The Bruins have their Game 1 lineup and starting goalie.
Boston coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters on Sunday that Linus Ullmark will start in net. That had been expected, but Cassidy hadn’t made it official until Sunday.
Ullmark earned the Game 1 start with a stellar final month and a half of the regular season, as he went 9-1-0 with a .945 save percentage over his last 12 appearances (10 starts). He finished the season with a 26-10-2 record and .917 save percentage in 41 appearances (39 starts).
Jeremy Swayman finished with similar numbers overall -- 23-14-3 record, .914 save percentage in 41 appearances (39 starts). He wasn’t as good as Ullmark down the stretch, though, finishing with a 6-7-0 record and .887 save percentage over his last 13 games.
Cassidy also said his Game 1 lineup would be the same one the team has used in the last couple games when they’ve had their full lineup available. The Bruins do not have any injury questions going into Game 1. Anton Blidh and Chris Wagner will be the extra forwards, while Mike Reilly and Josh Brown will be the healthy scratches on defense.
Here is the Bruins’ full expected Game 1 lineup:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk
Taylor Hall - Erik Haula - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Nick Foligno - Tomas Nosek - Curtis Lazar
Hampus Lindholm - Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Connor Clifton
Linus Ullmark
Jeremy Swayman
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, do have some questions. The first and biggest is in goal. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters on Sunday that Frederik Andersen will not be ready for Game 1. Andersen, the team’s unquestioned No. 1 goalie all season and a potential Vezina Trophy finalist, has been out since suffering a leg injury on April 16. Brind’Amour said Andersen did “touch the ice” Sunday.
That leaves the Hurricanes with veteran backup Antti Raanta and 22-year-old rookie Pyotr Kochetkov as their goalie options. Raanta is 15-5-4 with a .912 save percentage on the season, but has just an .891 save percentage over his last eight games. Kotchetkov is 3-0-0 with a .902 save percentage, but those are his only three NHL games.
Brind’Amour did not announce his Game 1 starter, but the safe bet would be Raanta. The fact that Raanta met with the media on Sunday could be a tip-off… or it could be a play-fake. Cassidy, by the way, said the Bruins were expecting Raanta, but would be prepared for Kotchetkov as well.
The Hurricanes also have a couple lineup questions, mainly up front. Martin Necas, who has been banged up recently, did not practice Sunday, but Brind’Amour called it a maintenance day and said he expects Necas to be ready for Monday. Jesperi Kotkaniemi also just recently returned from injury, but did practice Sunday.
Kotkaniemi and Necas would both likely be fourth-line options based on the Hurricanes’ recent lineups. Jordan Martinook, Derek Stepan and Steven Lorentz are all part of the group of forwards who have been fourth-line options this season, too. Carolina’s top three lines and defense pairings look fairly set.
Here is our best guess at what the Hurricanes’ lineup will look like for Monday night’s Game 1 in Raleigh:
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Max Domi - Vincent Trocheck - Teuvo Teravainen
Nino Niederreiter - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Jordan Martinook - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jaccob Slavin - Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Ian Cole - Ethan Bear
Antti Raanta
Pyotr Kotchetkov
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