Need to Know: Bruins at Maple Leafs

TORONTO - The Bruins will close out their stretch of four games in six days - three of which were on the road - when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Atlantic Division showdown on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
"It's huge, especially at the moment with our team dealing with injuries," said Jake DeBrusk, who enters the contest with seven goals in his last nine games. "I think right now it's 4-point games, obviously, but it's a little bit more than that. It was a big win last game in Montreal, now we're looking to do the same here in Toronto.

"It's gonna be a tough task. They play better in this barn. Just from last year and the playoffs, it's gonna be high intensity, looking forward to it."
The B's won the season's first matchup, a convincing 5-1 victory at TD Garden on Nov. 10, which was highlighted by David Pastrnak's third career hat trick. The Leafs are 2 points ahead of the Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Everything else you need to know ahead of Monday's game against the Leafs:

Opposing View

Like the Bruins, the Maple Leafs are without their No. 1 center as Auston Matthews remains on injured reserve. The pivot has not played since Oct. 27 because of a shoulder injury.
Toronto, coming off a 6-0 pounding of Philadelphia on Saturday night, has played well in his absence, posting an 8-5-0 record.
The Leafs are fourth in the NHL in scoring (3.50 goals per game) and have two players in the top 12 of the league's scoring race with Mitch Marner (30 points) and John Tavares (27 points). Tavares is tied for the sixth with 15 goals.
To counter Toronto's speed and skill, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy is expecting his group to play much like they did in Montreal on Saturday night, by ramping up their physicality.
"It's how we have to play against Toronto," said Cassidy. "We know that they're skilled and fast, they want to get going. We've got to make it tough on them. They've got to travel through some bodies to get to the net, that's the way we have to look at it if we're gonna beat them.
"Doesn't mean you run around and look for hits reckless. But when you're there you have to take them."

Bjork Back In

After sitting out the last two games as a healthy scratch, Anders Bjork is likely to be back in the lineup on Monday night as the third-line left wing alongside Joakim Nordstrom and Noel Acciari. Sean Kuraly is expected to be the healthy scratch.
The 22-year-old Bjork, who has just one goal and two assists in 19 games this season, said he'll be focusing on getting himself into better scoring positions.
"I need to play with speed, bring some energy and also an attack mindset," said Bjork. "I've got to get to the net more, whether that be off the rush taking pucks to the net or funneling off the cycle or having good net presence for point shots and being there for rebounds."
During his time in the press box, Bjork made sure to watch closely the Bruins' best goal scorers and how they take advantage around the net.
"You see tendencies with those guys that are around the net, guys like [David Pastrnak] and [Brad Marchand] are always around the net," said Bjork. "[Jake DeBrusk's] getting to the net a lot more, he's driving and attacking, using his speed. That's something I need to do as well, use my strengths and skill sets that I have to my advantage offensively."

Having to Adjust

Since Patrice Bergeron's injury in Dallas - a span of four games - Pastrnak has become the focal point for opposing teams to lock on to. The winger has just 1 point during that time and has not scored since Nov. 14 in Colorado.
"Obviously we have a lot of chemistry so we're missing him just like the whole team. But we can't replace him. It's tough, but it's part of hockey and we have to get through it," said Pastrnak.
The 22-year-old acknowledged being a bit frustrated, especially on Saturday night in Montreal when he was the recipient of a number of heavy checks and was whistled for a retaliatory slash on Andrew Shaw in the third period.
"That's normal in hockey. You're getting hit and stuff. Trying to stay calm and don't get frustrated," said Pastrnak, who has dropped to third in the league in goals with 17. "Last game, for example, not gonna lie, got a little bit frustrated, obviously, but there's been many other games that I got hit more and will get frustrated. I guess it was just more things at once, shouldn't get frustrated."

There's A Chance

Cassidy did not have much of an update on injured defensemen Charlie McAvoy (concussion) and Brandon Carlo (upper body), but said "there is a chance" that they could return sometime this week.
"No timeline right now," said Cassidy. "There is a chance, but I don't want to speculate whether they play this week. They're getting close, I know that much. What that means? I don't know yet."

Monday Night's Projected Lineup

Jaroslav Halak gets the start in goal against the Maple Leafs, with Tuukka Rask likely to go on Thursday vs. the Islanders.
"Halak's in tonight. We'll worry about Thursday then. But I'll tell you right now it will probably be Tuukka, but ask me on Wednesday," said Cassidy. "I think Tuukka played great [in Montreal]. We went back and forth on it, but Halak's been good. So right now it's almost a rotation, especially with us having five games in eight days."
Brad Marchand - Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson - David Pastrnak
Danton Heinen - David Krejci - Jake DeBrusk
Anders Bjork - Joakim Nordstrom - Noel Acciari
Chris Wagner - Colby Cave - David Backes
John Moore - Kevan Miller
Torey Krug - Connor Clifton
Jeremy Lauzon - Matt Grzelcyk
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Sean Kuraly and Steven Kampfer