TORONTO—James van Riemsdyk has played over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League and there’s not much he hasn’t seen. But when you’ve been sitting for a while and you get a chance to get back – and return to action in the playoffs in the building that you’ve played a good chunk of those games – a little bit of giddiness returns for even long-time veterans.

Coach Jim Montgomery wasn’t giving out his lineup changes after Wednesday’s morning skate at Scotiabank Arena, but when van Riemsdyk took his place on one of the two power-play units, it became pretty clear that the 34-year-old former Maple Leaf was going to see his first post-season action as a Bruin in Game 3.

Up until now, van Riemsdyk’s playoff experience in this rivalry had been in blue and white. He played in two of the three playoff series over the last 11 years, in 2018 and in the infamous 2013 Game 7 collapse. He led the Leafs in that series with seven points. But that’s not the only thing that stuck with him from that series, of course.

“That seems like forever ago now. But lots of great memories. You have to cherish the good and the bad in the course of your career and realize there are lessons to be learned in both,” said van Riemsdyk. “Looking back, it was a year where we wanted to start to establish ourselves, gaining some respect in the league (they’d had not made playoffs since 2004). We had a fairly good year, made the playoffs and even being down 3-1, didn’t quit and pushed it to seven.

“That Game 7 will probably haunt anyone on that team for the rest of their life, but there were parts of that you look back on (proudly). Not getting the job done, that’s what playoff hockey is all about, that resilience, no matter what the time or the score is, anything can happen…. It was a tough lesson for us to learn back then.”

As one might expect, van Riemsdyk was excited to get back in – and maybe change his own personal history in this rivalray.

“Playoff time of year is always the best time of year and obviously this rivalry is a lot of fun, two fun buildings to play in. You just cherish every opportunity you get,” said van Riemsdyk.

Signed to a one-year deal last summer, van Riemsdyk opened the season with a lot of promise but his production had trailed off to barely a trickle. His last point – an assist – came on March 2 and he hasn’t scored a goal since February 17 when he had two against the Los Angeles Kings.

That’s a long time to go without production for a player who needs to score to be useful, especially one who’d seen a lot of power-play time. As such, he was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the series.

“At this time of year, it’s all about the team. You learn that along the way. Whatever the team is asking you to do, that’s got to be your mindset and approach. You stay at it every day and take one day at a time,” said van Riemsdyk.

Montgomery, who wanted to see van Riemsdyk get more sticks on pucks, has admired the way his some of his veterans have dealt with being scratched down the stretch.

“We’ve talked about it a lot of times internally. Him and (Kevin) Shattenkirk have been great. They’re true pros, every day, they come to work, come to get better. It’s not an easy situation but he’s been great,” said Montgomery…

While one experienced player was getting into the lineup up front, it looked like the B’s were going with two defensemen who were making their Stanley Cup playoff debuts, Parker Wotherspoon and rookie Mason Lohrei. One change was necessary because of the Andrew Peeke injury, but it looked like there’d be two new bodies on the back end.

While the 26-year-old Wotherspoon has been a pro since 2016, the 23-year-old is a first-year pro, albeit one who has played well against Toronto (three games, two assists, plus-2) in the regular season.

“Playoffs is a whole new season, a whole new animal,” said Lohrei, who was paired with Charlie McAvoy in the morning skate. “Obviously, I’m a little nervous,, but I’ll just get out there and see how the game goes and just get into it right away. Obviously it’s a familiar opponent. I don’t know if that makes me any more comfortable or not. Just excited is probably the main word I’d use.”

Lohrei is extremely talented offensive player who was originally a forward but transitioned to defense when he was at Culver Academy when two of the team’s defensemen broke their collarbones. Looking to secure playing time, he volunteered for a drill for the Ds one day and never looked back.

His education in the defensive zone has been ongoing this year.

“Just getting under sticks, under hands, through bodies, just being physical on guys,” said Lohrei of things he’s picked up this year. “Denying guys paths to the net early is key. Once they get there, it’s harder to get them out of there. But if you deny them early, it makes it easier on the goaltender…And defending the rush, getting inside the dots. That’s one of the main things, not getting caught outside the dots.”

Matt Grzelcyk looked like he’d be the scratch on defense…

Game 4 is not scheduled till Saturday, giving the teams a two-day break that Montgomery is not wild about.

“I’d rather be here Thursday-Saturday, to be honest. We’re spending more time in Toronto than Toronto’s spending in Boston and we’re (the higher-seeded) team,” said Montgomery.