Danton Heinen over veteran, gritty forward Tommy Wingels. Clearly, the lines and pairings will be mixed and matched quickly if Bruce Cassidy doesn’t like what he sees after the Bruins have lost two in a row, but the B’s bench boss said it was important not to overthink things headed into a decisive playoff moment.

“This is the groups we envisioned and the group we trust to get it done,” said Cassidy. “Those are tough decisions, but that’s what we’re going with. [Heinen] has played really well for us this season, and we’d expect that to be the case again tonight.”

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That means Ryan Donato, Wingels and Brian Gionta will be out for the decisive Game 7 and it’s the most reasonable choice for the Bruins in a crucial moment, even if there could have been some undeniable energy and a jolt if it had been Donato instead. Here are the line combos and D-pairings based on the morning skate:

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak