Kuraly could return for Game 5

BOSTON — This has been more than a back-and-forth series for the Bruins. It has been an in-and-out experience, too.

The latter situation may well continue on Friday night at TD Garden (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5). The B’s could throw their fifth lineup at the Maple Leafs in as many games, as both teams try to grab a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 first-round series before it moves back to Toronto on Sunday.

The Bruins hope valuable, versatile third- or fourth-line forward Sean Kuraly, will make his first appearance of the series in Game 5. If so, it’ll be his first game since he fractured his hand on March 21 at New Jersey, and Kuraly will play without having a full practice with the team since he got hurt.

“We’ll see if he gets cleared in the morning, and then off he goes,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If he’s healthy and cleared, he’ll go in.”

Cassidy didn’t say where in the lineup he planned to use Kuraly, but it will force yet another lineup decision for the coach. A couple calls he made earlier were the result of injuries that winger Marcus Johansson and defenseman Connor Clifton sustained during the series, but the last couple have involved players who were injured before the series began.

Defenseman John Moore, who hadn’t played since he sustained an upper body injury on March 25 at Tampa, returned for Game 4 on Wednesday, pushing Steven Kampfer out of the lineup. If Kuraly comes back on Friday, a healthy forward will have to be deleted — something Cassidy had to do when Marcus Johansson returned from illness on Wednesday. Karson Kuhlman, who had played Games 1-3, sat out Game 4.

The B’s would welcome Kuraly back for a number of reasons.

Although he was playing left wing on a line with Noel Acciari and Chris Wagner at the time of his injury, Kuraly’s natural position is center, and he’s the only left-handed forward on the roster trained to take faceoffs — an especially valuable skill when the B’s are killing penalties.

Kuraly’s puck-holding abilities could be useful, too. While the Bruins were able to withstand a couple of Maple Leaf comebacks to tie the series with Wednesday’s 6-4 victory, they spent a tremendous amount of time pinned in their own territory, which resulted in the Leafs launching 81 shots on goal — 42 of which reached goalie Tuukka Rask.

The current version of the Bruins’ fourth line — Joakim Nordstrom, Acciari and Wagner — wasn’t immune. The unit was minus-1 in 5-on-5 play (although Nordstrom scored an empty-net goal with a hybrid line), after also running a minus-1 deficit in Game 3.

“Sean’s greatest strength is the ability to transport the puck out of our zone,” Cassidy said. “I think that line has done a good job, in terms of structurally getting in lanes, blocking shots, being willing to battle, but they miss that element — the guy who can get it and go.”

Kuraly’s return isn’t likely to have any impact on the changes Cassidy made for Game 4, when he dropped previously goal-less David Pastrnak to the second line centered by David Krejci for most of the game, pushed Danton Heinen from the third line into Pastrnak’s previous first-line slot with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, and placed the returning Johansson in Heinen’s third-line spot, with Charlie Coyle and David Backes.

The Marchand-Bergeron-Heinen line scored once at even strength, and on a rare shift on the top line, Pastrnak converted a pass from Marchand for his first of the series to give the B’s a 3-2 lead in the second period. Pastrnak then added a power-play goal, again on a feed from Marchand.

The DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak trio didn’t score at even strength (DeBrusk has been held to one assist in the series) and gave up a pair of goals, so Cassidy could always revisit that switch. Whether he does or doesn’t, Marchand doesn’t believe line changes should represent an obstacle at this point.

“At this time of year, it doesn’t matter who you play with,” he said. “You just go out and play as hard as you can. You’re in it together. Regardless of who we’re playing with throughout the lineup, we all go out and play for each other.”