Tuukka Rask, David Pastrnak miss Bruins’ practice on eve of Game 1 vs. Carolina

The Bruins had just two names on the absentee list for Monday’s practice, but they were pretty important ones.

Neither David Pastrnak nor Tuukka Rask practiced, with coach Bruce Cassidy putting them in the “unfit to participate” category. Cassidy said he expected them on the ice today and anticipates Rask starting Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes (8 p.m., NESN, NBCSN).

With only one day off in between the B’s final round-robin game and the start of the first round, it would not have been surprising if Rask was given the day off from on-ice activity. The same goes for Pastrnak, who played just under 20 minutes on Sunday and has been ramping up to get back up to speed after missing all of Phase 3.

But when players have been given “maintenance” days since the teams arrived in Toronto,

Cassidy has said so, so this does bear watching until we see them on the ice.

Still, Cassidy sounded confident that he’ll have his starting goalie for Tuesday night’s Game 1 against the Canes. But he has not decided on whether he’ll use Jaroslav Halak in a game or let Rask run with it.

“We’ll see how it goes,” said Cassidy. “We’re coming into this with those unknowns. How is Tuukka going to recover? We haven’t played a lot of hockey, so does he need more time in between because he (hasn’t) played a lot? He’s starting (Tuesday) and then we’ll go from there. He’s looked sharp I think in the last two games. He’s tracking pucks well. He’s seeing the puck. I thought his puck play was pretty good in terms of helping the breakout at times when we were under duress. It tells me he’s engaged in the game. I like where his game is at right now. (Monday) he was off.

“I don’t want to speculate, but we plan on using him (Tuesday) and I believe he’ll be ready to go and play well.”

If the Bruins needed their tires pumped at all going into this best-of-seven with Carolina, all they needed to was listen to the Hurricanes on Monday. Coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked what his team had learned from being swept by the B’s last year.

“I would hope we’ve learned a lot. What did we learn last year? We learned that they’re one of the best teams for a reason. There are no weaknesses,” said Brind’Amour. “They’ve proved it again all this year. I think it’s great that we get a chance to play them, technically, in the first round and great at the best right away. There’s no point in waiting for it. What we learned? We learned that’s a great team and, like I said, no weaknesses. We’re going to have to be sharp.”

— Boston Herald (TNS)