Bruins' Paille cleared, Marchand misses practice

Thursday, 05.01.2014 / 2:15 PM

By Matt Kalman - NHL.com Correspondent / Bruins-Canadiens series blog

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BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins have a couple of question marks at left wing heading into Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

Daniel Paille took the morning skate and has been cleared to play. He's been out since the next-to-last game of the regular season, including missing the five-game first-round series win against the Detroit Red Wings.

But Paille didn't take line rushes with his usual linemates, Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton. Instead, he skated with Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith at TD Garden because Brad Marchand was missing.

"[Marchand] took his option," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Marchand practiced with the Bruins on Wednesday but missed practice Tuesday.

Julien said although Paille has been cleared, it would still be a game-time decision to put him in. Jordan Caron has filled in for Paille with Campbell and Thornton, and played well, scoring a goal in Game 3 against the Red Wings.

Marchand scored 25 goals for the Bruins in 82 games during the regular season. He did not have a point in five games against the Red Wings in the first round.

Here are the projected lineups (for the Bruins, it assumes Marchand and Paille are ready to go):

BRUINS

Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Jarome Iginla

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith

Justin Florek – Carl Soderberg – Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara – Dougie Hamilton

Matt Bartkowski – Johnny Boychuk

Torey Krug – Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

Chad Johnson

Scratched: Andrej Meszaros, Jordan Caron