After keeping the cards close to his vest for most of the last week, Bruce Cassidy finally revealed his starter for Game 1 against the Hurricanes on Monday night.
And it wasn’t much of a surprise.
After posting a .945 save percentage over his final 12 appearances of the regular season, Linus Ullmark will get the call between the pipes for Boston, with Jeremy Swayman serving as the backup.
"He's gotten better as the year went on, so you could say that's part competition, part of getting comfortable being a Bruin,” Cassidy said of Ullmark. “Could be a lot of different reasons. But I certainly think competition is one of them. We've had both goalies play almost an equal amount of games and minutes. Tuukka was in the mix there for a while, so there's competition there. ... He's trended very well for us. You want to be playing your best hockey as the playoffs near and I think he would certainly say he is."
Even though Cassidy has been candid when it comes to Boston’s willingness to embrace a true tandem in net during the postseason, Ullmark getting the call in Game 1 stood as a no-brainer, given his late-season surge.
Still, even though Ullmark has been posting No. 1 goalie numbers since the start of April, there is a level of uncertainty when it comes to just what Boston is going to get from its netminders in Round 1 — considering this is Ullmark’s first trek to the Stanley Cup Playoffs following six seasons with Buffalo.
However, the Hurricanes are also dealing with plenty of uncertainty in net — an area where Carolina was expected to hold a decisive edge with Frederik Andersen serving as the last line of defense.
According to Sara Civian of The Athletic, even though Andersen — sidelined with a leg injury for the past few weeks — skated on his own down in Raleigh on Sunday morning, he is not expected to start Game 1 on Monday.
At this point, it remains to be seen when Andersen will return to the net for Carolina, although the expectation going into this series is that he should get the green light at some point within the week.
Even though Andersen has had his fair share of struggles in the postseason (especially against Boston), he’s been money this year for Carolina — ranking second in the league with more than 28 goals saved above expected, along with a sterling .990 save percentage in three starts against Boston.
For now, it looks as though the Bruins will have to deal with either veteran backup Antti Raanta or rookie Pyotr Kochetkov on Monday night. The B’s will certainly take those draws over a player like Andersen.
No update on Bergeron’s future
As Don Sweeney’s media availability on Sunday morning started to wind down, the B’s GM fielded a question regarding any discussions between the organization and Patrice Bergeron on a new contract.
“Yeah, good luck with that one,” Sweeney said with a smile.
Sure enough, since Bergeron first signaled way back in September that he was going to keep an open mind this summer after his current deal expires, the B’s captain hasn’t revealed much in terms of his thoughts on his future and whether he wants to continue his Hall-of-Fame career.
Bergeron once again did not take the bait on Sunday.
“Honestly, I haven't, really,” Bergeron said when asked if he’s thought more about the pivotal question regarding his career. “I've done a good job of staying in the moment. And I think that's where I'm at right now still. Being ready for game one in the playoffs, and that's all I should really focus on."
Of course, even though Bergeron has tacked plenty of mileage on his body, the two-way pivot has still been elite in 2021-22 — with the forward all but setting himself up for a record-breaking fifth Selke Trophy later this summer.
Count the Bruins among the many parties hoping that Bergeron’s strong level of play means that he isn’t ready to hang up his skates quite yet.
"I'm doing the same thing everybody else is,” Sweeney said when asked about Bergeron’s future. “As I've referenced all along — my job is to put together the most competitive group that we can so that I extend his shelf life in wanting to play and his impact is not questioned in terms of what he can do on and off the ice.
“It's just a matter of how long he wants to continue to do it. And we're hopeful that he does. I believe in my heart that he does, but that ultimately is Patrice's decision. I've been respectful of that from day one and will continue to be until he says, 'Let's get this done.'"
Wagner set to join Bruins for playoff run
After a strong season debut in Game 82 of the regular season, it looks as though Chris Wagner is sticking with the big club during this Cup run.
Wagner, sent down to Providence at the start of the season as Boston turned to other checking-line regulars like Tomas Nosek and Curtis Lazar, made the most of his limited reps back up in the NHL ranks — landing 11 hits in under 14 minutes of ice time during Friday’s regular-season finale.
Given that bone-crunching performance against the Leafs, along with the 30-year-old forward’s experience with the physical play that must be embraced in the postseason, Wagner could be a useful piece for Boston in the coming weeks, as Cassidy confirmed that the Walpole native will serve as an extra forward alongside Anton Blidh.
It’s been a difficult season for Wagner since getting waived back in the fall, but Sweeney noted that he’s managed to keep an open line of communication with the physical winger throughout the year — and that an opportunity could arise if he continued to play at a high level down in the AHL.
“He can ask me really anything and he knows that I won't go sideways with any of our conversations,” Sweeney said of Wagner. “He was patient about things, not happy about things, but a really good soldier and leader, which was important for our organization. And he just kept asking me, if he's playing well, and his game is at the top of it — is he a part moving forward?
"And I've always told him, ultimately the coach decides the lineup. But that being said, if you're playing your best, he's going to put the players that are going to help him win, especially as the intensity ramps up and Chris can provide what he does. And he did that in the very last game of the year and earned his right to be part of this group going forward.”