After playing in a bubble with no fans last postseason, the Bruins return to TD Garden Wednesday night for their first home playoff game with fans in the stands in nearly two years (the less said about that last home playoff game, the better).
Needless to say, the Bruins are pretty excited for Game 3 as they look to take a 2-1 series lead over the Capitals. (Reminder: Faceoff for this one is a little earlier than usual, as it's a 6:30 p.m. start.)
"It's gonna be great," said defenseman Connor Clifton. "There's a lot of excitement, and I'm sure the guys are gonna be buzzing, especially the first five. It's gonna be good to hear those fans again."
"People are into it around town, and that's what makes playing here so great," Charlie Coyle said. "Yeah, it's my home and I love playing here in front of family and friends, but put that aside and playing for the city of Boston, with how passionate people are, it's unbelievable. It's great to have that around town and have people that into it and that passionate. That's why playing at the Garden is awesome as well. To see the excitement on the fans' faces and their cheers and roar, that's what we look forward to the most. We want to keep working hard for them and go out tonight and win the game."
The Garden is currently capped at 25% capacity, which comes to a little more than 4,500 fans. That could change if the Bruins advance past the first round, though. Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker and Boston mayor Kim Janey cleared the way this week for venues to return to 100% capacity on May 29.
While the Red Sox and Fenway Park have already announced that they will indeed increase to full capacity on May 29, the TD Garden released a statement saying it is working with the NHL and NBA to "update our guidelines for May 29 and will have an official announcement when details are available."
Even with capacity still limited, Coyle said the Bruins are expecting the atmosphere to be great.
"Yeah, it's still there," he said. "We know what to expect. It's still there. Whoever's in the building, whatever the capacity is, they bring it. We know we're gonna hear it even more than in the regular season. We're not too worried about that. We know what to expect from our fans and what they're gonna bring and what they always bring. There's always excitement there, no matter who's in the stands for us."
Coach Bruce Cassidy echoed his players, saying he can also feel the energy and excitement around the city.
"It's nice to be back. There's no doubt about that," Cassidy said. "I think everybody would say that after the bubble experience. We had to do what we had to do, but it's nice to be back in familiar surroundings. A lot of Bruins merchandise I see people wearing all around town. It's that time of year, a little later than normal. We always want to be playing this time of year, but obviously playoffs pushed back a bit. But still, great weather for it and just a great atmosphere being back here. Hopefully we're up to the challenge. I think we are."
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Game 3 Notes: Cassidy said the Bruins will be rolling with the same lineup as Game 2. Kevan Miller was not on the ice for Wednesday's morning skate, but that was just part of his usual maintenance for his knee.
Here is the Bruins' expected lineup for Game 3:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - David Krejci - Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly - Curtis Lazar - Chris Wagner
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly - Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton - Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Jeremy Swayman
On the Washington side of things, Capitals coach Peter Laviolette remains tight-lipped about any and all injury situations.
Lars Eller left Game 2 with what appeared to be some sort of leg injury in the second period and did not return. T.J. Oshie missed time late in the regular season with a lower-body injury, but returned for this series and has been the Capitals' leading scorer so far with three points. He was not on the ice for Wednesday's morning skate, though.
Center Evgeny Kuznetsov and goalie Ilya Samsonov are both out of COVID-19 protocol, but it's unclear when they'll be able to return to game action.
