The Boston Bruins guard excluded Hampus Lindholm for Game 3 on Friday of their Stanley Cup first-round playoffs against Hurricane Carolinawho may not start scoring Antti Raanta.
Lindholm was injured during the second period of Wednesday’s Game 2 in a violent collision with the Hurricanes ahead Andrei Svechnikov. Lindholm was packing toys along the board when Svechnikov hit the glass hard.
Lindholm couldn’t get up on his own and needed the keeper’s help Linus Ullmark and the Bruins coaching staff to the dressing room. He won’t be back because of a lower body injury, and Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game, Lindholm “didn’t play well.”
Cassidy confirmed Thursday that Lindholm made the return trip to Boston after initially unsure whether the blueliner would be allowed to travel.
Meanwhile, The Hurricanes will wait to see if Raanta is fit enough to play on Friday, when they will try to take a 3-0 lead in this best-of-season series. Raanta leaves in first term on Wednesday after Bruins transition David Pastrnak run him in the fold.
Raanta appeared to have bleeding from his mouth as he left the field, but Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said Raanta was not involved in the concussion ritual. He was able to train on Thursday, but Brind’Amour said his availability for Game 3 has yet to be determined.
“We put him on the ice today and that’s a good sign, but he’s still not 100 percent,” Brind’Amour said. “So I’m not sure where we’ll be tomorrow. Hopefully he’ll be fine to get in, but I’m not sure at this point.”
Rookies Peter Kochetkov helped Raanta make his debut in the NHL playoffs on Wednesday, parrying 35 shots while parrying the Hurricanes for a 5-2 win. Kochetkov has been Raanta’s backup as Carolina waits for the incumbent starter Frederik Andersen to recover from an injury to the lower body.
Kochetkov, 22, even painted Bruins .’s fury Brad Marchand at the end of the second half, when Marchand let Kochetkov slash after the whistle. Marchand was fined $5,000 on Thursday for the incident.
In other scoring news, the Bruins will make a positional change in Game 3. Cassidy took on Ullmark in games 1 and 2, and the veteran made a save rate of 0.860. when Boston was leading by an overall score of 10-3. The Bruins will switch to rookies Jeremy Swayman for Game 3.
Swayman is 24-13-3 in the regular season, with a save rate of 0.914 and an average of 2.41 goals conceded.
“Linus was fine. We had to do better on the other end of the line,” Cassidy said. “But we might need a performance where we need that timely rescue to bring the boys back to life. That’s where we are now. [Carolina] scoring and not giving up. I don’t say Ullmark is the reason [we’re down]; he is not. But Swayman will be in it. Hopefully he gets the job done. “
