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.
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.