Auston Matthews out for Leafs in Game 6; Johnny Beecher likely returning to Bruins third line

BOSTON -- The Bruins will try for a second time to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night as they look to advance in the NHL playoffs. And once again, Toronto will be without its top scorer in Auston Matthews as the team looks to stave off elimination.

The star Maple Leafs center has already been ruled out for Game 6, Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters after the team's morning skate. Matthews hasn't seen the ice in the series since leaving Boston's Game 4 win in the second period with an illness.

Matthews is reportedly dealing with an undisclosed injury that kept him out of Toronto's 2-1 overtime win in Boston on Tuesday night. He missed just one game during the regular season, and led the Leafs with 107 points and 69 goals.

Three of those goals came against the Bruins, and he added another goal and a pair of assists against Boston this postseason. He factored into all three of Toronto's goals in the Leafs' 3-2 win in Game 2 in Boston, but had been held scoreless in his other three playoff games.

As for the Bruins, Montgomery is once again doing some tinkering to his lines and defensive pairings for Thursday night. It looks like Johnny Beecher will be back in the lineup after he was kept on the bench in Game 5, rejoining Boston's third line. The 23-year-old center had some success on the faceoff dot over the first three games of the series, winning 16 of his 24 faceoffs. But he struggled on the dot in Game 4, winning just one of seven, and was then on the bench for Game 5.

The Leafs had a substantial edge in faceoffs on Tuesday, winning 33 of the 53 faceoffs in their overtime win.

Beecher will likely take the place of Danton Heinen, who did not skate for Boston on Thursday morning. It also looks like Matt Grzelcyk will be back on the bench, replaced on the blue line by veteran Kevin Shattenkirk.

With a 3-2 series lead, the Bruins hope to end the series Thursday night and advance to the second round, where they'd get a shot at some revenge against the Florida Panthers. If the Leafs force a Game 7, that will take place Saturday night at TD Garden.