Bruins' Seidenberg unlikely to play in Game 3

NEW YORK -- Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien said he would be surprised if defenseman Dennis Seidenberg would be available to play Tuesday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS).

Seidenberg did take part in the team's optional morning skate but apparently is not ready to return to action. He has been out since sustaining a lower-body injury on the first shift of Game 7 of the Bruins' first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Seidenberg is one of three injured veteran defensemen doubtful or out of the lineup. Wade Redden and Andrew Ference have been out since Game 6 of the first round. In their places, rookies Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug have helped the Bruins take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"Probably not Seidenberg; Redden, we'll see," Julien told reporters Tuesday morning when asked if either would participate in Tuesday's pregame warm-ups. "They're skating this morning, but I don't think [Seidenberg] will be in. If he is, it'll be a surprise to me as much as you guys."

Here is the Bruins' projected lineup for Game 3:

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Jaromir Jagr

Rich Peverley - Chris Kelly - Tyler Seguin

Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara - Dougie Hamilton

Matt Bartkowski - Johnny Boychuk

Torey Krug - Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin

Scratched: Kaspars Daugavins, Jay Pandolfo, Carl Soderberg, Aaron Johnson

Injured: Wade Redden (undisclosed), Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Andrew Ference (lower body)