3 Keys: Maple Leafs at Bruins, Game 7 of Eastern 1st Round

(3A) Toronto Maple Leafs at (2A) Boston Bruins

Eastern Conference First Round, Game 7

Best-of-7 series tied 3-3

8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC

BOSTON -- It’s Game 7. Of course, it’s Game 7.

Since 2013, the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs have played in four series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Each series (2013, 2018, 2019, 2024) has needed a Game 7.

So, even though the Bruins raced out to a 3-1 series lead after Game 4, even though Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander missed time, the series seemed destined to go the distance.

Which brings us to a single game, at TD Garden, with the winner advancing to play the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Second Round.

“We’re where we want to be now, given where we were,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “So, you’re proud of the group for the work that they’ve done, how resilient they’ve been to get here. It’s just reminding them, ‘Hey, we’ve done this. We’ve done this twice here already.’

“Doesn’t make it any easier the third time, but there should be comfort in knowing you prepared, how performed, how you worked, what it felt like. So, you don’t need to overthink anything else. You’re not new to this, within this series, with this opponent, in this building.”

This is the sixth time overall the Bruins and Maple Leafs have played a seventh game in a Stanley Cup Playoff series, tied for the second-most in NHL history. The Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings have also met six times in Game 7, and the Bruins and Montreal Canadiens have met nine times.

The only time Toronto has won a Game 7 against Boston was in 1959, with the Bruins 4-1 in such instances.

The team that scores first is 147-47 (.758) in the 194 all-time Game 7s, with home teams owning a 113-81 (.582) margin.

“Go out and fight,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said of the message to his team. “We’re a 109-point team for a reason, right? Go and enjoy the moment. These are the moments that, when you were a kid, that you wanted to be put in these situations. Now, it’s incumbent upon you to embrace it.”

Here are 3 keys for Game 7:

1. Will Matthews play?

The Maple Leafs’ No. 1 center has missed each of the past two games, both wins for Toronto.

As to whether Matthews might be available Saturday, that was unclear after the morning skate, though he took part in the 15-minute session.

“Obviously, he was out there today,” Keefe said. “He’s been progressing. No determination on his status for tonight, though. Last time we were in here, he got about 10 minutes out on the ice; today, he got about 15. So that’s progress, but no determination on his status tonight.”

Matthews has three points (one goal, two assists) in the series, all of which came here in Game 2, including the game-winner.

2. It’s time for David Pastrnak

Montgomery wasn’t coy about his leading scorer after Game 6 on Thursday.

“’Pasta’ needs to step up,” he said.

Pastrnak has four points (two goals, two assists) in six games in the series after he had 110 points (47 goals, 63 assists) in the regular season. He acknowledged after the Game 6 that he hasn’t been able to put enough shots on goal, that he hasn’t had enough of a shooting mentality.

That has to change in Game 7. The Bruins are getting all they can from goalie Jeremy Swayman, who has been outstanding in the series, but they need much more offense after scoring one goal in both Game 5 and Game 6 if they want to prevail, and that starts with Pastrnak.

“I don’t think anyone’s more upset about his play than Dave,” defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “He’s a proud man. He’s been obviously our best player all season and he takes a lot of pride in that, in being a force out there. I know he’s going to bring great things tonight and play the right way and be a factor for us.”

3. Get past the history

There’s a lot of history here.

There are the three Game 7s the Maple Leafs have lost to the Bruins in the past 11 seasons. There are the six consecutive series wins for Boston against Toronto since 1969. There were the three consecutive losses the Bruins suffered last season, bowing to the Panthers after being up 3-1 in the series.

There is history on both sides, for winning and losing, a chance to exorcise some or many demons.

But the Bruins and Maple Leafs have to throw all of that out.

It’s about all those games, yes, all the history. But it’s also just about a single game, three periods, one win.

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Tyler Bertuzzi -- Max Domi -- Mitch Marner

Matthew Knies -- John Tavares -- William Nylander

Nicholas Robertson -- Pontus Holmberg -- Noah Gregor

Connor Dewar -- David Kampf -- Calle Jarnkrok

Morgan Rielly -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Simon Benoit -- Jake McCabe

Joel Edmundson -- Timothy Liljegren

Joseph Woll

Ilya Samsonov

Scratched: Martin Jones, Dennis Hildeby, Connor Timmins, Nick Abruzzese, Kyle Clifford, Alex Steeves, Topi Niemela, Max Lajoie, Cade Webber, Mark Giordano, Dylan Gambrell, Nikita Grebenkin, Ryan Reaves, TJ Brodie, Marshall Rifai, Mikko Kokkonen

Injured: Auston Matthews (illness), Bobby McMann (lower body)

Bruins projected lineup

Jake DeBrusk -- Pavel Zacha -- David Pastrnak

Brad Marchand -- Charlie Coyle -- Morgan Geekie

James van Riemsdyk -- Trent Frederic -- Justin Brazeau

John Beecher -- Jesper Boqvist -- Pat Maroon

Mason Lohrei -- Charlie McAvoy

Hampus Lindholm -- Brandon Carlo

Parker Wotherspoon -- Kevin Shattenkirk

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Derek Forbort, Jakub Lauko, Michael DiPietro

Injured: Andrew Peeke (upper body), Danton Heinen (undisclosed)

Status report

McMann, a forward, participated in the morning skate for the first time since he sustained a lower-body injury on April 13, but he will not be available to play. … Heinen, a forward, participated in the morning skate and took a shift on one of Boston’s power-play units after he missed Game 6 with an undisclosed injury Thursday. His status for Game 7 is undetermined, according to Montgomery. … Peeke, a defenseman, participated in the morning skate in a full-contact jersey but has not been cleared to play.