For the second time in three seasons, the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning will meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Bruins and Lightning both eliminated their respective first-round opponents in five games. Fourth-seeded Boston made quick work of the Carolina Hurricanes, while second-seeded Tampa Bay followed suit against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Atlantic Division rivals will meet Sunday night in Toronto for Game 1 of their second-round series. The B’s are making a few lineup changes for the series opener, as Nick Ritchie and Anders Bjork both will be back in action. Ritchie hasn’t played since Game 2 against the Hurricanes, while Bjork was scratched for Game 5 against Carolina.
Ritchie and Bjork will play on the left and right sides of Charlie Coyle, respectively, on Boston’s third line. Those adjustments will move Sean Kuraly back down to the fourth line where he’ll center Joakim Nordstrom and Chris Wagner.
Here are the projected lines and defensive pairings for Bruins-Lightning Game 1:
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–Connor Clifton
Jaroslav Halak
Tampa Bay Lightning (0-0)
Onrej Palat–Brayden Point–Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn–Anthony Cirelli–Tyler Johnson
Barclay Goodrow–Yanni Gourde–Blake Coleman
Patrick Maroon–Mitchell Stephens–Cedric Paquette
Victor Hedman–Zach Bogosian
Ryan McDonagh–Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev–Kevin Shattenkirk
Andrei Vasilevskiy
