PHILADELPHIA — The Bruins finally get their shot at redemption with a playoff rematch with the Flyers.
And they’ll begin Game 1 on Saturday with a lineup dramatically different than the one that took the ice for last year’s Game 7, but identical to the one that beat Montreal in Game 7 on Wednesday.
Bruins coach Claude Julien stated before the game that he will be sticking with the same lineup after rallying to beat Montreal in the opening round.
That means Tim Thomas should be in goal once again after the Vezina finalist posted a 4-3 record with a 2.25 GAA and a .926 save percentage against the Canadiens. It also leaves Tyler Seguin and Shane Hnidy as the healthy scratches once again.
The Flyers have more questions in their lineup. Forwards Jeff Carter (knee) and Andreas Nodl (upper body) are listed as day-to-day, but defenseman Chris Pronger (hand) did return for the final two games of their opening-round series against Buffalo.
Philadelphia used three different goalies against the Sabres, but Brian Boucher is expected to get the start in Game 1 against Boston after going 4-1 with a 2.10 GAA and a .934 save percentage against Buffalo.
The Flyers may also insert some extra toughness into the lineup for what promises to be a physical series against the Bruins. Enforcer Jody Shelley or agitator Zac Rinaldo will likely play on the fourth line. Shelley hasn’t played since March 17 after suffering a broken orbital bone when hit by a puck in practice. He’s been cleared to play, but not to fight. Rinaldo played one game against Buffalo, playing just 1:56 but recording three hits.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Mark Recchi
Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley-Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Tomas Kaberle-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Tyler Seguin, Shane Hnidy, Matt Bartkowski, Jordan Caron, Jamie Arniel, Anton Khudobin
Projected Flyers lines
Forwards
Scott Hartnell-Danny Briere-Ville Leino
James van Riemsdyk-Claude Giroux-Nikolay Zherdev
Dan Carcillo-Mike Richards-Kris Versteeg
Zac Rinaldo-Blair Betts-Darroll Powe
Defense
Chris Pronger-Matt Carle
Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn
Sean O’Donnell-Anrej Meszaros
Goalies
Brian Boucher
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratches: Jody Shelley, Jeff Carter (knee), Andreas Nodl (upper body), Matt Walker, Danny Syvret, Nick Boynton, Erik Gustafsson, Ben Holmstrom, Michael Leighton
