Nash Expected Back, Grzelcyk Doubtful for Game 3

TORONTO - Riley Nash admitted that it was starting to get a little lonely over the last couple of weeks. Sidelined by an ear laceration, the result of a puck to the side of the head on March 31, the 29-year-old was limited to a few skates on his own as he ramped back up his physical activity.
But it appears Nash will be back on the ice with 19 of his closest friends on Monday night for Game 3 of the Bruins' first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Looks that way," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said when asked if Nash was good to go. "He'll go for warmup. We're planning on him playing. We suspect he will. We've been through this with a number of players this year. We know there will be some rust in their game, but once they're clear to go they'll get all the work that they can handle, that they've done in the past in that role."
Nash will be reunited with wingers Danton Heinen and David Backes, forming a trio that for much of the year provided Cassidy with a dependable checking line to deploy in nearly any situation.
"It gets a little lonely at times when we only have a group of five guys [skating]," said Nash. "Just nice to be back out there in the mix again, and excited for tonight."

Jumping back into the lineup after missing the first two games of a playoff series - and the final five games of the regular season - is no easy task, but Nash is confident he won't have any issues getting up for this one.
"The atmosphere will help, the guys around me doing a tremendous job, that will help," said Nash. "I think it's getting a couple bangs early or getting hit…it just kind of takes your mind off of it, gets you back into the flow of the game.
"Not gonna be perfect right away, but I've been here before. Just getting into it as quick as possible."
After five years without a postseason game in Carolina, Nash got his first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season during the Bruins first-round matchup against Ottawa. That six-game series has Nash feeling more comfortable this time around.
"Every play matters," said Nash. "You can kind of get away with little things here and there in the regular season that you don't quite review as being crucial to the game…it's all those little things, being hard on pucks, wanting that puck, and doing good things with it."

Wingels Healthy

Tommy Wingels took part in morning skate and is healthy enough to play, according to Cassidy, after missing Game 2 with an injury resulting from the heavy hit he took from Nazem Kadri in Game 1. Heinen, however, is likely to get the nod in Game 3.
"Tommy Wingels is out there this morning," said Cassidy. "He's healthy enough to play now. We've just got to decide what our lineup's gonna look like with Riley Nash coming back in. We'll probably put Heinen in there, so Tommy would be out. That's something we're gonna sort through this afternoon, make a final decision."

Grzelcyk Doubtful

Matt Grzelcyk, meanwhile, did not participate in the pregame skate and has been termed doubtful for tonight's game with a lower-body injury suffered in Game 2. Cassidy did leave open the slight possibility that Grzelcyk could take warmup. If Grzelcyk can't play, Nick Holden would get the call to play alongside Adam McQuaid.
"Grizz has a lower-body injury that he sustained during [Game 2], played through it," said Cassidy. "We thought he'd be fine. It acted up a little bit more than we would like, so he's doubtful for tonight. I won't rule him out because he might try it in warmup and decide he's fine, but right now it looks like [Nick] Holden will be in his spot."

Opposing View

On the Toronto side, Leo Komarov will miss Game 3 with a lower-body injury suffered on Saturday night. Former Bruin Dominic Moore will slide into the lineup as the Leafs' fourth-line center, with Tomas Plekanec moving up to play the middle on the second line between Patrick Marleau and Mitch Marner.
With the Leafs facing a 2-0 series deficit as they return to home ice, the Bruins expect to see their opponent's best on Monday night.
"I think they're gonna come out with a lot of energy, obviously the crowd's going to be into it from the get go," said Nash. "I think they're gonna feed off that, probably be a little more physical than they've been and try to take it to us.
"In our barn, we did a really good job of starting on time and getting out to quick starts. Obviously that helped us with our two wins, but on home ice for them they're probably gonna have similar tactics. Got to have a good early pushback."

Monday's Projected Lineup

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Rick Nash
Danton Heinen - Riley Nash - David Backes
Tim Schaller - Sean Kuraly - Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug - Kevan Miller
Nick Holden - Adam McQuaid
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin