The Boston Bruins won Game 1 of their first-round playoff series versus the Florida Panthers without captain Patrice Bergeron, and they will have to do that again in Wednesday night's Game 2 at TD Garden.
Bergeron skated on his own before Wednesday's morning skate, but he was not present for the team portion of the session. Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after the skate that Bergeron won't play in Game 2. He also explained the veteran center's absence is injury related and not because of illness. However, Bergeron is "progressing well," per Montgomery.
With Bergeron out, the Bruins will use the same lineup as Monday night's series opener. This means Pavel Zacha remains the No. 1 center alongside Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. Zacha played very well in Game 1. Linus Ullmark will be Boston's starting goalie after a very strong outing Monday night.
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Bertuzzi's awesome playoff debut powers Bruins to Game 1 win
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice confirmed after his team's morning skate that veteran center Sam Bennett will return to the lineup. Bennett hasn't played since March 20. Alex Lyon also will start in net for the second straight game, per Maurice.
Here are the projected lineups for Bruins-Panthers Game 2.
BOSTON BRUINS (1-0)
Boston Bruins
Forwards
Brad Marchand--Pavel Zacha--Jake DeBrusk
Tyler Bertuzzi--David Krejci--David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall--Charlie Coyle--Trent Frederic
Nick Foligno--Tomas Nosek--Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen
Dmitry Orlov--Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm--Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort--Connor Clifton
Goalies
Linus Ullmark (confirmed starter)
FLORIDA PANTHERS (0-1)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe--Aleksander Barkov--Anthony Duclair
Eetu Luostarinen--Sam Bennett--Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg--Anton Lundell--Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins----Eric Staal--Colin White
Defense
Gustav Forsling--Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal--Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura--Radko Gudas
Goalies
Alex Lyon (confirmed starter)
Sergei Bobrovsky