Projected lines, pairings for Bruins vs. Capitals Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins will try to even their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Washington Capitals on Monday night, and it looks like they will do it with mostly the same lineup from Saturday.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed Sunday that Tuukka Rask will start in net Monday. He gave up three goals on 32 shots in the series opener, which Boston lost 3-2 in overtime.
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The only notable change from the Game 1 lineup is defenseman Jeremy Lauzon being out and Connor Clifton coming in. Lauzon had a maintenance day Sunday and did not skate. His right hand got hit with a Justin Schultz slap shot in Game 1, which forced him to leave the ice for a bit before eventually returning.
Game 1 observations: Bruins need more offense from top line
The Capitals could get a boost from two players. Second-line center Evgeny Kuznetsov and goalie Ilya Samsonov are both out of the league's COVID-19 protocols and were on the ice during Monday's morning skate. Either player's return to the lineup would be an upgrade for Washington. Both of them missed Game 1.
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However, Samantha Pell of the Washington Post observed that Kuznetsov was taking line rushes as an extra during the morning skate.
Pell also noted that Craig Anderson, Pheonix Copley and Samsonov were the Washington goalies on the ice for morning skate. Anderson replaced starter Vitek Vanecek in the first period of Game 1 after the latter suffered a lower body injury. Anderson was the first goalie to exit the ice Saturday morning, per Pell, and that typically is an indication he'll start.
Here are the projected lines and pairings for Bruins vs. Capitals Game 2.
BOSTON BRUINS
FORWARDS
Brad Marchand--Patrice Bergeron--David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall--David Krejci--Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie--Sean Kuraly--Charlie Coyle
Jake DeBrusk--Curtis Lazar--Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk--Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly--Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton--Kevan Miller
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask (starter), Jeremy Swayman (backup)
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
FORWARDS
Alexander Ovechkin--Nicklas Backstrom--Anthony Mantha
Conor Sheary--Lars Eller--Michael Raffl
Daniel Sprong--T.J. Oshie--Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin--Nic Dowd--Garnet Hathaway
DEFENSEMEN
Dmitry Orlov--John Carlson
Brenden Dillon--Justin Schultz
Zdeno Chara--Nick Jensen
GOALIES
Craig Anderson (starter), Ilya Samsonov/Pheonix Copley (backup)
