What will the Bruins’ Game 1 lineup look like Monday night? Well, with just a few hours to gametime, it still has a few TBDs in it.
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Bruins coach Jim Montgomery met with reporters late Monday morning after an optional morning skate and said he still doesn’t have a set lineup because captain Patrice Bergeron and a couple other players are battling an illness that has been going around.
“We have not only Bergeron, but a couple of guys have been under the weather,” Montgomery said. “So, I don’t have a definitive lineup right now.”
Bergeron left Thursday’s regular-season finale in the first period with what was termed an “upper-body injury, precautionary” and then missed practice on both Saturday and Sunday. General manager Don Sweeney said on Sunday that Bergeron was dealing with “a little bit of both” injury and illness, but it appears the illness may be the bigger concern as it relates to his Game 1 status.
Jeremy Swayman also missed Sunday’s practice due to illness, but he was back on the ice Monday morning. Bergeron was not on the ice for the optional skate.
Tomas Nosek and Jakub Lauko recently missed games due to illness, and Montgomery said on Monday that Lauko lost eight pounds while dealing with the bug, which he says has been running through the team for 10-14 days. David Pastrnak was also under the weather at one point, but didn’t miss any games.
Montgomery acknowledged that there is some concern that this bug has hit right at the most important time of the year, but also pointed to the team’s depth as a reason to believe they can overcome it. The Bruins have dealt with numerous injuries to key players this season, but won an NHL record 65 games. They continued to win down the stretch despite resting veterans, going 15-1-0 over the last 16 games.
“A little bit. I’d love to come in here and tell you our exact lines and D pairs and who’s starting in nets,” Montgomery said. “The luxury we have is we have incredible depth. Whoever ends up being healthy enough to go tonight, we know we’re gonna have a good opportunity to have success if we play Bruins hockey.”
As Montgomery referenced, he still has not named his Game 1 starting goalie. Linus Ullmark left his last start this past Tuesday with a lower-body injury and did not travel to Montreal on Thursday. He did practice both days this weekend, though, and said that he felt fine. The Bruins recalled Brandon Bussi from AHL Providence on Monday to “serve as the third goalie for purposes of emergency.”
Montgomery did declare a couple other players ready to go in their returns from injuries, saying that David Krejci (out since April 1) is “100 percent in” and that Derek Forbort (out since March 16) is “definitively in, unless he gets the GI.” Montgomery also said Nick Foligno (out since Feb. 28) is a “strong possibility” to play.