The Bruins will try to build off their 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 and extend their series lead to 2-0 when they take the ice at the TD Banknorth Garden for Game 2 Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes will look to bounce back with a better effort after a lackluster performance in Game 1 and even the series at 1-1 before heading back to Raleigh, NC for Games 3 and 4.
Projected Lines:
Claude Julien shuffled the lines during Game 1 and reunited some of the lines that we saw before the playoffs. Julien went with those same lines in practice on Saturday with the exception of Byron Bitz filling in for Phil Kessel on the top line.
Paul Maurice also made some adjustments during Game 1. Carolina's lines are based on the lines that Maurice used in the third period.
Projected Starting Goaltenders:
Injury Report
Boston
LW Marco Sturm: Out for Season (knee)
RW Phil Kessel: Probable (elbow)
D Matt Hunwick: Out for Series (Spleen)
Carolina
No Injuries to Report
Notes:
- Phil Kessel sat out Saturday's practice with a swollen left elbow. Claude Julien indicated that Kessel will be fine and should be in the lineup on Sunday. The most shocking thing about this was that the Bruins actually provided information about an injury in the playoffs. Anybody who has followed this team closely this year knows that the most information you usually get on an injury is "upper body" or "lower body" which turned into "undisclosed injury" as they got closer to the playoffs.
- No word on whether or not Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake will be in the house.
- Most sportsbooks have the Bruins as -200 moneyline favorites for Game 2.
- The game starts at 7:30 PM ET and will air on Versus with Hurricanes play-by-play man John Forslund and Bruins color commentator Andy Brickley working the game for Versus. This might be why Jack Edwards sounded so bitter talking about Versus during Game 1's telecast. It will be interesting to see how it works out with one broadcaster from each team working the game. This actually seems like a cool concept because you get to hear from an expert on each team who has watched their team play all season...and we get a much needed break from Jack.
- Public Skate (open thread) starts at 6:30. Stop by and talk about the game with other hockey fans.
- If anyone is going to the game, remember to take pictures of anyone wearing Whalers jerseys and send them to stanleycupofchowder@gmail.com (I am thinking of bringing back "Whale Watch" for this series).
Eyes on the Storms
Canes Country (SBN): Bubba and Cory do some great work over there. Their daily Hurricanes Newsstand will point you in the right direction for news and stories on this series from both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Canes Now: The News & Observer's Hurricanes blog (think Boston.com's Bruins Blog).
Tracking the Storm: Blog from Carolina Hurricanes official website. Think of it as Carolina's version of Bish's Blog.
Series Recap:
Bruins lead 1-0
Game 1