Let the (real) games begin.
The qualifying round and round-robin tournaments are over, and now it’s time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The fourth-seeded Boston Bruins are set to take on the sixth-ranked Carolina Hurricanes, beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Boston’s lineup largely will remain unchanged from its loss Sunday to the Washington Capitals. The first and fourth lines will be as they almost always are, Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci and Ondrej Kase will form the second unit, while Nick Ritchie, Charlie Coyle and Anders Bjork will be the third.
Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon will make up the third defensive pairing.
As for the Hurricanes, Dougie Hamilton is expected to take warmups, and head coach Rod Brind’Amour expects the top-pairing blueliner will play. He hasn’t been in a game since mid-January, but was in the Norris Trophy conversation at the time.
Bruins Vs. Hurricanes Playoff Preview: Analysis, Predictions, X Factors
Hamilton likely will pair back up with Jaccob Slavin on the top pairing, which will bump Sami Vatanen down (or maybe even out) in the lineup. Brind’Amour wouldn’t confirm who would be a healthy scratch as a result, but Haydn Fleury is one of the more likely candidates.
Tuukka Rask will be in net for the Bruins, while Carolina’s starter has yet to be formally announced.
BOSTON BRUINS (0-0)
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 (0-0)
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
