After a highly entertaining regular season, the Stanley Cup playoffs finally have arrived.
The Boston Bruins will travel to Ottawa to take on the Senators for Game 1 of their first-round matchup. The Senators dominated the Bruins over the course of the regular season, winning all four games. Still, the two clubs are pretty evenly matched, which should translate into a great series starting Wednesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Boston University product Charlie McAvoy is expected to make his highly anticipated Bruins debut in Game 1. The 19-year-old signed an entry-level contract with the team on April 10 and has been vaulted into action thanks to injuries to Torey Krug (lower body) and Brandon Carlo (concussion), who both will be sidelined Wednesday night.
Despite injuries and new faces, Boston will look to record its first win against Ottawa this season and start this first-round series on a high note.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Backes
Drew Stafford–David Krejci–David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey–Ryan Spooner–Frank Vatrano
Tim Schaller–Dominic Moore–Riley Nash
Zdeno Chara–Adam McQuaid
Kevan Miller–Charlie McAvoy
John-Michael Liles–Colin Miller
Tuukka Rask
OTTAWA SENATORS
Clarke MacArthur–Kyle Turris–Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman–Jean-Gabriel Pageau–Mark Stone
Alexandre Burrows–Derick Brassard–Viktor Stalberg
Tom Pyatt–Zack Smith–Tommy Wingels
Marc Methot–Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf–Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki–Dennis Wideman
Craig Anderson
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
