The Boston Bruins have an opportunity to take a stranglehold on their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Washington Capitals in Friday night's Game 4 at TD Garden.
Another victory would give the Bruins a 3-1 series advantage. Boston took its first lead of the series on Wednesday night with a 3-2 double overtime victory at home.
From a lineup perspective, we shouldn't expect any major changes for Boston. David Pastrnak was on the ice for Friday's morning skate despite crashing hard into the boards during overtime Wednesday.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Why success of B's second line bodes well for Stanley Cup hopes
The Capitals' lineup is a little more uncertain. Veteran center Lars Eller suffered an injury in Game 2 and didn't play in Game 3. His status for Friday night remains unknown.
Capitals goalie Ilya Samonsov made his series debut in Game 3 and played pretty well until a miscommunication with defenseman Justin Schultz behind his net resulted in B's winger Craig Smith scoring the winning goal for Boston. Samsonov was the first Capitals netminder off the ice at Washington's morning skate Friday, according to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. So, it appears that Samsonov will be back between the pipes.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for Bruins vs. Capitals Game 4.
Boston Bruins
BOSTON BRUINS
FORWARDS
Brad Marchand--Patrice Bergeron--David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall--David Krejci--Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie--Charlie Coyle--Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly--Curtis Lazar--Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk--Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly--Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton--Kevan Miller
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask (starter), Jeremy Swayman (backup)
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
FORWARDS
Alexander Ovechkin--Evgeny Kuznetsov--T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha--Nicklas Backstrom--Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary--Michael Raffl--Daniel Carr
Carl Hagelin--Nic Dowd--Garnet Hathaway
DEFENSEMEN
Dmitry Orlov--John Carlson
Brenden Dillon--Justin Schultz
Zdeno Chara--Nick Jensen
GOALIES
Ilya Samsonov (starter), Craig Anderson/Pheonix Copley (backup)