Ducks' Hiller expected to start against Kings

ANAHEIM -- Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau did not name his starting goaltender Saturday morning for Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round series against the Los Angeles Kings. But signs point to veteran Jonas Hiller getting the nod ahead of rookie Frederik Andersen at Honda Center (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS).

Hiller did not take part in Anaheim's morning skate, which started before 9 a.m., because of the 5 p.m. local start time for Game 1, but Andersen did. Boudreau did note that Hiller has not taken part in morning skates before early starts all season. Hiller has started for the Ducks on those occasions.

"I don't know, you'll have to find out," Boudreau said when asked to name his starting goaltender. "I don't know why it's such a big deal. One of the two will be playing. We're going to have six guys on the ice most of the night.

"If it makes L.A. work a little harder to figure out on their scouting report on who they're going to go against, even if it is five minutes extra, let's make them work a little harder."

Andersen started all six games for the Ducks in the Western Conference First Round series against the Dallas Stars, but Hiller replaced him in Games 4 and 6 and helped them come back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to win in overtime and clinch the series in Game 6.

Each goalie had plenty of success against the Kings this season. Andersen started three times and stopped 94 of 99 shots; Hiller got the nod twice and turned aside 85 of 87.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter said defenseman Willie Mitchell did not make the trip down the freeway and will not play in Game 1. He missed Game 7 of the first round against the San Jose Sharks after leaving Game 6 early with an undisclosed injury.

Sutter will otherwise deploy the same lineup that helped the Kings win four straight games against the Sharks to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

"It's been a strength of our players and very, very evident not just this year but last year. They're able to process what went on in a game and use what we need and not use what we don't need," Sutter said. "It's never, ever been a problem or an issue."

Here are the projected lineups:

KINGS

Marian Gaborik - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown

Tyler Toffoli - Jeff Carter - Tanner Pearson

Dwight King - Jarret Stoll - Justin Williams

Kyle Clifford - Mike Richards - Trevor Lewis

Jake Muzzin - Drew Doughty

Robyn Regehr - Slava Voynov

Alec Martinez - Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick

Martin Jones

Scratched: Jeff Schultz, Jordan Nolan

Injured: Willie Mitchell (undisclosed)

DUCKS

Matt Beleskey - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry

Patrick Maroon - Mathieu Perreault - Teemu Selanne

Andrew Cogliano - Saku Koivu - Jakob Silfverberg

Devante Smith-Pelly - Nick Bonino - Emerson Etem

Cam Fowler - Ben Lovejoy

Hampus Lindholm - Francois Beauchemin

Bryan Allen - Mark Fistric

Jonas Hiller

Frederik Andersen

Scratched: Kyle Palmieri, Daniel Winnik, Luca Sbisa

Injured: Stephane Robidas (leg), Sheldon Souray (wrist), Tim Jackman (hand)