Berkshire Bank Hockey Night In New England: Projected Bruins-Panthers Lines, Pairings

The Bruins’ lineup for Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Panthers has been a mystery for the last few days. It appears some of the lingering questions won’t be answered until gametime.

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after morning skate Monday that there are still some lineup calls that will be true game-time decisions. That apparently includes Patrice Bergeron, who left the season finale after a period. The Bruins said it was largely out of precaution, but the captain didn’t skate Sunday at practice, and general manager Don Sweeney didn’t give a definitive answer, either.

The goaltending situation is a bit of a mystery, too. Montgomery has said Ullmark was the most likely option to start Game 1 of the playoffs, but Ullmark came out of the penultimate regular-season game after some sort of muscle injury. The move was largely out of precaution, but there still wasn’t a definitive decision Monday morning. Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman both skated Monday, per reporters at Warrior Ice Arena, as did Brandon Bussi, who was recalled on an emergency basis from Providence.

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As far as concrete lineup decisions, Montgomery said center David Krejci and defenseman Derek Forbort will both play. Krejci missed some time in the final week of the season with a lingering issue, while Forbort will be making his first appearance since mid-March. It’s also likely, the head coach said, that Nick Foligno will make his first appearance since Feb. 28.

Other than that, the Bruins are also dealing with some illness inside the dressing room that could complicate the lineup decisions, Montgomery said.

Here are projected lineups for both clubs.

BOSTON BRUINS
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Jake DeBrusk
David Pastrnak — David Krejci — Pavel Zacha
Taylor Hall — Charlie Coyle — Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno — Tomas Nosek — Garnet Hathaway

Dmitry Orlov — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort — Connor Clifton

Linus Ullmark

FLORIDA PANTHERS
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Anthony Duclair
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg — Eric Staal — Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins — Collin White — Givani Smith

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal — Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura — Radko Gudas

Alex Lyon