Game 2 of the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes’ first-round series wasn’t meant to be the second leg of a back-to-back, but such is bubble life.
The two sides are set to meet again at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, one day after the Bruins’ 4-3 double-overtime victory in the opener.
For the Bruins, the only lineup question was who would be in net, and Bruce Cassidy made his decision well in advance of the 8 p.m. ET scheduled puck drop. It’ll be Tuukka Rask between the pipes for the Bruins.
Otherwise, all things are expected to remain the same for the Bruins.
As for the Hurricanes, they have a number of game-time decisions, which head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated Wednesday morning would quite literally be calls made at game time. Justin Williams and Sami Vatanen were surprise absences from Game 1, as both were deemed unfit to play shortly before puck drop.
Should Williams be able to play, Ryan Dzingel likely would be bumped from the lineup, while Haydn Fleury figures to be the odd man out if Brind’Amour puts Vatanen in.
Petr Mrazek played quite well in Game 1, and it appears that he’ll be the man in net for Carolina on Thursday.
More Bruins: Joakim Nordstrom Had Team-Centric Message After Heaps Of Shot Blocks In Game 1
Here are the projected lineups for both teams.
BOSTON BRUINS (1-0)
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–David Krejci–Ondrej Kase
Nick Ritchie–Charlie Coyle–Anders Bjork
Joakim Nordstrom–Sean Kuraly–Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara–Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug–Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk–Jeremy Lauzon
Tuukka Rask
CAROLINA HURRICANES (0-1)
Andrei Svechnikov–Sebastian Aho–Teuvo Teravainen
Nino Niederreiter–Vincent Trocheck–Martin Necas
Warren Foegele–Jordan Staal–Justin Williams
Brock McGinn–Morgan Geekie–Jordan Martinook
Jaccob Slavin–Dougie Hamilton
Brady Skjei–Joel Edmundson
Jake Gardiner–Sami Vatanen
Petr Mrazek
